The Academy of Finland granted 250,000 euros of funding to Professor of Special Education Eija Kärnä for the ACCESS – Supporting digital literacy and appropriation of ICT by older people project from the H2020 More Years Better Life – Ageing and Place in a Digitising World call. The multidisciplinary project will focus on finding ways to support the learning of ICT skills among older people with weak technological skills. The project will approach the topic from the viewpoints of special education, gerontology, sociology and information technology.
The project will study different contexts and ways of learning, and chart innovative opportunities for learning ICT skills. The project will also design a counselling concept, and make information about fixed and mobile technological solutions that are suitable for older people available.
The international consortium is coordinated by the University of Siegen in Germany, and the partners include the University of Eastern Finland, TU Dortmund University, the University of Vienna, the National Institute on Health and Ageing in Italy, and the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Japan. The three-year project will run from 2018–21. In addition to Professor Eija Kärnä, Kaisa Pihlainen, PhD (Education), will work on the Finnish sub-project.