ICT, Senior universities and digital security

Abstract

Abstract The Senior Universities (US) in Portugal are socio-educational organisations, of non-formal education, officially recognised by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers nº 76/2016. According to the National Network of Senior Universities (RUTIS), there were 330 US in Portugal with a total of 45,000 senior students in 2019. Since the beginning of the US, computer education has been one of the most sought after topics for seniors. In 2018, 62% of students attended a course related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This teaching has gone through three phases in the US that we will present. In the study carried out by the author to 1,016 senior students from all over the country, it was possible to conclude that the frequency of the US contributed a great deal to diminish digital illiteracy and that it is in the older and less literate public that these contributors are more visible. It was also possible to realise that most US students have smartphones and laptops and understand the evolution that the use of computers has had in the US.