{"title":"Balancing positive and negative: A dialectical understanding of Chinese older adults toward online learning","authors":"Hao Cheng , Hongfeng Yang , Yinguang Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102616","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online learning for older adults has been developed and driven by social transformation, information technology, and digital media. Previous research has focused on examining the elements, processes, and improvements of online learning for older adults, while older adults’ understanding of online learning has not been systematically reported. Adhering to the qualitative research paradigm, eighteen older adults were interviewed in an unstructured at an older adult school located in central China. Inspired by dialectical thinking and learning theory, a theoretical framework for revealing older adults’ understanding of online learning was constructed. Based on deductive and inductive coding, the findings of two categories and six themes were dynamically identified and interpreted in the Chinese social context. Overall, a dialectical understanding balances older adults’ positive and negative results towards online learning. Specifically, the human-computer interaction learning mode, free learning time and space, and sufficient learning resources are positive understandings of online learning for older adults. Network access barriers, insufficient teacher-student dialog, and insignificant learning effects are the negative understanding of older adults toward online learning. The above respondents’ positive and negative understandings provide strong evidence for adding new knowledge about Chinese older adults’ dialectical understanding of online learning. In addition, the findings put forward a unique and groundbreaking ‘answer’ for exploring, validating, and constructing a theoretical framework of online learning for older adults. Furthermore, practical insights and policy implications on optimizing older adults’ understanding of online learning and eliminating the crises of population aging are discussed and constructed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48076,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Educational Research","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 102616"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Educational Research","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035525000904","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Online learning for older adults has been developed and driven by social transformation, information technology, and digital media. Previous research has focused on examining the elements, processes, and improvements of online learning for older adults, while older adults’ understanding of online learning has not been systematically reported. Adhering to the qualitative research paradigm, eighteen older adults were interviewed in an unstructured at an older adult school located in central China. Inspired by dialectical thinking and learning theory, a theoretical framework for revealing older adults’ understanding of online learning was constructed. Based on deductive and inductive coding, the findings of two categories and six themes were dynamically identified and interpreted in the Chinese social context. Overall, a dialectical understanding balances older adults’ positive and negative results towards online learning. Specifically, the human-computer interaction learning mode, free learning time and space, and sufficient learning resources are positive understandings of online learning for older adults. Network access barriers, insufficient teacher-student dialog, and insignificant learning effects are the negative understanding of older adults toward online learning. The above respondents’ positive and negative understandings provide strong evidence for adding new knowledge about Chinese older adults’ dialectical understanding of online learning. In addition, the findings put forward a unique and groundbreaking ‘answer’ for exploring, validating, and constructing a theoretical framework of online learning for older adults. Furthermore, practical insights and policy implications on optimizing older adults’ understanding of online learning and eliminating the crises of population aging are discussed and constructed.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Educational Research publishes regular papers and special issues on specific topics of interest to international audiences of educational researchers. Examples of recent Special Issues published in the journal illustrate the breadth of topics that have be included in the journal: Students Perspectives on Learning Environments, Social, Motivational and Emotional Aspects of Learning Disabilities, Epistemological Beliefs and Domain, Analyzing Mathematics Classroom Cultures and Practices, and Music Education: A site for collaborative creativity.