Today and Tomorrow – Can ICT Assist Learning and Living?

Margaret Ross

Southampton Solent University, Faculty of Media Arts and Technology, East Park terrace, Southampton, SO14 0RD, U.K.

Keywords: E-Learning, Blended Learning, CAS, MOOCs, Africa, Embedded Chips, Ageing Body Suits, Robotic

Carers, Living Wills.

Abstract: The paper considers the current and future possible developments in education, health and living from the

perspectives of students, the elderly, educational establishments, organisations and governments. Various

legal and ethical issues are also considered.

The changes from 2014 to the English school curriculum relating to ICT, the introduction of Higher

Apprenticeships and the need to address employers' requirements, together with the introduction of

MOOCs, possibly affecting universities, are discussed. The combination of these could lead to new

developments in e-learning, including in developing countries.

Some current and potential future medical developments, together with their ethical issues, are addressed,

including the Internet of Things, embedded chips and robotics. The methods to change the views of those

working directly and indirectly with the elderly are considered. These include the use of “ageing suits” to

make those more aware of what it is like to be elderly. These are used by medical and care workers, and

designers of clothes, goods, furniture and accommodation, suitable for the disabled and the elderly. The

experiences involving these and other aging equipment at Southampton Solent University are discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION

In this fast changing world of IT, everyone is

affected, from students to the ever increasing

population of elderly people. There is a need for

students to understand and address the needs of the

elderly and disabled, ranging from issues of using

technology to understanding how IT could address

the needs of the elderly.

By increasing the understanding and knowledge

of computer science by pupils from an early age,

they can maximise the advantages of technology by

understanding its potential. Changes in education

could help in the near future in caring for the elderly.

In England from September 2014, the majority of

schools introduced computer science for all pupils

from the age of five to sixteen as a compulsory

subject. Online resources and support are provided

by CAS (ND) (Computing at School) which is part

of the professional body, BCS, The Chartered

Institute for IT (ND). In primary schools, the

students use the Scratch language whereas in the

secondary schools the pupils use either Python or

Java. In some schools they have introduced, in

addition to conventional equipment, technology such

as 3D printers. At the age of 16, students are able to

progress to A-levels or alternatives, or can undertake

an IT apprenticeship with companies where they

would gain practical experience, receive training and

also a salary. Choices are also offered at the age of

approximately eighteen for students to progress to

university degrees, some with a full year placement

between the second and final year in industry and

students often undertake projects that are industry

based. Alternatively from the age of eighteen,

students could undertake a form of higher

apprenticeship where they gain practical experience,

study subjects leading towards a degree of particular

relevance to their employers, who will also provide a

salary and pay for their tuition, usually at a relevant

university.

Many courses now use a blended approach

where the students work with Activity Based

Learning and that they have material made available

to them through a system such as Moodle. Many

lectures are now being captured directly through

systems such as Panopto, whereby the student can

replay sections that they had problems

understanding (Griffin and Ross, 2015). These

recorded lectures are particularly useful for students

whose first language is not English or those with

particularly learning, hearing or sight disabilities.

Hand-held devices or the student's own mobile-

phones are also used by some lecturers to enable all

Ross M.

Today and Tomorrow - Can ICT Assist Learning and Living?.

DOI: 10.5220/0006811700010001

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2016), pages 19-22

ISBN: 978-989-758-179-3

students to individually respond to multi-choice

questions, allowing the lecturer to assess if it is

necessary to further explain certain topics.

2 USING TECHNOLOGY TO

RAISE AWARENESS OF THE

PROBLEMS OF THE ELDERLY

To assist students to understand the problems of the

elderly and disabled, some students at Southampton

Solent University, are given practical experience of

problems relating to sight, hearing and mobility.

This involves the students experiencing these

problems themselves, so the requirements of the

elderly can be understood so more accurately

capturing their requirements. The students put on

"ageing suits" which restrict their movements,

ranging from the ability to sit comfortably, rise from

a chair, walk, reach high or low objects, to open

containers and use a keyboard. By the students

wearing special gloves attached to batteries, their

hands develop a tremble, so the problems of writing,

pouring or trying to drink liquid can be experienced.

By blocking their hearing to different levels and the

use of specialist glasses, other health problems can

be experienced. These range from their sight being

affected with diabetes to cataracts. The opportunities

to experience these have been used by students on

various courses, from computing, construction,

interior and exterior design, including the design of

packaging. These experiences have been arranged

both within the courses and by meetings of the BCS

(British Computer Society), which also enables these

activities to be open to the general public.

An example of the use of these was linked to

fashion and marketing students, when they

experienced the problems which, in some cases were

insurmountable, in dressing and undressing while

wearing these ageing suits, also trying to put on

make-up using the other additional devices. The aim

was to encourage them to consider the physical

requirements of the elderly and disabled in their

future roles, especially as the worldwide increasing

elderly population provides a market for elderly and

disabled friendly articles. These in turn should

increase the well-being, both physically and

mentally of this ever-increasing sector of the world

population. These ageing suits and other equipment

are used at some hospitals including St Mary's

Hospital on the Isle of Wight, in training courses for

nurses, doctors, porters and clerical staff to

understand the problems of the elderly. There is a

very high proportion of elderly living in the Isle of

Wight and on the South Coast of England as this is

viewed as a popular retirement area.

The opportunity to use technology directly,

through body scanners and 3D printers, could

provide in the future, clothes at low cost,

personalised for the individual elderly or disabled

person to fit their changing body shapes, whereas

commercially marketed clothes are designed to

expect the population to stand "up straight". By

producing individually constructed clothes, this

would allow the wearer both to look and feel smart

and comfortable, and should encourage a more

positive approach to ageing.

3 E-LEARNING AND HOW THIS

COULD HELP THE AGEING

POPULATION

With the increasing ageing population, there is a

growth in various types of Universities of the Third

Age. These often provide courses and one-off

lectures, usually led by volunteers, at the cost for

attendees of only the refreshments and the hire of the

room. These provide both mental stimulation and

social interaction. The former is provided are also by

games, such as Scrabble, which can be played

individually or through the Internet with players

anywhere in the world, possibly having met through

this medium.

Another means of encouraging mental agility is

undertaking remote on-line study. By interviewing

various retired people, many of whom have

undertaken courses such as those run by the Open

University in the UK, to obtain new skills and

develop their hobbies in greater depth, and in some

cases obtaining university degrees. Other elderly

have chosen to follow MOOCs (Massive Open

Online Courses) related to their interests (EC report,

2014). These MOOCs, often provided by

universities in various parts of the world, are usually

free but with mainly peer support and only limited

tutor assistance. Interviews were undertaken by the

author, with some of these elderly MOOC users.

Some comments were:

It assumed too much pre-knowledge,

It over-simplified certain topics so I did not learn

anything new,

It was easy to pass the self-assessment tests, by

just checking back on the material,

I had technical problems with slow or missing

Internet connections.

In most cases the elderly interviewees did not feel any

positive social interaction through these courses.

MOOCs do not normally have any accredited

qualifications, although one university in Germany

has created a direct link with a MOOC (EC report,

2014).

3.1 E-Learning and Third World

Countries

MOOCs, by allowing self-study, can be used as part

of preparations for a professional qualifications,

such as those of the professional bodies such as the

BCS. These qualifications can be taken at various

global locations. Many of the Foundation qualifica-

tions are online multi-choice, internet based and are

equivalent to the first or second year of a degree

course, and range from Business Analysis to

GreenIT. Various charities, such as MOOCs Africa

and TULSA, have been established to assist learning

for children and adults, especially women, in rural

Africa. Local schools and colleges can use these

MOOCs as part of their teaching, and, by following

a selection of relevant MOOCs, learners can be

prepared for these globally recognised professional

examinations (Dewar et al, 2014)..

The tutors could provide extra material if

required, and could run short one or two day

sessions, utilising buildings on days when these are

not in use (Uhomoibhi and Ross, 2015). The

increasing use of mobile phones in Africa provides

an ideal base for using MOOCs. This provides a

further opportunity for the elderly, with the relevant

skills, to assist with MOOCs support to others,

possibly in Africa, and also by doing so, promoting

their own mental well-being. MOOCs are also being

developed to increase be understanding of basic

health care, prevention of disease including HIV,

and issues such as pregnancy, particularly for

women in Africa.

4 MEDICINE AND

TECHNOLOGY

Technology is being used to scan patients, such as in

Southampton hospitals, then using 3D printing to

produce a model of the damaged body part, such as a

hip joint or showing the position of a kidney stone.

These have been used to explain to the patient, the

nature of the problem and facilitate discussion of the

various treatment options. It was reported that this

was particularly useful with complex operations,

allowing the surgeon to pre-plan the operation in

greater depth, so reducing the time in one case from

ten to seven hours which then also reduced the cost

of the operation and the risk to the patient.

Embedded chips in the body have been used for

a number of years for humans as well as pets. In

England, from April 2016, dogs are legally required

to have an embedded ID chip.

Embedded chips can be implanted to monitor

and administer medication such as with pregnant

women and diabetics. It was reported that US Vice

President Dick Cheney was not allowed by the US

security services, to have a remote heart transplant

monitoring system in case it was remotely hacked

(Internet Murder, 2014).

With the increasing ageing population, patients

with dementia could be identified if found with a

"passive" embedded chip. In the future, with the

increasing power and reduced size of batteries, an

"active" embedded chip could identify quickly a

missing sufferer of dementia. These are currently

used to track pets, as the chip can be fixed to the

pet's collar so the location, linked with GPS, is sent

directly to the owner via an App on the owner's

mobile phone. The concept of embedding such an

"active" chip in the body raises considerable ethical

issues, especially if the idea was extended to locate

missing children. For adults, a "living will" would be

needed in preparation for the possibility of becoming

a sufferer of dementia. Risks of hacking, computer

viruses, remote interference with the embedded

chips, in addition to battery life, and the risks

associated with confidentiality of the person’s data,

as in todays world data is more widely "joined-up",

would be some of the issues to be balanced against

the health and safety benefits of embedded chips

(Ross, 2015).

5 ROBOTS AND THE AGED

POPULATION

Robots are already available to assist mankind, from

meeting and greeting at a hotel to carrying heavy

bags for the humans. They can also help the disabled

to walk and assist in many ways. Robots could

become the pet that could be more widely used to

provide "companionship" for the elderly and to those

in hospital to replace or supplement the hospital’s

"visiting" dogs. These robotic pets could also

supplement the highly trained "hearing" or "seeing"

dogs, with the added advantage that if the owner

apparently needed help, they could transmit full

details of the problem, the exact location to under

one metre and possibly a view of the problem. This

could quickly result in summoning the appropriate

assistance. Again ethical issues are raised, about the

privacy of the individual, so perhaps this would be a

situation to be included in a "living will" agreeing to

some elements of surveillance by their "pet".

Robots could play a further part in assisting the

elderly and disabled to live independently, replacing

in part, the visiting human carer, in their roles of

distributing and ensuring medication is taken. This

could be undertaken by a robot, reporting back to

"control" if the robot does not "see" the medicine

being swallowed. Again this might be viewed as an

infringement of the person's privacy, despite being

possibly essential for their health. The human carer

usually would help their "patient" with washing,

assisting them with dressing and undressing, as well

as the very personal role of helping them in the

toilet. Robots are capable of undertaking these roles,

but would this be acceptable to the "patient". The

carers in the UK, provided by the local authority,

now have been asked, in many cases, to reduce their

visits to fifteen minutes or thirty minutes per visit,

whereas the robot would be available 24x7 for the

patient. Elderly independent livers are often

delivered cooked meals, often by volunteers, to their

homes, but with very limited choice of timing or

menu. Robots could provide freshly prepared meals

on demand, and assist the "patient" to eat, and also

recording any problem or abnormal eating

behaviour. Again there are major benefits in addition

to ethical dilemmas. The "patient" would probably

like human visitors so by using these robots, the

human visitor need not be a highly trained carer but

could possibly be provided by links to local colleges

or charities. Additional human social interaction

could currently be provided through the Internet,

with human friends who might be globally separated.

The quality of this type of care could be seen to be by

some as better than the human carer (Ross, 2015).

The acceptability, rather than the technical

ability of such robot based caring, is a major

consideration. The willingness to undertake such

care, where provided at home, at a retirement

establishment or at a hospital, needs to be addressed,

not only by the person, again in a "living will", but

also by the authorities. These must not be influenced

only by the potential financial savings to the state.

The use of robots as a nanny with the care of

children is even more of an ethical dilemma, with

legal implications for the parents and guardians.

6 CONCLUSIONS

Students of today need to understand both the

current and future applications of technology, but

also the ethical decisions, which could be more

difficult to solve than the technical problems.

With the increasing availability of e-learning,

both for initial learning at colleges or as self-study,

e-learning can now be used to "up skill" throughout

to the whole career and during retirement. It can be

accessed easily through mobile phones and other

technology throughout the world, personalised for

individuals, and at times that are convenient for the

user. This compares to attending conventional

courses, which might not be available locally or are

too expensive. This can change the e-learning

pattern lifelong, to provide a means to enhance the

mental capacity of all, including the elderly.

This could also help to address the issues of

dementia, providing an option to mentally stimulate

the elderly, those with learning difficulty and also

those separated from other regular human contact.

These e-learning opportunities can now be provided

in a form suitable for all, especially those with

disabilities, including the blind and the deaf.

The current and future technology offers

wonderful potential to assist all, regardless of age,

ability and location, but, as with all good things,

there is a possible "down side". In this case, rather

than issues of cost, the ethical issues could be a need

for consideration now and in the future.

REFERENCES

BCS, ND, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT,

http://www.bcs.org/ (accessed 2/2/2016)

CAS, ND, Computing at School, http://www.computing

atschool.org.uk/ (accessed 2/2/2016)

Dewar, E., Uhomoibhi, J., Ross, M., Hutty, D., 2014.

MOOCs development and implementation: The

challenges and prospects for higher education in

emerging countries, ISBN 978-0-9926958-2-8, GIobal

Issues in IT Education, 2014

EC report, 2014, Report to the European Commission on

New Modes of Learning and Teaching in Higher

Education, ISBN 978-92-79-39789-9

Griffin, B., Ross, M., 2015. Speak and be Hard Later: Use

of Audio-Visual Support at Southampton Solent

University, Proc INSPIRE 2015

Internet Murder, 2014, This Week, 7/10/2014

Ross, M., 2015. Future Changes in the New Internet Age,

ITA15, Wrexham, North Wales

Uhomoibhi, J., Ross, M., 2013. Globalisation and e-

Learning: Integrating University and Professional

Qualifications for Employability and Lifelong

Learning, ICEL 2013 (International Conference on e-

learning), Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Cape Town 27 28th June, 2013