Age-Appropriate Learning
The AliVe project at CU Carinthia University of Applied Sciences is researching age-appropriate learning environments–with input from the target group.
Participation in education among older adults in Austria is quite low: Compared to countries like Finland, the 55-plus generation here rarely takes advantage of educational opportunities. “There are usually two reasons for this: either negative educational experiences in their youth, when their time in school left a bad impression, or the existing programs do not meet the actual needs of people aged 55 and older in a way that is appealing to them,” says Christine Dullnig-Pichler.
The researcher and director of the AliVe project at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CU) surveyed older adults about their needs regarding lifelong learning. “The goal of the project is to develop age-inclusive learning opportunities and identify the conditions that make it easier for people aged 55 and older to access continuing education,” says Dullnig-Pichler.
She chose a participatory process for developing the learning formats to ensure that topics of genuine interest to this age group are addressed. The respondents were particularly interested in the topic of artificial intelligence: “How it works, what’s behind it, how you can tell that something was created using AI–these were frequent topics of discussion in the focus group interviews,” says Dullnig-Pichler.
The experiences, needs, and skills of the respondents will be incorporated into a handbook on age-inclusive lifelong learning developed by the research team. Even though some members of the target group are no longer actively employed, acquiring knowledge promotes mental and physical health well into old age.
Maintaining this quality of life is the focus of many projects being carried out at the IARA Center for Aging Research at CU Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. There is also a strong emphasis on the active involvement of all age groups. Older adults, as experts on their own lived experiences, are therefore also the subject of a new anthology published by IARA.
The goal is to provide people aged 55 and older with access to appropriate continuing education.
Project Information
AliVe stands for “Age-inclusive Lifelong Learning” and is a collaborative project between the University of Applied Sciences and universities in Finland, the Czech Republic, and Ireland.
The project ran from September 2023 to August 2026.
The anthology “Participatory and Transdisciplinary Research” focuses on research involving target groups and was edited by Manuela Perchtaler, Carla Küffner, and Christine Dullnig-Pichler.
This page is published in cooperation with the Carinthian Higher Education Conference. Editorial responsibility lies solely with the “Kleine Zeitung.”