Chatbot in Smartphone Self-paced Learning: A Study on Technology Acceptance among Older Adults in Malaysia

Older adults use their smartphones to learn new material but few studies examined their learning with the presence of a chatbot in a smartphone. We developed a three-week self-paced learning module on three topics (chatbot, QR scanner, Google Drive) using their smartphone. Our aims were to examine participants’ self-paced learning accuracy while exploring older adults acceptance of the chatbot. Twelve participants participated in this study (Mage: 64.75 years) for three weeks at their homes individually. Results showed that they had low accuracy for the chatbot but higher accuracy for the other two. Qualitative analyses indicated that participants disliked the chatbot and that good clarity in our instructional videos and slides may have contributed to the low acceptance for the chatbot. Our findings indicated that self-paced learning is feasible with slides and videos only, and to create more chatbot-related assessments to increase chatbot usage.