I hate technology, I’m too old...
We cannot tell you how many times we hear this said by our participants as we begin working with them. When we started YourLink, our vision was that no one should be left behind in the digital world, especially seniors, carers and care workers and that’s why we focus on digital skills and confidence building with these groups. We aren’t surprised when one of our clients feels this way. The great thing is that we have so many stories about how we’ve helped change the minds of people just like them.
One recent example really illustrates the point. Our participant, let’s call him Tom, was pretty grumpy in the welcome session. “I don't know why I have to learn this stuff”, he said to our digital coach.
Just by way of explanation, before the first social learning session where we bring together up to 10 participants virtually, we offer a welcome session. In this session one of our digital coaches, specialists in this role, guides the individual to practice how to use Zoom if needed and feel more confident to learn in a virtual group. Tom is feeling a bit uninspired, “I retired from work 20 years ago and hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with technology” he said. “I guess I need to know the basics though, but only the basics. Look at my big fingers, can’t do anything”.
So gently and patiently we got him set up and ready for his virtual session with a group of 10 others. During the welcome session he also confessed he felt so far behind others that he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. That makes us sad, that these amazing people have had their self confidence eroded as they move beyond their working lives as executives in companies, experts in what they did, business owners, tradespeople, supervisors of teams… and this happens.
Now play this forward, our friend Tom is in the session and we are working through the various processes to show him what his device can do. He is reserved and unsure, “technology is not for me, no use at all”. He leaves the session in a bit of a better mood though, having been able to find some games and access YouTube. Turns out Tom is a real fan of old movies and when he did a search, couldn’t believe the amount of information he could find through ‘Googling’ and on YouTube.
Next session, we are a bit nervous. Will Tom turn up? What’s his week been like? Has he been able to do the practice that we recommend between sessions? As he joined the session we see him relaxed, laughing and joking with the other participants as everyone joins. Tom shared how he found videos from old movies on YouTube and he was recommending it. During the session he was so engaged, asking questions about everything to learn more and more. As it turned out the previous session had given him enough confidence to actually get curious. And from that his world opened up - YouTube, podcasts - all of sudden Tom’s restricted life had grown to be a ‘big’ digital life. He’d been Googling like a boss and had found some of his old favourite movies.
This is what inspires us. Tom is an example of so many people who believe they are too old to learn, that technology has no value and at the same time are experiencing isolation. It’s time to address this head on. By simply giving Tom the digital skills and confidence to experiment with his device, his mood changed, his access to not only entertainment but also essential life and health services is now also enabled.
We want organisations to see the power of digital training and the opportunity to change the world and the lives of each and every one of the people who are part of the learning experience that YourLink offers. Not only the training, but also the care of our digital coaches to remove the barriers to learning through our welcome sessions - it's the combination that’s the key.
Contact Richard Scenna, Director by email richard@yourlink.com.au or phone 0408 742 743.
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