One of the biggest challenges I come across as an IT trainer when helping those with little or no digital skills is their fear of the unknown. The fear that they will do something irreversible, leak details of themselves or even break the device they are using. I am asked a variety of questions every day; these questions are valid and purposeful and have really got me thinking.
What concerns do people have about using technology?
For people that have limited digital skills using something such as a smart phone is a very daunting task. I find people think they need to know everything about the phone before they start using it just in case anything goes wrong. For example:
- ’How does a text work?’
- ‘How much does it cost to download an app?’
- ‘Will I be safe buying my food shopping online?’
- ‘What do I do if something goes wrong?’
- ‘Why would I want to use social media? That’s for youngsters’
I also often hear people say:
- ‘I have gotten by so far in life without computers so why do I need to start now?’
- ‘There is too much for me to learn, I will never pick it up now.’
- ‘I just prefer putting pen to paper.’
The point is you don’t need to worry about what you don’t know. In fact concentrate on what you do know even if that is simply sending a text. It’s like building a house - you have to have the foundations down before you start adding bricks, windows and doors. On your first day of school you didn’t know all you needed to know, it took a number of years to learn what you know now. The same can be applied when using computers, smartphones, tablets and the internet.
That’s the great thing about technology is that no one knows everything there is to know about it. There are experts in different individual fields. Let’s continue with the ‘house’ metaphor: we have a plumber to fix a leak, and electrician to rewire a house, a carpenter to fix skirting boards and a surveyor to make sure there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the property. I know I am not a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter or a surveyor but that didn’t stop me buying my own home because when I need help I can ask for it from the experts I needed the help from at that time.
Things go wrong, and that’s okay
It didn’t worry me that I didn’t have the knowledge of how to fix everything that possibly could go wrong in my home and the same principles applied to me when I learnt to drive. I wouldn’t have had a clue about how to change the oil, fill up the windscreen wash, use the gear sticks etc. But I learnt bit by bit, mile by mile. Just because I wouldn’t know how to fix my car if something went wrong with it, it didn’t stop me buying one and learning to drive. Because I would take my car to a garage to be fixed if/when it needed to be.
Start small and aim big
Don’t worry about what you don’t know. I use digital technology every day and am a complete geek when it comes to gadgets but if someone asked me how to fix a laptop or asked me to build a website I wouldn’t have a clue. It’s then that I would turn to those experts that can help me do what it is I need to do. I would find a web designer to help me build a website and I would find a computer repair centre to fix my computer.
In summary
You will never know everything there is to possibly know about technology because it’s vast and ever changing. Fact. Just embrace what you do know and build on what you have. Before long you will wonder what all the fear was all about and why you worried so much because technology is safe and like with all we do in our lives we know when we are doing something wrong and you will feel the same with technology… you will know what is right and what is wrong so just embrace it and enjoy what it has to offer. It’s a great world out there you just need to find it.