{I started talking about this in response to a comment that Liz made last week and decided that I had some more to say about it.}
Today's I'd like to take a moment to talk about my mom. We'll call her MamaP.* MamaP was born in the 50s, has a bachelors and a masters degree (both completed in the 70s) and has spent a majority of her adult life working for a county agency. She's always volunteered her time and been active in the community. And for the last 14 years or so, she's had a computer in her home. But MamaP has a love-hate relationship with technology.
Just think, when MamaP was in college, if she wanted to meet with a professor, she had to go by their office (or call? idunno if they had phones in the offices). When she wanted to deliver information to her Brownie Girl Scout parents, in the early years she had to hand-write a newsletter** and then photocopy it. Despite owning computers at home (technically, they were mine), she wasnt forced to really sit and interact with one until she got one at her work desk in 1999. Most of the time they just stress her out. Especially when its time for some sort of upgrade. But she tries and over the years has made tons of progress. She even banks, makes reservations, and purchases online now. All skill she had to develop in her late 40s and 50s. There was definitely some resistance, and her progress was almost entirely an uphill battle. Lastly, MamaP usually requests help for new technology. Like the iPod she's planning to puchase when I'm home for Spring Break.
This isn't her fault. MamaP means well. She just doesn't have the experience I do with technology. Not that I'm a genius, but I (and most of my generation) have been interacting with computers and other forms of technology for as long as we can remember. And just think about our students. If you told them that back in the day, they wouldn't be able to email their professors about the exam that's scheduled to take place in 8 hours, they would probably blow a gasket. Do they remember having to learn without the Internet, WebCT and PowerPoint? Probably not.
Whats my point?
As some of us progress through our careers, we'll probably have the opportunity to deal with older learners. Not people who are resistant, but inexperienced. Just know that some of them may be like MamaP. They mean well, and are willing to try, but they often experience difficulty and request a good bit of assistance. They just haven't had the exposure that we have. Or the dependence. For them, email may still be considered a secondary form of communication. And we need to keep that in mind.
I know sometimes I take my experience for granted. Do you?
MamaP doesn't. To some degree, I'm sure its because I'm her only child. But she looks to me to trouble shoot problems with Word (over the phone!), advise her on websites to visit, and whatever other technological issue she thinks I may be able to help with. As a lifelong Girl Scout, she is using her resources wisely. Cant get mad at that.
...I may draw the line at Facebook though.
♥
*yes, her name does actually begin with a P, like mine.
**MamaP has elementary school teacher penmanship. You know that handwriting that was meant for a chalkboard? I love getting mail from her. Even if its just my car insurance card - lol.
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6 comments:
I have the same experience with my Mom and Dad---when I'm home I have to "set up" everything and write directions for them so they can use the computer. Both of them, my mom especially, have made some great strides in the last few years mainly involving using email much more often, purchasing things online, and banking (she still prints out reams of paper from the Bank of America site to "prove" she paid the bills).
I have two non-traditional students in my class now, one in his early 30s and the other in her late 40s. Both of them actually are quite incredible when I think about it---when I'm 47, I'll be in the classroom but I really don't think I could be a student anymore. Maybe since this is my twenty-first consecutive year of education I'm getting ready to move out into the "real world" (by the way---I hate that term--if the "real world" isn't dragging yourself to your office every morning, teaching a class, grading papers, and then writing ten pages of your dissertation everyday then I don't want to know what "real" is).
I do think that those older students might not be as technologically savy as the younger ones but I do think they have the drive to learn. If they decided to go back to school at age 30, 40, or 50 then they definitly have the drive to do it, provided that we provide the necessary tools, etc.
My Mother is the same way. She just got a home computer a year or so ago and she drives me crazy. this was a helpful reminder that I have to be more patient with her about the learning curve.
Try using a mouse with your non-dominant hand sometime - it gives you a little reminder of what it was like when you first sat down at a computer!
>>sac
Who is DrMPH??!
But seriously...
My grandmother (she must be in her 70s, but I'm not sure) sends me emails and even scans photos onto her computer. I don't know how she learned to do it, but she seems pretty comfortable with it. I think some people are intimidated by technology. My experience has been that user-friendly tech is easy to figure out once you get used to it. Hey, if Granny can do it...
Yay! Go Granny!
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