Senior citizens and elderly are often faced with loneliness and this could cause them health problems. Today, technology can help seniors overcome the loneliness. It could further be a great thing as most of the world is connected through Social Media and the technology! The seniors would not feel lonesome.
Best Steps to Teaching Technology to Elders
- Technology, gadgets and internet could seem overwhelming, especially for seniors. Although, the internet is quite self explanatory, most elderly are afraid of technology and feel the fear of it. The first step for learning and teaching the technology would be to overcome this fear. Tell your students that technology and internet is no big deal and once you get into it, you’ll learn it yourself.
- Start with the basics. Introduce them to the essential websites like Google and Wikipedia. Tell them how to search anything over the internet. Make them familiar with Wikipedia. Show them the websites of famous newspapers. Tell them that the internet is the most friendly and knowledgeable library on earth.
- Mention the internet jargon like browser, URL, web address, website, downloading, Facebook, email, virus, antivirus and webcam. These words could seem haunting to a non-familiar person although they are just nothing.
- Staying safe is crucial for life on cyberspace. One could witness advertisements on most of the websites these days; some of them could lead to malicious websites and content. While most users would learn about safety on their own, it is advisable to teach the seniors about it. Also advise them to use smart passwords and never to remain logged in. Tell them not to reveal their personal information like ID card numbers and bank details online.
- Let your students have hands-on experience. Do not turn on the gadget or initialize the browser for them. Tell them how to do it and let them do it themselves.
- Introduce them to the social media on internet. Set up email accounts and ask them to email you as an assignment.
- The next step shall be Facebook and other social media websites they might opt for. You might need to help them in setting up the account but after that let them play and learn on their own.
Once, the seniors become familiar with the sites and gadgets, they would learn the tricky parts after experience!
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