At some point or another all found ourselves confused when it comes to technology. People who grew up in the 90’s had the advantage of being surrounded by technology of all kinds, and those born after 2000 witnessed the boom in smartphone and tablet technology. It makes sense then, that younger generations are more adept at handling and understanding tech, whilst older generations tend to get left behind.
Digital contract specialists Maplewave are taking an in-depth look at the digital age divide, and why we should be breaking down the barriers when it comes to tech.
The digital gap
Social and economic inequalities mean that people off all ages can find themselves facing a ‘digital gap’. Although once it was due to financial inequalities disabling the access to technology, it has now shifted towards a knowledge gap. Once connected to their devices, the information presented to them instantly becomes a barrier.
Technology is advancing all of the time, but there aren’t enough people with the skills to perform tech related jobs. Thus, this creates the digital gap, where the demand for digital skills has outstripped the supply. With predictions that within 20 years, 90% of all jobs will require an element of digital skills to a sufficient degree, so the efforts to bridge that gap is gaining pace.
Learning how to use technology
Younger generations have had the benefit of spending their childhoods right in the middle of a tech boom. So, for those that didn’t go through childhood and adolescence whilst the digital boom was underway, learning about what the latest technology has to offer can be an intimidating experience. Generation X would’ve felt intimidated by the thought of learning how to use Microsoft Excel or getting to grips with printing, now, it’s more virtual reality, voice activated domestic robots and wireless charging.
So, how do we go about bridging the gap? One idea is to build on the persons existing tech knowledge. If the senior is already familiar with an aspect, use analogies like referring links to webpages to roads to other cities or web addresses to street addresses.
The language of online
Jargon exists to make the process of explaining things more concise, but it can have the opposite effect, confusing and alienating the listener and hindering the learning process. Implementing technologically-orientated words such as selfie or emoji may have reluctantly made their way into the Oxford Dictionaries at the displeasure of traditionalists, but that’s an indication of how much influence the internet has had on our lexicon contemporarily. As digital natives, we have adopted this as if it were a second skin, so when it comes to communicating with the elderly on the topic of technology, be sure to use simplified language.
With an estimated one in five over 50’s feeling as though they are being left behind by technology, it’s important for that demographic, which makes up a large chunk of any nations population, to begin coming to terms with the digital revolution.
Studies estimate that as many as one in five people over the age of fifty feel that they have been left behind by technology. It goes beyond just the financial aspects too, elements of loneliness and feeling out-of-sync with family members can often occur if the older generation hasn’t yet made the switch to the likes of Skype, Facetime or even WhatsApp. This demographic make up a huge chunk of our population, and we must help them come to terms with the world of technology. All of which being visual or verbal communicative apps where users can video or message each other from anywhere in the world providing they have a stable internet connection. It’s especially great for family times like Christmas or birthday’s if one of the family members is away travelling for leisure or work.
