After pondering on one of my classmates blogs about Generation C, it really put things into perspective for me. Learning about all this technology inspires me to not only use it more but to learn from it and one day be able to help others learn from the endless options of tools as well. Growing up with technology, I always knew how to use it but I never really took the time to dig deeper and see the endless opportunities.
This makes me think of those who did not grow up with technology and experimenting is more challenging for them. I am reminded me of my moms resistance to technology since she did not have those opportunities to grow up with it. Whenever I get frustrated if she can’t figure out how to open an attachment in an email or how to search for flights online she constantly reminds me that I grew up with the technology. Although I agree, and it can be challenging, I think some adults are just scared to try. If you get frozen in your comfort zone it could be hard to adapt to our quickly changing environment. I don’t always know the answer, but I do try.
Today for example, one of my coworkers was having trouble printing new labels with our company logo. The printer is really finicky with color ink; she finally got the color working and then the logo was coming out black instead of the nice color logo she inserted. I did not have the answer but I knew I could try and play around with the settings and figure it out. Which is exactly what I did. Sometimes I wish I could tell my mom to “figure it out” but I try to understand it from her perspective and I try really hard to teach her, a test of my patience to say the least!
To leave you with a Thursday Night Delight, I'd like to share an article from The Medium: The 37 Best Websites to Learn Something New. I challenge my readers to check it out and learn something new (: !
Nicole, it's weird being in that generation accused of "growing up with" the Internet and other technologies. It's true that the Internet took off in the mid-to-late 90s, but my family didn't have an Internet-capable computer until maybe 1998 and that was when you couldn't use the phone thanks to dial-up. Because younger users adapt faster, it has the appearance of a more natural understanding. Plus it's a certainty that our grandparents' generation complained to their children that they could work the VCR better because "they grew up with it". There's nothing new under the sun...
ReplyDeleteThanks for chiming in Doug! Did you learn something new from The Medium's Article?
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely right about younger users adapting faster. I think it also has to do with their willingness to adapt and ability to try. We may not have all the answers or know what we're doing, but once you try and play around you usually can find those answers or results you're looking for. Some grandparents though, got to hand it to them, are very tech savvy! My grandmother's not too bad, she still calls me for help once in a while and keeps a very large notebook where she hand writes all of her log-ins and instructions on how to get to certain pages and how to do certain things - but hey at least she's trying!