By Dan Barron, Community Organiser
Jean and Gwen have regularly attended the 5th Age Community Group every Tuesday, 2pm – 4pm. They were both the first members of the group to ask about the digital drop-ins and what they involve. The group has varied in it’s attendance of the drop-in from 2-5 attendees.
Since Jean heard about the drop-ins that are running alongside the group activities, she has attended every session. After talking with Jean, I discovered that she had never used a smart phone, table or computer. So it was safe to say that Jean was the ultimate beginner there could be for the digital project.
Jean began with the basics of being able to turn the tablet on and off only being able to take a small amount of information at a time each week we would recap the previous session. Slowly but surely Jean has developed the basic skills to use the Amazon Fire HD tablet that was provided for her through the 5th Age Group. Jean has competently learned how to navigate through the tablet confidently, download apps, logging onto the internet and is now enjoying playing brain stimulation games in sessions with minimal help needed. Jean is still learning but continues to be enthusiastic about learning and having fun on the tablets.
Gwen had started off with more experience with digital technologies as she has a basic smart phone but had not used a tablet before. Gwen wanted to learn how to do her grocery shopping online due to the cold dark nights in winter. After a few sessions Gwen felt confidently enough to be able to shop online. Gwen has also helped her fellow participants attending the digital drop in to help others learn the processes as well as creating a welcoming environment for others.
The group have come a long way since participating in the project and this is down to the persistence and patience of learning new concepts. They have approached every session with an open positive attitude to the tasks set in front of them. We are now at a point where we are ending learning sessions with some brain stimulation games on the tablets with a nice cuppa tea.
