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Embracing basic technology will not be the end of the world in Wetaskiwin

Everyone in Wetaskiwin can benefit from a little bit of learning
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By Amelia Naismith Black Press

A woman walks into an office (no this isn’t the beginning of a joke)…a woman walks into an office, frustrated, her stubborn desire to hold on to antiquated technology resulting in difficulty in meeting the needs of her organization due to a gap in knowledge and skills.

It is imperative municipalities and social agencies continue to fill the community need of providing skills classes for seniors and others looking to upgrade their abilities.

As someone who is not exactly a fan of all things technological it is not difficult to understand how frustrating it can be to stay on top of new technologies and get comfortable with the changes they can bring to everyday life, especially with how quickly systems can change, or when they choose not to work.

Being shiny and new, instant and interconnected, does not automatically make new technologies better. But the world is changing and the obsession with advancing technologies is not going to disappear. Those who purposely choose to ignore those advances on every level may soon find themselves at odds with the way the rest of society functions.

Even just looking at building a basic foundation of the Internet, emails, push-tone phones and cell phones can help ease trivial issues that could be avoided otherwise.

However, with an area unfamiliar to many, even just getting started can seem intimidating.

There are ways of making the learning process easier, engaging, and more enjoyable; offer varying subjects, affordability, small class sizes, manageable class lengths, lots of hands on practice, and easy to understand manuals.

There are also many challenges faced by municipalities and organizations offering these classes, two being funding and the manpower needed to hold them.

Especially in rural areas, even as people try their best to open services to all, accessibility, mobility, and dexterity, especially for seniors, remains a challenge.

One of the other challenges faced is the attitude some have for newer technologies. Whether the fans of the “old ways” want to admit it or now, growing that basic understanding would help make day to day tasks easier. Not saying everyone needs to aspire to be the next Bill Gates but graduating from a rotary phone is a step in the right direction.

There is an old adage you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. No one can force those to learn who are not willing. But in turn, those people cannot in turn begrudge the rest of the world for passing them by when it was their choice to stay behind.

Amelia Naismith is the reporter for The Pipestone Flyer and writes a regular column for the paper.

amelia.naismith@pipestoneflyer.ca