IT Skills Essential

Written for Funeralcare magazine, June 2017

Once upon a time, begins all good faery tales. Once upon a time, you could advertise for staff with “IT skills desirable”. Here and now? IT Skills Essential.

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Happy Elderly Couple.

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If you or anyone in your team is still crying “not me”, it’s time to get with the programme. Yes, you. It’s time to explore why, and how, to become computer literate.

Why you are still computer illiterate is easy to identify:

• I don’t know how (I don’t know where to learn. I don’t have time).

• I don’t need to know how (I have others who do that for me).

• I don’t want to know how (I’m scared of it).

The first excuse we’ll deal with in how. The other two require a little more honesty and self-awareness.

If you think you don’t NEED to know how, who is it you are delegating your power to? In a parallel universe, you’ve seen widows and widowers wandering lost when they lose the person who cleaned up after them. The person who was the delegated cook, bottle washer, grocery shopper, bill payer, clothes washer. Who took exclusive responsibility for something (that should be shared) because that was the way it was done then. Who’s going to do it now? (I know! The kids! Keep that in mind when they choose your rest home.)

If you don’t WANT to know how, it’s time to feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway. You really can’t break the thing. What is a computer anyway? Is it a typewriter? Yes. And a calculator. A ledger. A journal. A postal service. It’s also a pack of cards. A book. An encyclopaedia. A TV. A TV aerial. A jukebox.

Which brings us to how.

The easiest way is to find something you can do in real life and learn how to do it on the computer. Here’s the thing. Spellcheck works well when you can already spell. A calculator works well when you can already do the math. A drawing program works well when you have some creative ability. A word processor works well when you know how to write a letter. No, you don’t need to know how to type, but apparently, it helps. I’ve been using computers for a very long time, and I still apply two fingers only to the keyboard. After forty years though it’s just peck, no need to hunt.

What do you enjoy doing without a computer? Start there. Even if it’s just playing patience, scrabble, or backgammon. We often learn best by playing. In the days before every home had one, computer-based learning took place at work. One of my favourite games had a menu option called “Hide, the boss is coming!” which instantly replaced the game with an innocuous-looking spreadsheet. Sigh. Those were the days.

What do you wish you knew and want to find out more about? This is the key to your learning journey – it provides the motivation and incentive to start and continue.

There are many ways to learn. You don’t have to sign up for a class in a formal setting, though that can be a great way to meet like-minded people. You can find a friend to help you – a patient one is best. Or you can self-study. And yes, I appreciate the irony in using a computer to teach you how to use a computer. But Google is your friend. Especially if you can’t find a patient real-life one.

Here’s a few ideas:

Stepping UP (steppingup.nz)

Stepping UP is free, community-based training delivered through public libraries, community training centres and mobile classrooms. The basic training modules, called “Digital Steps” cover everything from computer basics to home finances to family history research, Microsoft Office to graphic design. Each module takes two hours, with the exception of ebook training which is just an hour. There are 31 modules to choose from – and you do just that, choose the ones that interest you. You can do one, or thirty-one. Sign up online, or contact your local library for more information.

ICDL (icdl.nz)

ICDL training courses have been around for over twenty years, and are an international standard for digital learning. Training targets four skill levels: Introductory, Base, Intermediate and Advanced. ICDL introductory modules are free for jobseekers or anyone working fewer than 10 hours a week, and start at $250 for everyone else. There are training and test centres in most regions.

Alison (alison.com/course/abc-it)

Alison ABC IT is a free comprehensive self-study course, covering basic IT concepts, email and word processing. The course is self-paced over 15 to 20 hours, and there is a competency test on completion. It even includes a module on touch typing. Should I?

YouTube (www.youtube.com)

YouTube has a vast array of free video offerings, some good, some bad, all within easy reach. Look for recent videos with a large number of views, and check out the comments to weed out the wheat from the chaff.

Good luck, and enjoy! Do let me know how you get on, I’d love to hear your stories.