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How to take the pain out of teaching tech to old people, from Netflix to Zoom

  • Many of us have spent time this year explaining to elderly relatives over the phone from far away how to connect to Zoom, or use Netflix
  • Letting them know they won’t break stuff if they make a mistake, and making a manual – something old folks are used to reading – can make tech trouble-free

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Teaching the older generation technology tips can not only be completely stress-free, but also empowering for seniors. Photo: Shutterstock

Do all your chats back home to Mom these days start, “You’re on mute. The button’s lower left”? Or have you at least once in the last nine months asked Grandpa if you could FaceTime the back of his TV set as a way of helping him find the strange beast known as an HDMI port?

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If so, you’re not alone; you’re part of an ever-growing group of people trying to help their less tech-savvy loved ones zip into Zoom, nip onto Netflix and master gadgets like robot vacuum cleaners and Wi-Fi picture frames from a greater distance than usual thanks to the global pandemic.

And, chances are, you found it a tiny bit frustrating to spend something close to 14 hours talking through something that you easily could have done in 14 seconds.

But do not fret, there is still hope for the future.

Many find it a frustrating business teaching technology to the elderly. Photo: Shutterstock
Many find it a frustrating business teaching technology to the elderly. Photo: Shutterstock
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According to the folks who work at the intersection of ageing and technology, getting a Boomer on Zoom or teaching the home team to live-stream from some faraway place – or, indeed, any other digital tasks – can not only be completely stress-free but also life-enriching and empowering, if you take the right approach.

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