Life-long Learner While Being Tech Slow

I am returning to post-secondary education at the age of 60 after taking early retirement from my career. My employer has offered an attractive early retirement package which afforded me to pursue a graduate program. I aim to be a lifelong learner and study subject areas that interest me, i.e., organizational learning and culture change.

I found myself among much younger students who use their electronic devices with a high level of proficiency. Most students in my classes were about the age of my children.

As an older adult, I also found that my biological needs differed from other students. For example, my hearing and sight were not as sharp as I was younger. My studying habits also differed from younger students, i.e., I took notes using a notebook and pen, not using online tools such as Evernote.

At work, I was accustomed to calling the help desk when I encountered technological problems. There was instant help available to resolve the issue, and on rare occasions, tech help came to my office to resolve the situation I was experiencing. This sort of service was not available to me at the university.

My computer skills were limited to email and Microsoft Word. Occasionally, I used PowerPoint to develop presentations. I was unfamiliar with e-tools like Google Docs, Survey Monkey, Eventbrite, and the Adobe Suite apps. These were commonly used apps. Other students “whizzed by” using such technological tools, while I often found them very frustrating parts of reentry into academic life. It took me much longer to complete assignments and prepare for classes. This was a significant source of frustration and much more challenging than completing coursework and assignments. I often asked professors to grant me extensions to hand in my studies or projects.

To add to the frustration, I was using a new computer with an operating system I was not familiar with a MacBook. It was a mistake as my home computer was old and was the size of a Buick. I had been using the Microsoft operating system.

I also found that the University IT department could have been more helpful. They often didn’t help to resolve the problem I experienced. They closed the “ticket” before the issue was addressed. I found the school administrators treated a mature student just like any other seventeen-year-old student, sometimes with a condescending tone.