 I get asked a lot if it's time to update to Windows 11 and I'm not honest with my answer. I say that I still prefer Windows 10 because it's more proven and stable. But the real reason is that Windows 11 scares me. It's something new and I don't want to have to think anymore to adapt to its UI and quirks. I do have Windows 11 on my laptop and I hate that it doesn't have the new folder option on right click. Maliit lang na bagay pero nakakainis. I think I'm reasonably comfortable with technology but I can't even switch to a new version of the same program which I've been using for years. Adapting to tech is hard, especially as you get older. Example, and then open the computer said, halobosig mo kagubak, o da, da, sa Gwano, I say. But one of the mentors said, no, don't be afraid because even my daughter who is two or three years old would not be afraid to open the computer. That was Isabel, a senior who in her words was afraid she would break a computer just by turning it on. If you're listening to tech show but friendly, then you're probably tech fluent and that's a language we take for granted. But a lot of people don't speak that language. Probably because my interest wasn't like, hindi talaga na ko yung interest ko. I refused and my mind was closed. Bakit ba ako mag-anodiyan na baka sa bandang huli, baka malulung ako o madikti na ko? Yung yun. I was reluctant actually to learn and to know how to use the computer and even the cell phone. If you've ever had to do tech support for your relatives or friends, especially if they're older, you know it can be a frustrating experience. Concepts which you take for granted, right-clicking, double-click, folders, et cetera, they don't come naturally to them. And they don't enjoy being at their computer or phone. They find it to be a scary, stressful experience. There's an innovative program though at Silliman University which hopes to change all of that, whose goal is to make all these into techies. The donor is actually a retiree and a senior citizen. He thought of giving back to this cohort of lifelong learners. That's Dr. Dave from Silliman University who is running the program. Is the donor himself medyotecky? Like he's also in the computer so he wanted other seniors? No, he's not. He's not actually. He even asked his children and grandchildren to operate his computer, yes. But because he was inspired, he has his own account right now. He's actually 80 years old. Ah wow. Medyo may edad na. Pero in fairness. Pero active pa rin. This is a free three-month course which meets every Saturday 8-12 noon. We start at 8 o'clock, then at 10 o'clock we will have a break. Then mga 30 minutes break, socializing, then naguusap-usap, kwentuhan, updating. Then after that go back to the class. Because I can very interesting ang mga topics and they talk in details and in layman's term. Alagang maintindihan mo talaga and step by step ang pagturo. All the teachers are IT professionals so initially they thought imparting basic knowledge would be easy. But while it's important for the teachers to be knowledgeable, the most important teaching skill needed was patience. Kala namin dahil IT kami, ganun lang kadali magtuturo ng mga senior citizen. But expectations versus reality, it's really, it's totally malayo. So the changes perhaps is on our strategy. A lot of us, the trainers and the facilitators, learn some pedagogy. Specifically for that age group. We became more shall we say resilient when it comes to diversity of the learners. Medyona flex yung patience namin. I can imagine. And the students really appreciated that. They are friendly, very considerate persons. All the teachers giving different topics are all friendly. That is why I am encouraged to continue. I didn't have even one day absent in my class. Perfect attendance eh? Yeah. No cuts. And the teachers, yes they were very understanding, they were very dedicated, they were very supportive. And the patience of them, their patience was unlimited. Even basic tech can be overwhelming for some seniors. Alam mo yun yung, may big lang lalabas. Yung wala lang tatayo lang tapos lalabas. Kasi kailangan. Ah okay okay. Ang feeling nila masupukit daw sila. So breath air, di mo naman sabihin hindi pwede. Stay in your seat. And sometimes the more you try to teach, the less is learned. Di mo pwede yung pagsag-sabihan. Di mo pwede yung pagsigawan kasi may hearing problem. Di ba? So hearing problem. So kailangan mo yung lakasan yung voice. Ay, mag-hurt pala yan. Di mo pwede yung sabihin. Mam, gandito kasi dapat. May experience ko pinags-sabihan ako. Wag kang ganun sir, hindi ako bingin. Di naman na bungul. In many ways, learning about tech, at least for seniors, is the opposite of what the tech world is. Where tech is obsessed with being fast, learning about tech should be done slowly. Where tech likes to present you with multiple paths or options, learning about tech means just taking one path for now. Nagaroon kami ng checklist at nagaroon kami ng systema. So ang ibig kung sabihin is parang alam na namin, napuprofile na namin yung mga challenges, especially during the first day. For example, itong mga, ay nakakatakot yung mga ganun. Mayang talaga, actually, talaga yung parang tatawag pa ng stack para mag-on. Paka-daw masira. Or, pag hindi na siya makasabay sa instruction, hindi na yan iimik. Paka-daw masira. Nakaganon na lang. So, mayun na kami first day kasi walang hindi pa kami mag-start. Yung first day namin more on getting to know, making them comfortable, napapakita namin na kahit, anong gagawin ko sa screen, hindi yan masisira. Hindi yan masisira. So, tinuturuwan mo namin namin sila ng mga first aid kit sa computer. Paganito, mangyare, oh, relax. Don't panic. Di kailang ang mga high blood niyo. There are a lot of challenges for the senior learning about tech. Trying it out for the first time and they may be scared, but that doesn't stop them. What's the drop-out rate like? So, you start around with 24 to 30 students at the end of the three months. There's no drop-out. Talagang kompleto lahat? Talagang kompleto lahat. Some are, I think, very new in this computer technology, but they are very considerate in giving instructions. That is why I am not hesitant to do it because of our friendly atmosphere in this teleman university. No drop-out is amazing and that's a sign that while the seniors are scared, they are not intimidated. They love going to this class. Kami, professor, dapat maignite namin yung motivation nila, trainer. Maignite yung motivation. Yun ang actually nakikita namin challenging. Paano namin sila ng first batch? Paano namin sila mo motivate, to continue? Kasi takot na takot kami na baka wala ng papasok. Wala ng papasok, pero it was really totally different from what we expected. So, they are always on time. At 7 o'clock, 8 o'clock yung, 8 o'clock, alam mo, maga silang nag-isig kasi 3am, 4am gusig na sila. Dati meron kami mga testimony from their children. Alam mo sir, yung mama ko, 6 o'clock nyan lalabas ng room, pero nung nag-class na kutre-am, ang ingay na yung mga notebook niya. Excited na excited po masok? Excited na po masok. There was a time nga, kahit bagyo, nakukumasok. Kahit may bagyo po ang pasok, who wouldn't want students like that? And if the subject is hard for these students, that just means they tackle it together. Ang strategy namin, kasi nag-determina kami. Kigaro mga third-port session. O sino yung magaling, parang medyo advanced or a little tricky, pinipair na namin, pinapartner na namin. Sa sabihin na namin. O ikaw sir ha, assignment mo kung anong alam mo, dapat mata-transfer mo sa kanya. That's good, parang ano. Alam mo, excited sila pa ganun. Merong mga motivation. Ayusana, next time ako na naman yung mag-tuturo sa kaibigan ko, rather dan siya yung tinuturuan. Kasi parang meron kami ng recognition, mag-recognize kasi kami and competitive kasi silaeng. From the descriptions of the seniors, it really sounds like they went back to school. And as often happens in school, you start with a class full of strangers, you get to know your classmates and you end up with a class full of friends. After the program, we still meet, kung minsan na nag-dine in kami, kung minsan nag-la-lunch out. And then we have this very, very senior talaga na classmates, he would invite us in their house. Tapos yun, nag-sharing lang kung what happened after the program. Tek, even if it feels scary at first, can bring people together. Of course, not all seniors need a classroom setting to learn Tek. Some start from a similar, non-techy background and really get into a particular video game. An example is a 93-year-old former taxi driver from Japan who streams playing racing games and apparently he's very good. Closer to home, we have Lola Gaming, a 74-year-old who learned to play mobile legends basically on a dare during the pandemic. She asked one of her grandsons what the game was all about and he set up the game for her but also started streaming her playing. She's become a fixture of the local ML scene and when she counsels players not to trash talk and to attend the school first, you know that she sees both worlds. The point of view of someone who's really into a game but also the point of view of an elder who knows that while the game is important, there are other important things also outside of the game. Now, I did interview Lola Gaming for this episode but right before the interview, the internet in my home went down, thanks Converge. So I did the interview over my phone so I could use the mobile data. I set the phone to record both audio and video pero yung na record lang yung video, walang audio. And it's a shame that the audio was not recorded as Lola Gaming was a very gracious guest. Although the botched interview does highlight that tech problems and techno stress can happen to anyone. Regardless of age, regardless if you're comfortable with tech or not. The more you learn, the more you appreciate just how fragile the technology we rely on to bring our videos and messages, our games and our notifications, how easily that all falls apart. After doing the interviews for this episode, I was left with the overwhelming impression that this is a really good program going on at Silliman. The teachers are patient and knowledgeable. The students are enthusiastic and determined. So all the people around me give me, encourage me to learn. And as they are learning practical things about technology, they are also exercising their social skills. Yung camaraderie na na-established nila na yung parang meronadong pinagkabalahan yung parent nila at yung parang excited na- nag-expand yung- nag-expand yung socialization nila parang nagkaroon nila ng another venue of mingling with other people. Basically, if you came up with a wish list for what you would want your lolo or lola to be doing, this program covers that list. Hats off to everyone involved and I hope the teachers never run out of patience. Ay, talagang uulit-ulitin mo yan. Dalawang session yan. Dalawang session para sa shut-down, para sa window shut-down. Parang lang yung open, open the computer and then this is the desktop then going to the shutdown. Dalawang session talagayan. This is Tech Show But Friendly, Hardware Sugar's podcast and I'm your host Anton. We were produced by Nana Nadal. Next week, March 8, our next episode involves me being questioned by the police for more than an hour. Ano ginawako to merit interrogation? Find out next episode. and CPU cooler repasting sa cleaning. We also clean and repaste GPUs. Nasamakati yung physical store namin and you can also buy from our site www.hwsugar.ph na 100% palaging up-to-date yung inventory dun. Kung instock yung item sa amin, available yung sa site. We also ship nationwide. Thanks for watching and maybe one of these days, magkita tayo sa shop.