8 Ways to Be More Open to Learning New Technology

Whether you’ve stopped keeping current or you’ve just never been particularly interested in technology until now, if you’ve decided that the time has come to embrace the constant upgrades and keep up with friends living afar by internet, then you’ll be glad to know it’s always possible to learn new technology. All it takes is openness to the experience and willingness to spend a little time learning.

1. Think about learning more about new technology. Think how much easier it becomes to pay your bills online instead of having to head to the payment counters, find a car park and deal with queues. The ability to use video chat will help you to feel as if the people you miss are just in the next room from you!

As you’re learning, remind yourself how much the specific piece of technology will benefit your life. Technology is a tool for easier living, so be ready to take advantage of it.

Even if you don’t get anything out of the experience, learning new things helps keep your brain sharp. No knowledge is ever wasted.

2.   Find the right tutor. Your tutor should be someone who is more certified or a thought-leader to teach you, as well as someone who you consider a mentor. Students usually find their teachers annoying or distracting, so find a tutor that you have no personal attachments for. It may be best to choose someone who doesn’t know you, so that you don’t feel shy or embarrassed about your lack of experience.
3.   Be prepared to make mistakes and find out what works for you. Mistakes are important way to learn the things that works and while we’re conditioned to avoid mistakes, this is unrealistic. A good example is the use of mouse or keyboard shortcuts to make things operate on a computer––some people prefer one way, others the other, but both work and hence, both are equally valid.
4.    Be patient.  Patience is a virtue and also the key in understanding technology; your view and the memory of the experience will always be negative in your mind and will turn you off from using the technology again on your own. Learning takes patience, take it one at a time. There is no need to learn it all at once, so be patient and learn one new thing every day.
5.    Be open to new technology. If you’re resistant to allowing someone to help you learn new technology, whether it’s because of your pride or some other reason, it’s important to try to let go of your resistance. One way you can do this is by picturing yourself struggling to figure out technology on your own and imagining how that would feel. Set aside worries of feeling frustrated or embarrassed about having someone tell you how to do something you think you ought to already know how to do. Remember that many people love to help guide others to discover how to do something.
6.     Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even Einstein asked questions, so don’t be embarrassed. Often we don’t want to ask a question, simply for the reason that it seems too simple, like we should already know it, but the fact is you’re not helping yourself by holding back on asking the simple questions. Without understanding the entire system, even the simple parts, you will not be able to get the full experience of the technology.
7.     Explore the system on your own. Once you’ve got the basics down, try exploring the technology on your own with your new-found knowledge. This can help you see what is most useful to you specifically about the systems, and get you more interested in investing some time learning to properly use it at a new level. There is so much excitement when you learn what works for you.
8.    Optimize your technology. One last but important step to enjoying the learning experience when it comes to new technology is to ensure that you’re using the equipment and systems that optimized your own needs. For example, if your eyesight is poor, increase the size of the text in the browser, online documents and anything else read on screen––learn how to do this for each device, as it varies across computers, phones,  etc..

Please follow and like us: