Smartphone Literacy

T & L Colleagues,

(I also posted this in the Career Pathways CoP.)

I've been thinking about what "smartphone literacy" could mean. In addition to basic smartphone literacy: knowing how to turn it on; creating, remembering and entering one's password; two-thumb keyboarding; and knowing how to download, update, and organize apps, some of the most important skills are these:

1. Knowing what your smartphone can do for you beyond communication -- voice, text messaging, and email; and information searching; for example, managing your contacts, and calendar, scheduling meetings and responding to others' meeting schedulers, learning online through websites and apps, purchasing -- for example without hard money or credit cards but only a smartphone,  and banking, etc.

2. Deciding what you want  it to do for you, and why. For example, for some people buying food has become complicated. Was that fish wild-caught or farmed? Where are those shrimp from, and does it matter (it does!), are those really organic vegetables, and does this food contain gmo's ?  Someone close to me has resisted buying a cellphone but now thinks she needs a smartphone to help her with these basic food shopping decisions. Increasingly, foods have QR codes that take you to web pages that answer questions like these, and print labels on food don't.

3. Learning how to make your smartphone do what you want it to do. YouTube videos (in English, Spanish and increasingly other languages) are often one good way; asking a friend, family member or classmate who has the same kind of smartphone is another, or a combination of the two.

4. Knowing what kinds of learning smartphones are good for, and what kinds a computer would be better for. A smartphone vocabulary app, especially one that uses "spaced" learning strategies, is an ideal way, in 5-10 minute sessions, to learn new words. Learning how to write -- and writing -- a resume, perhaps not. Reading a streamed or downloaded short story is fine on most smartphones (you flip paragraphs instead of pages, and you generally can enlarge the text to meet your needs) but you might not want to read War and Peace this way. Some online course activities might be okay on a smartphone -- indeed some are designed to be done quickly on a smartphone -- but others, especially those that require having more than one page open at a time, no thanks. 

In summary, we all need to learn what smartphones can do, what we want to do with them, and what they are and aren't good for. Of course if you only have a smartphone, no computer, you might get good at using it for things it wasn't intended for!

I'd love to hear others' thoughts about what smartphone literacy should include.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

Comments

In the Reading and Writing CoP, Norene Peterson commented, "Smartphone Literacy needs to include knowing when and where one should *not* use a smartphone, e.g. accessing financial information via public wifi. Safety is paramount" and I replied, "Great addition, Norene. Although it applies to all public digital devices, you are certainly right that with the ubiquitous smartphone protecting private information and passwords is even more important. Thanks for reminding us about this."

David J. Rosen

Technology and Learning CoP Moderator

djrosen123@gmail.com

Hello Integrating Technology Colleagues,

Today I received an email message with this question:

I'm trying to find a good smartphone for my mother. She's 68 and never used a smartphone before so she lacks literacy. The good thing is : she is willing to get a smartphone, she understands how useful it can be and she is ready to put in the effort to learn this new thing. Also she knows how to use a computer, navigate the web and she even plays video games, I'm talking Kingdom Come or minecraft not Freecell. She went through much effort to learn to play games and she is very thankful I encouraged her, otherwise she'd be bored. Anyway...

I was wondering if you'd have information that would help me. I don't know what factors to take into account, I suppose not a big screen and easy to access buttons for example. If you recommend some brands or smartphones to me it would help me greatly to find the perfect match.

Do you have suggestions for this person? If so, please reply now.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

Here are my suggestions for helping an older adult with "smartphone literacy":

I'm trying to find a good smartphone for my mother. She's 68 and never used a smartphone before so she lacks literacy.

I'm assuming this means "lacks smartphone literacy" not reading and writing  or other traditional basic skills.

The good thing is : she is willing to get a smartphone, she understands how useful it can be

Tell us more about in what ways she hopes to use it. Many people, for example, use their smartphones to Facetime, Zoom, or using other apps, teleconference with family or friends. Some use them to shop, get the weather, get driving directions. What does she have in mind? You could make sure those apps are loaded when she gets the phone.

and she is ready to put in the effort to learn this new thing. Also she knows how to use a computer, navigate the web and she even plays video games, I'm talking Kingdom Come or minecraft not Freecell. She went through much effort to learn to play games and she is very thankful I encouraged her, otherwise she'd be bored. Anyway...

I was wondering if you'd have information that would help me. I don't know what factors to take into account, I suppose not a big screen

If she needs reading glasses, a bigger screen would probably be helpful.

and easy to access buttons for example.

Yes. There are some smartphone brands that are designed for seniors. If you type "smartphones designed for seniors" in your search engine you'll find a few.

If you recommend some brands or smartphones to me it would help me greatly to find the perfect match.

I have never used a smartphone designed for seniors, but perhaps some of our colleagues here have, or they know family or friends who have, and might have recommendations.

Other things to think about: You or she can buy an inexpensive portable (foldable) nearly full-size bluetooth keyboard for the phone. This would be helpful if she doesn't like to type with her thumbs, and/or if  she expects to do a lot of writing. You could search the Web or whatever your favorite online merchant might be.

If she has difficulty hearing, especially on telephones, a good set of earphones may make that easier for her.

Will you be helping her to learn how to use her new smartphone? If so, will this be in-person or remotely? If remotely, do you already teleconference with her?

Whatever the case, one of the most important features of a smartphone doesn't come with the phone: Ii's a trusted human helper. If that's you, or whomever, there are some important things to keep in mind:

  • Patience
  • People -- especially as we grow older -- need to practice to make new technology skills our own
  • Everyone sometimes has frustration, especially learning a new technology. Tell her to expect that. Ask her what she thinks she can do when she gets frustrated in order to solve the technology problem. Not incidentally that might include not only help from someone who can solve the problem, but also developing strategies for calming herself, putting the problem in perspective, considering it a challenge to be overcome -- and emotionally rewarding herself for figuring out the solution or getting the right help to solve it. Emphasize that digital technology, as useful as it can be, also creates (for all of us) new challenges that need to be overcome. (Some days I ask myself if the new challenges take more time to solve than just using old technology!) That's why the OECD PIAAC "problem solving in technology-rich environments" often includes the problems that the technology itself creates.
  • Technology is now embedded in the culture of most modern affluent, and some less affluent countries. People who are not comfortable using new technologies, because they are older, because the technologies are not affordable, and for other reasons often feel "left behind" and want to be proficient not only to do specific things with digital tools, but to feel "up to speed." Sometime they feel like the challenges are overwhelming. It's helpful to keep in mind -- and to say -- that breaking down large challenges in solving technology problems into smaller steps is often helpful.

Although the context here is your 68-year old mother, many of these "human helper factors" apply to all adults, regardless of age, and to some children as well.

Now, let's hear suggestions from others here to help with "smartphone literacy".

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group