Posting photos on Facebook, chatting with family on WhatsApp or editing photos on our smartphones might be second nature to many people, but they still pose a barrier to some elderly Chinese-Australians, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recognising a need in the community for greater smartphone literacy among seniors, the Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS) began running free training programs to help them stay connected.
Funded by Multicultural NSW, the program is designed for Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking seniors to answer technology-related questions, and provide one-on-one support on using smartphones and basic applications including Medicare, Centrelink, Service NSW, Facebook and WeChat.
CASS executive support officer Robin Chen told SBS Chinese that the lessons were run in small groups of a maximum of six people, with attendees expressing a need to stay connected to their friends and families overseas in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia.
This became more apparent as China continued to restrict international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said many of those who attended the classes wanted to keep up with technology and couldn’t find enough support from family members.
“Some do have the need to stay connected online … some are actually having fun by using smartphones and exploring all these functions of different applications,” she said.
Others want to “tidy up their photos before they send them out on their social media”.
“They also want to explore some new social media platforms like Facebook, some people have never used Facebook before or WhatsApp. And they might have recently joined a new social group, and realised everybody is using this new app. So they want to learn more,” Ms Chen said.
Smartphone training for seniors run by CASS is conducted in Cantonese and Mandarin. Source: Supplied / CASS
The Australian Communications and Media Authority released a report in May 2021 that found older people increased their online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, “particularly for communication and entertainment”.
It said that while the elderly had started using video conferencing and watching videos online, they still held cautious views of the digital world.
“The majority continue to feel overwhelmed by technological change, and may be largely unmotivated to find out more. Their engagement in online environments appears to have been prompted by perceived (or actual) necessity, rather than by seeing benefits in ‘going online’ or feeling confident about doing so,” the report said.
They also want to explore some new social media platforms like Facebook, some people have never used Facebook before or WhatsApp.Robin Chen
It was this same notion that provided the impetus for CASS in mid-2020 when the organisation began running its classes and services online. Ms Chen said while they tried to run more activities on Zoom, many of their older clients didn't know how to use it.
“So CASS wanted to run something well-structured to help people to pick up the skills and knowledge they need,” Ms Chen said.
The program, which runs from Hurstville and Campsie in Sydney's south, is set to conclude at the end of October and Ms Chen said CASS was looking for more funding to continue the training.
She called for ongoing support and more resources to continue running the training program.
“We do have some of the participants ask me whether there's a textbook so they can continue learning but we don't think that's sufficient enough … it's the human engagement and interaction that matters to this group,” she said.
“They do need some more encouragement, some sort of confidence, someone to be by their side and encouraging them to continue trying and exploring - that's what matters.”
ACMA’s “The digital lives of older Australians” report found that the increasing digitisation of life echoed the importance of supporting digital literacy so they could navigate risky environments and engage with the digital world safely.
