Recently, one of our Central Texas learners, Mr. Huang Dongpo, sent a letter of gratitude to his bilingual digital literacy Instructor, Naimei Tang. Mr. Dongpo is one of many seniors to benefit from Senior Connect— a collaborative program between AGE of Central Texas and CTN. When the Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (AACHI) recommended the program to him, he was enthusiastic to join. Below is his digital literacy journey, in his words.
I am a Chinese-speaking senior citizen living in Austin who regularly participates in various activities organized by the Asian American Resource Center (AARC) for the Chinese community. I was also invited by AARC to volunteer to provide tai chi instruction and organize exercise activities for the Asian community. Unfortunately, due to the COVID virus, many activities could not be conducted. I am a senior citizen with poor English, so I was unable to provide services through the Internet before.
AACHI helped me with this computer training, and it helped me a lot. Not only did I learn to use the tablet you provided to provide online tai chi instruction for AARC and organize online exercise for everyone, but I also learned about modern computer applications in general. Now, I can interact with my relatives, friends, students, and colleagues in China every day from home via WeChat or email and phone to find out what is going on in each other’s lives and work. I can also keep up with news about local situations and breaking events around the world through the computer. For me, studying and taking classes (online classes) is much more effective with this tablet computer, which is bigger than my phone. Life is also more convenient.
Thank you AACHI and the Senior Connect organization for providing computer training for seniors. I wish you all the best so that more and more seniors can benefit from this program.
It is always a heartwarming experience to hear about the impact technology has had on our senior learners’ lives. Many thanks to our funding partners— City of Austin, Consumer Technology Association Foundation and Charter Communications— who enable Senior Connect learners like Mr. Dongpo to thrive online!
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