{"id":55041,"date":"2018-12-13T15:30:32","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=55041"},"modified":"2018-12-20T11:40:33","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T16:40:33","slug":"tech-gadgets-arent-just-for-youngsters-on-your-gift-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2018\/12\/tech-gadgets-arent-just-for-youngsters-on-your-gift-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech gadgets aren\u2019t just for youngsters on your gift list"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just teenagers who might have a new smartphone or tablet on their holiday wish list this year. Older adults want new tech, as well. But before you buy grandma a new iPad, you may want to think about how she\u2019ll learn to use it.<\/p>\n

Older adults are often uncomfortable with new technology, but applied behaviour analysis could help overcome that discomfort, says Kimberley Zonneveld, Assistant Professor in Brock University\u2019s Department of Applied Disability Studies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kimberley Zonneveld, Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBut once you break down that barrier and teach older adults to use their new device to access YouTube, for example, their whole world opens up,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For older adults, understanding how to use technology could improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs behaviour analysts, that\u2019s what we all want,\u201d says Zonneveld.<\/p>\n

Exactly how best to teach those skills was at the heart of a recent study led by Zonneveld\u2019s graduate student, Jacqueline Pachis<\/a>. Study results showed that older adults benefitted equally from written instructions and video modelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about ways people learn how to do things,\u201d says Zonneveld. \u201cThey get a written instruction manual or they go on YouTube and watch a video.\u201d<\/p>\n

Study participants, all of whom lived in a local retirement residence, were taught to use an iPad to use the Internet, which was \u201ca tipping point,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s what behaviour analysis is all about \u2014 making big, socially significant improvements in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Zonneveld says go ahead and buy grandma or grandpa the latest tech gadget, but keep in mind they\u2019ll need to learn how to use it. Before you tie the ribbon, you may want to tuck instructions into the box or make them a personalized video they can watch to learn how to get the most out of their new device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just teenagers who might have a new smartphone or tablet on their holiday wish list this year. Older adults want new tech, as well. But before you buy grandma a new iPad, you may want to think about how she\u2019ll learn to use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":55043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,3319,1,4,5,38],"tags":[5654,244,7353,838],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55047,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55041\/revisions\/55047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}