Technology impacts your money decisions, so are you good with technology
In today’s world to be successful in virtually anything, one has to fully comprehend and embrace the digital functionality of any activities around us. I can see many older Australians having problems within digital literacy, but unfortunately the world will not stop for you, and you have to stop using your age as an excuse not to learn.
Technology for many older Australians is not comfortable, but it is essential part of our lives today. This is how we pay bills no, most done online, often you will be required to confirm transactions by providing the pin sent to your mobile, you need to recognise emails that are safe and those that are scam, not to mention that often this is the way to communicate with your younger members of the family like your grandchildren.
But at the same time, technology can open a new world for you. Suddenly you can search for any information you want, you can lose yourself with millions of incredible films, stories online, you can find work, you can even run your own online business.
Even me talking to you now, is a smart use of technology, therefore with no cost to you, you can learn lots.
So today I would like to present to you a government sponsored program – yes, you might not believe it, usually we tend to criticise the government, but I think this is an amazing initiative, to help older Australians learn digital skills in confidence and safety with 100% free lesson provided to you via your own computer, laptop or phone.
The website is called: BE CONNECTED and as I mentioned it was created by the government, so it is safe and with lots of information to study. https://beconnected.esafety.gov.au/
On the HOME page you can see your choices for search: the latest articles, podcasts and topics have been listed here for your convenience
Then there is a list of short courses: Mobile phone, table, desktop, apple, android etc
And obviously, you can subscribe, which I strongly recommend if you are a person needing those lessons in technology.
You can then browse the content with most lessons available if you sing up to the site and set up your login details. To do this you just click the JOIN button, provide your email address in the Sign-in box, and create your password. Feel free to click the little box Remember email, so you don’t need to re-write it each time you want to return to the site to learn more.
Once signed up, you will get the access to all the lessons and topics that are amazingly diverse from: safety online to understanding what you can do with your phone, to games online or even fun things you can do with your photos. Obviously a very important topic is identifying scams, banking or buying and selling online.
Then in the header, there is a button: More ways to learn, and in the drop down you have three choices:
- Articles and tips
- Podcasts
- Email newsletter
I looked up some of the articles, for example: ‘How to search like a pro’, and in all honesty I thought I knew it all, until I got to the area of:
Use quotation marks for an exact match
That was an interesting read and some search that was quite surprising for me, such as “use an asterisk for unknown words”
I think there was lots of work put into creating this site and I would strongly encourage each and every one of you to visit it and take a look around. You might be surprised.
Then there are podcasts to listen to, they are not boring government podcasts, they are proper podcasts that are listed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or Google Podcasts for all to enjoy and learn. I actually listened to the podcast: ‘What does the future hold?’ Did you know that the first electric car was invented in 1880s, who would have thought? I would recommend listening to this and many other podcasts, very interesting and surprising material.
But then you can find the search for Free Classes near you, so if you prefer to have real lessons with other people and a real teacher, you can find the closest on to you via this search.
There are new lessons being introduced as you go:
- Apps for smarter travel
- Useful tips for using your Android phone
- iPhone basics
those are just 3 new webinars available to register for.
Anyhow, I though this website is pretty amazing, can assist many with further education about technology and how we can apply it into our lives, and podcasts cover such diverse range of topics, that it can be interested to many people, even those that have a pretty good understanding of technology.
So please check this website: BE CONNECTED and learn all you need about technology, how to use it efficiently, how to stay safe online and which podcasts interest you most.
By: Katherine Isbrandt CFP®
Money Strategist & Retirement Planner
Principal of About Retirement
