The Zombie Stack Exchanges That Just Won't Die
When dealing with an older staff that are adverse to learning new technology, what are some effective ways of integrating newer technology, such as eBook readers or attending webinars?
KatieR
I have the same challenge. I've found that repetition is very helpful. We're switching to a new ILS. Due to several changes in our 'live' date, staff have had nine months to play with the training server. They also have had several in-person trainings (taught by the Consortium we're in), webinars (which walked them through on screen & answered specific questions), and a couple of staff meetings.
Another point in repetition's favor: older folks who aren't comfortable with new technology aren't likely to be using it outside of the workplace. If you should them how to download an ebook one day, they're unlikely to retain that knowledge a month later because they won't have used it in the meantime. For my staff, we're investing in a couple of different eReaders (a Nook & a Kindle) specifically for staff training. Staff members will be given demos, written instructions, and allowed to use the eReaders until everyone indicates a good comfort level with helping patrons use our digital catalog and downloading to eReaders. (The eReaders will then be circulating among patrons.)
We've used an incentive program before which required everyone to complete a variety of tasks over a period of several weeks. Those who completed all the tasks in the required time received an "incentive" in the form of a \$0.25/hr (40hr/week equivalent for salaried employees) raise and were entered in a drawing for one of several best buy gift cards. I don't recall the value of the cards.
Even though the incentive was relatively small we had a pretty good participation rate. We got people blogging and listening to podcasts and using social media.
In my experience the biggest barrier to getting through to those who don't want to learn about technology is plain old fear. Fear that they "won't get it" or fear that they'll break something and get in trouble. [This. Especially vis-a-vis the elderly and personal computers. As a group they seem collectively terrified they'll destroy their computer.] I don't have a good solution to this dilemma though, sorry.
The second biggest barrier is jargon. As technophiles we have the vocabulary to describe the problems we're having. Whereas the muggles don't know a widget from a spudger, if you catch my drift. We think they should just google their problem and figure it out but they don't know how to google properly. They don't have the words they need to find a solution. Again, I'm sorry but I don't really know how to solve the problem, but at least I've identified it. .
I agree with Kode and Fisher - incentives and repetition are both key. Our library's trainers have developed a blog with periodic postings of new and interesting technologies, and staff who read and comment are entered into a drawing for (very small) prizes. I've been amazed at the staff participation, relatively speaking. I also work in a department that handles phone and email questions for the library system, and handles a tremendous number of questions related to downloadable materials. We have set up regular times for staff to practice downloading (we have an iPod Touch and Sony Reader to use for this), and it has been extremely helpful - for everyone, but particularly for the staff who are somewhat less tech-savvy. Primarily it helps with the confidence levels - the more often people do something, the more likely they are to feel able to help others.
Something I've come across is that non-tech people like paper. So, printing out something they can have in their hands and refer to when questions come up may be helpful. It's very counter-intuitive to me, since "it's right here online" but some of my coworkers are not comfortable with even that level.