More than 800 seniors pick up functional technology skills at U Live Symposium 2018
Peer-led sharing enables seniors to tap on technology to improve and make their daily lives more meaningful.
Singapore, 3 November 2018 – In an increasingly digital society, active agers are learning how to pay for transport and groceries with their smartphones, manage their banking and finances online and connect to friends via social media apps at the U Live Symposium today. This ninth edition, tech-centric symposium saw more than 800 seniors taking a proactive step to pick up functional technological knowledge and skills to improve and make their daily lives more meaningful.
Guest-of-Honour NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng was present this morning to engage with the community’s ambassadors and encourage the attending seniors to embrace technology in their lifelong learning journey.
Equipping seniors with digital skills useful for work, live and play
Organised in support of Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative, this full-day symposium is aimed at equipping seniors with functional technological skills useful for everyday work, live and play. Participants learnt how to utilise these technology through hands-on experience at various workshops, most of which are conducted by senior cyber guides in a peer-to-peer mentoring environment that eliminates any fears seniors may have on using technology.
"Today’s technology moves very fast and it can be challenging for seniors because we may be embarrassed for learning slowly or asking too many questions. Once you try a few times and are unsuccessful, you may not want to learn anymore and give up," said Mr Tariam Singh, 71 years old, one of U Live’s ambassadors and cyber guide. “But in a group setting like today, giving up hardly happens because everybody learns together and is inspired by each other.”
At the Tech Learning Zone, U Live’s ambassadors taught participants how to log in to the recently launched SingPass Mobile app by using their fingerprint, facial recognition or a 6-digit passcode. With this, seniors can access government services conveniently and securely at their fingertips.
Participants also learnt about making e-payments for their online purchases and groceries, booking transport conveniently using their smartphones, and reading the newspapers and e-books online. They also picked up tips on cyber security, and how to stay on top of trends with social media, mobile photography, and useful navigation apps.
Helping seniors embrace technology to make the most of silver years
NTUC Club’s U Live community has been preparing senior members to embrace technology for upskilling and re-employment, as well as purposeful retirement. The last three annual symposiums have been tailored to educate senior participants to the many uses of technology in their daily lives and how these can make their lives better.
“At the ground level, NTUC has been encouraging our workers, including our seniors, to embrace lifelong learning and technology. Technology is not something to be feared. Instead, it can and should be embraced and tapped on to make the most out of our silver years, enabling us to pursue and focus on things that matter as we get older. I’m heartened to see our U Live ambassadors so enthusiastic about learning new technology and helping their peers keep up with the Smart Nation progress. I hope that in addition to learning about functional technological skills, they can also have fun and learn about social media for example, to connect with their friends, interest groups and even their grandchildren,” said NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng.
In addition to the symposium, U Live conducts regular technology workshops useful for work, live and play. These include relevant skillset courses in line with Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative to help seniors upskill at work, and interactive social media workshops to connect with friends for interest-based bonding, moving towards productive re-employment or purposeful retirement.