I work as a part time manager at McDonald's and about a month ago the corporate officials came to our McDonald's and informed us that there would be a software update on all of our computers. They explained that all the menus on our computers are going to change, and as managers we have to make this transition as smooth as possible. For this to be smooth, I had to learn the new menu before the update happened so that I could help my coworkers adjust as smoothly as possible.
Well, this transition finally happened three days ago. I've worked the last three days, and have had to deal with all the backlash from the new system. In all honesty, the new system is so much easier to use. It was created to make life easier for the employees. However, my McDonald's has a very great dispersion of ages, and I've noticed that the younger people complained for about ten minutes about the new system, but then easily adjusted to using it (because it really is easier.) However, the older people I work with just grumble and nag about having to switch to a new system. I had to follow these workers around almost every second because they always need help with something.
This reinforced the digital native/immigrant idea that we talked about in the beginning of the semester. I mean if I combine all the times that I had to help all the younger people that have worked in the last three days, it still wouldn't come even close to matching up with how often even one older person asked for help. The older generation just can't seem to figure technology out. They always do it with an "accent," but the younger workers at McDonald's played with the new system for a few minutes and figured out how to use most of it very quickly.
This experience at work just made me think once more about how hard this changing technological world is for the older generation.
What an interesting experience! I think this is a perfect example of the difference between digital natives and non-natives. What I also find interesting is that everyone complained initially - even the younger people. I think it is a fact of life that when a change happens like this, it is initially seen as really inconvenient, but as the response from those younger people shows, acceptance of the change and adaptation to it will be best in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThinking about this in terms of education, how often is it that a new method is proposed, or a new technology is introduced, that could make things easier in the classroom, yet initial backlash against it stops the process? The problem is that younger teachers, who have the potential to accept the change, adapt as necessary, and actually get the good results that are promised, are not the majority voice. Instead, in education, the loudest voices come from those who have been doing it for 50 years, and sadly, the truth is that those really aren't the voices that we should be listening to -- times have changed and other industries have adapted. It's time for education to catch up.
This was very interesting to read! I liked how you mentioned that the younger generation, although they might have complained a bit, was able to figure out the new technology in so little time, while the older generation were just confused. This reminds me of the beginning of the year in this class when we learned how the newer generations brains are changing because of technology.
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