瑪麗耶拉·阿塔爾

A generation who grew up with black-and-white TV are now video chatting like teenagers—and for many the transition has been relatively painless. 看著黑白電視長(zhǎng)大的一代人，如今也像青少年那樣視頻聊天了，而且這種轉(zhuǎn)變對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō)也沒(méi)那么費(fèi)勁。

“I used to look at some people using WhatsApp video and think， I wonder what thats all about，” says 74-year-old Jillian Cheetham. “Now， you know， Ive discovered its pretty easy.”

Her book club， which has been going for 10 years， has just had its first Zoom meeting. “It was lovely to be together again and feel that we can keep on going，” Cheetham says. “Theres no wine and cheese on the table or tea and cake at the end of it， its not as much fun when its virtual. But were discussing a book we all really enjoyed. And， apart from a few hitches like some peoples frames freezing， it was really， really satisfying.”

A few short weeks ago， that would have been unthinkable. “Technology wasnt really relevant until perhaps the last 25% of my career，” says Cheetham， a former high school teacher， business owner and financial industry professional. “There was no training whatsoever. And if my computer wasnt turning on Id ring IT and theyd sort it out. Up until about 2000 you could learn the program specific to what you needed to do. There wasnt a need to go beyond that if you didnt want to.” But thats all had to change for her generation： “Weve been forced to encounter technology in a very different way if we want to continue to have any quality of life.”

The need to connect is precisely whats driving many seniors to do just that， according to RMITs Dr Torgeir Aleti， whos researching how technology helps support connectedness and social inclusion among older people.

This confirms what he and his colleagues have suspected for a long time： “Its just a stereotype that is constantly perpetuated， that seniors dont know this stuff.” “The idea that its not for me， I dont have the skills， or the resources， or Im afraid of being bullied， or of doing something wrong—these things are now being pushed into the background because were in a situation where its that or just patting the cat for two weeks while Im waiting to… go out again，” Aleti says.

Many are turning to younger generations for help， with mixed results. “Over the phone， its， ah， it always starts off civil， and I always begin with the intention that somehow Ill be able to solve her problem for her，” says Cheethams daughter， Naomi. “But as you know personally with technology， sometimes it becomes overwhelming， no matter how tech-savvy you may be.”

Tasks that could easily be demonstrated in person quickly turn into a multi-step tangle of complicated workarounds—like talking someone through using Zoom for the first time.

“I taught her to do a video call on WhatsApp first， and how to switch her camera around so I could see what she was doing on her screen rather than her face. It was an enormously clunky way to do it，” Naomi says. “Thats when I realized shed need a cheat sheet. I used the Snipping tool to show all the screens. It was like Ikea instructions—as few words as possible.” Her mother sent that on to others， who passed it on to their friends too. “Naomi is great，” Cheetham says， “I cant sing her praises enough.” But… “I find the best teachers are people of my own generation. That seems to work best for me， anyway.”

Glen Wall， the vice-president of U3A Network Victoria， agrees. Hes seen a remarkable uptake in technology among members of the University of the Third Age organization， which runs courses for older people， and has been moving classes online since early March. In less than three weeks 15 tutors in his area of Whittlesea were running sessions over Zoom， taking about half their students—the early adapters—with them. Wall says a second wave is now coming onboard. “People are sort of socially figuring it out，” he says. “I know of a 94-year-old… who talked his 93-year-old mate into buying his old iPad off him. He bought a new one and hes taught his mate to push that button so he can talk to him every morning.”

“Community connecters” are crucial to spreading the knowledge. “Theyll be the sort of person that can use technology or find out how to， and then have the ability or passion to share the experience，” Wall says.

One such person is U3A member Awhina Te Amo， a full-time carer for her 70-year-old mother， who has Alzheimers disease. Before social distancing， Te Amo accompanied her mother to line dancing， choir， tap dancing， chair aerobics and tai chi. Now a lot of it is virtual. “We also stay connected with others through WhatsApp， email， and Im currently working on a YouTube channel，” Te Amo says. “We have a little group on Facebook and Im teaching others what Ive been learning. Im just passing on the knowledge as best as I can.”

Relying on a trusted circle of people is the key to solving many technology dilemmas， according to Wall. “If a person talks about what they are looking to do—not how—in their group of friends， they will most likely find someone thats actually done it. And that person will show them.”

Meanwhile， Cheetham is persevering with the unfamiliar. “If theres one thing this coronavirus is going to do， its going to shift the balance from interactions more strongly in the direction of tech communication，” she says. “So its one thing to prefer something else， but to be functional my generation are going to have to do it.”

“我見(jiàn)過(guò)有人用瓦次普視頻聊天，就想弄明白這玩意兒怎么用。”74歲的吉莉安·奇塔姆說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在，我發(fā)現(xiàn)這挺容易上手的。”

奇塔姆所在的書(shū)友會(huì)已經(jīng)辦了10個(gè)年頭，不久前才剛用Zoom開(kāi)會(huì)?！坝帜芫鄣揭黄鹛美玻杏X(jué)我們的活動(dòng)又能繼續(xù)辦了。”奇塔姆說(shuō)，“沒(méi)有美酒奶酪，缺了會(huì)后茶點(diǎn)，線上不如現(xiàn)場(chǎng)會(huì)那樣有趣，但我們要聊的書(shū)是大家都喜歡的。除了一些人的畫(huà)面有些卡頓的小狀況，效果真的令人非常滿(mǎn)意?！?/p>

這種聚會(huì)形式要放在幾周前，連想都不敢想。教過(guò)中學(xué)、開(kāi)過(guò)公司、做過(guò)金融的奇塔姆說(shuō)：“我大概在職業(yè)生涯的后四分之一時(shí)間才真正接觸技術(shù)。我半點(diǎn)兒也沒(méi)學(xué)過(guò)，電腦一旦開(kāi)不了機(jī)，我就得找技術(shù)部門(mén)把問(wèn)題解決。到2000年那會(huì)兒，可以專(zhuān)門(mén)去學(xué)需要用到的電腦技術(shù)。如果不想學(xué)也沒(méi)必要學(xué)那么多。”但她那一代人的生活方式得改變了?！暗踩韵脒^(guò)得有質(zhì)量，那就得換個(gè)態(tài)度看待技術(shù)?！?/p>

皇家墨爾本理工大學(xué)研究技術(shù)如何助力老年人交往和社會(huì)融入的托爾蓋·阿列季博士表示，正是交往的需求促使不少老年人做出那種轉(zhuǎn)變。

這證實(shí)了他和同事長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)的猜想：“總說(shuō)老年人不會(huì)弄這些東西，這只是個(gè)固化印象。”他說(shuō)：“‘這不是我該玩兒的‘我哪有那兩下子‘沒(méi)地兒學(xué)去‘怕被網(wǎng)暴‘出了錯(cuò)怎么辦，此類(lèi)擔(dān)憂(yōu)如今都被拋到腦后了，畢竟事已至此，要么轉(zhuǎn)變，不變就只能在家逗貓干等倆禮拜，看什么時(shí)候能再出門(mén)。”

于是好些老年人開(kāi)始找年輕人幫忙，但結(jié)果因人而異?！半娫捓锇∫婚_(kāi)始都好聲好氣的，我的出發(fā)點(diǎn)永遠(yuǎn)是無(wú)論如何都要幫她解決問(wèn)題，”奇塔姆的女兒內(nèi)奧米說(shuō)，“但你懂的，技術(shù)嘛，不管多精通，有時(shí)候就是讓人難以招架。”

有些操作當(dāng)面演示起來(lái)原本很容易，但很快就成了步驟繁雜的一團(tuán)亂麻，比方說(shuō)教新手用Zoom聊天。

內(nèi)奧米說(shuō)：“我先教她怎么在瓦次普上發(fā)起視頻通話，然后教她切換攝像頭，這樣我就能看見(jiàn)她屏幕上的操作而不是她的臉。但這個(gè)教法十分費(fèi)勁兒。我這才意識(shí)到她需要的是一張?zhí)崾拘l。我用截屏工具截取展示了所有操作界面，就跟宜家安裝說(shuō)明單子一樣，詞越少越好。”內(nèi)奧米的母親把這張小條分享給了朋友，朋友又轉(zhuǎn)給朋友?！皟?nèi)奧米太給力了，”奇塔姆說(shuō)，“怎么夸都不過(guò)分。”不過(guò)……“我發(fā)現(xiàn)，好師父還得是同齡人，這樣我上手才快。”

維多利亞州老年大學(xué)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的副主席格倫·沃爾也這么看。他發(fā)現(xiàn)老年大學(xué)組織里的學(xué)員對(duì)技術(shù)領(lǐng)悟得相當(dāng)快;學(xué)校從3月初就轉(zhuǎn)為線上授課了。不到3周的時(shí)間里，他所在惠特爾西地區(qū)的15位講師都用Zoom給約半數(shù)的學(xué)生上了網(wǎng)課，這批學(xué)生都是對(duì)技術(shù)適應(yīng)得快的。沃爾表示，第二批學(xué)生也馬上要上網(wǎng)課了?！翱梢哉f(shuō)，大家都是在交往過(guò)程中學(xué)到這些技術(shù)的，”他說(shuō)，“聽(tīng)說(shuō)有位94歲的老人鼓動(dòng)他93歲的老哥們兒買(mǎi)下了他的舊蘋(píng)果平板，自己又去買(mǎi)了個(gè)新的，教會(huì)了老哥們兒該按哪個(gè)按鈕，兩人就能每天早上視頻聊天?！?/p>

“社區(qū)聯(lián)絡(luò)員”是數(shù)字技術(shù)傳播的關(guān)鍵。沃爾稱(chēng)：“將來(lái)，這群人自己會(huì)用數(shù)字技術(shù)，或是能找到方法學(xué)會(huì)，還能教給別人或樂(lè)于分享自己的經(jīng)驗(yàn)?！?/p>

老年大學(xué)的學(xué)員阿維娜·蒂阿莫就是這樣一個(gè)人，她全天候照料自己70歲高齡患阿爾茨海默病的母親?！吧缃桓綦x”實(shí)施前，蒂阿莫陪著母親跳排舞、練合唱、跳踢踏、做椅子有氧操、打太極，現(xiàn)在這些活動(dòng)有不少都在線上進(jìn)行。蒂阿莫說(shuō)：“我們還利用瓦次普和電子郵件跟大家保持聯(lián)絡(luò)。眼下我在做一個(gè)優(yōu)兔頻道。我們?cè)谀槙?shū)上建了個(gè)小群，我把學(xué)會(huì)的東西在群里教給大家，盡自己所能傳播這些知識(shí)?！?/p>

沃爾表示，求助一群信賴(lài)的人是解決許多技術(shù)難題的法寶?！耙怯腥撕团笥褌冋勂鹣胱鍪裁词聝簠s無(wú)從下手，多半會(huì)找個(gè)過(guò)來(lái)人。這個(gè)人自然會(huì)教他們?！?/p>

同時(shí)，奇塔姆對(duì)新生事物可謂孜孜以求，她說(shuō)：“要說(shuō)新冠病毒的影響，有一樣，那就是把交往大力推向了技術(shù)交流。喜不喜歡是一回事，但我們這代人要想老有所為，新技術(shù)那是非學(xué)不可?！?/p>

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>