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Engaging with a new learner
Being a Digital Champion is more about people than it is about digital. Before you start supporting someone to build their digital skills and confidence you will need to invest some time in understanding their motivations and fears about getting online.
Learning any new skill takes time and digital skills are no different. Embedding digital inclusion support into your service can help. It can foster and build confidence through your trusted relationship.
"Anything that is viewed as “teaching” or classroom based hasn’t worked for us, or anything that hasn’t been asked for by the community. However, the brief intervention model where we support with a specific issue – from accessing UC journal to how to play Candy Crush has worked. We don't assume we know what people want."
Understand that it is part of a journey
You should not expect instant impact! Getting someone online, or helping them to learn a new skill, may not happen right away. Suggest and show different online options often. It will help to contribute to their curiosity and knowledge of the digital world.
"Using a computer for the first time can be daunting. The language can sound confusing and complex, and getting over the initial hurdles can sometimes be the most difficult part. We have found that one of the most important things is to ensure small successes at the beginning and celebrate them."
Find the ‘hook’
One of the most common reasons given for not being online is that people have ‘no interest’. This tells us that motivation is a key challenge for a Digital Champion. Since lockdown this may have changed for some people, but not everyone.
What is important to your learner? What will ‘hook’ them to get online? This will vary from person to person and as a Digital Champion the most important thing you can do is listen to what your learner is telling you.
"My advice is, what is their interest, what do they miss? Is it a family member or being more in control of their finances? Hone in on that. Don’t look at everything. They could get connected to a relative via FaceTime, do online shopping or download music. Once they learn that they’ll maybe want to learn other things."
When you understand a person’s interests and needs you will be able to find the ‘hook’. It could be supporting their hobbies, managing their finances, accessing key services or connecting with friends. It will be easier to engage someone and maintain that engagement longer-term.
This is a video from a tenant at West of Scotland Housing Association talking about the support she got from a Digital Champion:
Top Tip
The hook should be something fun, and a quick win to show the possibilities of being online. Here are some examples we’ve seen Digital Champions use:
- Watch live web cams in interesting locations live the African savannah, the International Space Station or San Diego Zoo
- Use Google Maps and go into street view to explore different locations around the world, or somewhere of significance for your learner from their childhood
- Do a virtual tour of the British Museum in London, or go further afield to the Rijksmuseum Museum in Amsterdam for a tour.
- Explore 360° videos from Google Arts and Culture, covering science, natural history and fashion.
- Explore YouTube for videos of your learners’ favourite singers or tutorial videos to support hobbies
- Have a go at the BBC website – for news, radio, podcasts, television programmes and so much more. It’s a familiar brand which can help new learners feel at home.
Keep it frequent, informal and flexible
You will need to tailor your delivery approach to learner’s needs. You might want to set up some specific sessions to focus on digital skills, or you may want to include it as part of your regular interactions. This will depend on the nature of your relationship with the learner or how your service delivers support.
Providing digital skills support should be informal and fun, rather than an IT skills lesson. As a Digital Champion, your goal is to keep your learner motivated and excited about being online. Each interaction should be driven by what the learner wants to achieve.
Keep momentum going with regular interactions. How you interact, and how often, will depend on what kind of Digital Champion you are e.g. embedded, professional. This could be weekly or a couple of times a week. Usually, 30 minutes is enough time to make some progress without overwhelming the learner. You may also want to set them some tasks in between interactions. For example, you might ask them to find a YouTube video of their favourite singer and send you the link.
It is important to remain flexible and adapt your delivery approach to meet your learner’s needs.
"We purchased 5 iPads, which have been used extensively in our Football Memories sessions to encourage older participants to become more familiar with browsing and searching for images and content."
Build digital skills support into everyday interactions
You can help people to build digital skills with regular one-off interactions. This approach is best suited to an ‘embedded Digital Champion’. For example, a service user calls you to ask about any events your organisation is delivering over the next few weeks. You could talk them through your website and how they can find information online. Talk often about the benefits of being online with enthusiasm and patience. It will help to build their confidence and motivation.
"Instead of staff saying: 'You want to look for mental health services in your area, we’ll do it for you', they would now say: 'let me show you how to do it together,' so that if you need to or want to look for something else, you now have the skills to do it."
Don’t re-invent the wheel
You can access lots of reliable and free resources to help with you as a Digital Champion. Use these resources to learn from, and adapt them for what you need. This will allow you to focus your time on delivering skills support.
You can access a range of curated resources on the Digital Champion hub on the Connecting Scotland website.
Learn My Way, is a simple and accessible platform for new learners to build their confidence. It includes interactive video tutorials on a range of topics including online basics such as searching the internet and using email.
Barriers
Most people will have some form of barrier to improving their digital skills and confidence. Most of the time, there are things we can do as Digital Champions to help explore these further and offer solutions. Of course, access to an internet enabled device and home connectivity are huge barriers to being online for many people, but in this guide we’re focusing on motivation to developing digital skills. We’ve collated some of the most common barriers and possible responses:
| Barrier | Response |
| “I can’t see my screen properly” | Most devices come with a range of in-built accessibility settings, ranging from screen magnification to text-to-speech functionality. Once you identify what device your learner is using you can research the accessibility features that can help enhance the user experience. See our section on Foundation Skills: Accessibility. |
| “There’s nothing for me on the internet” | We don’t know what we don’t know. If someone has never used the internet before they may not fully appreciate the range of different things you can do online. This is why we explore the ‘hook’ for learners. What are their interests and how can you translate this to a digital activity? Start with something fun. |
| “I’m too old to learn something new” | We’ve heard this from lots of learners, but actually when they give it a go it’s a lot easier than they think. Here’s a good video (skip to the 4 min mark) you can show a learner to help persuade them that you’re never too old to learn something new. |
| “I don’t want to be the victim of an online scam” | Fear of having your identity stolen or being victim of a scam is a huge barrier for many learners. This is a very real concern and it does happen to people. However, there are risks in the real world too. The difference is that we’re more aware of how to keep ourselves safe from fraud in the real world. For new learners, it’s important that you embed core online safety messages in all your interactions with them. They may become confident to use more of the internet with time but start of with activities where you don’t need to use bank details. See our section on Essential Digital Skills: Being safe, legal and confident online. |
| “I’m scared I’ll do the wrong thing and break my device” | This is a perfectly normal response for people who’ve never had a device before. Offer reassurance that they won’t break it. We all do things on devices that present problems or may look like it’s broken, but there’s always a way to fix it. |
| “I just don’t want to be online” | If you’ve explored a learner’s interests to find a hook and they’re still not interested that’s fine. We shouldn’t push people online if they don’t want to. Digital inclusion is about ensuring that everyone who wants to be, has equal opportunity to be online, and respecting those that don’t. |