Community Education program brochures Metro North ABE - Consortium newsletter, Aug. 2015 | Page 6

Then and Now: An Adult Learner
Reflects on Changing Technology
Almaz Kowal, a student at the Adult Education Center in
Columbia Heights/Fridley, is tasked with using technology on
a regular basis to practice listening, writing, and speaking on
the popular English language learning website, “USA Learns.”

When comparing the way she uses
technology to her children, she doesn’t
know whether to smile or frown. “I
don’t have anything close to them,”
she says. “I’m lost. It’s really hard to
use the computer at all.”

When she mentions her inability to use
computers, I point out that she owns
and uses a smartphone. “Yes, I text
and call but that’s it!” She then remembers an old flip phone she used
before buying her latest device. “I
liked that. Why did I want to pay for
something more expensive when I
liked keeping things simple?” Despite
how comfortable she was with this
phone, she recalls being the brunt of
one particular joke within her family.
“They asked me why I used such an
old phone! They said I came off the
boat with Columbus. But you know
what? That’s okay. Columbus was
smart enough! He did many things!”

Almaz fears that simplicity is lost
among many of those who are younger
than she. “It feels like nobody has time
to sit and relax and talk to you. They
are on their phone. They are texting.
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METRO NORTH CONSORTIUM

They are on Facebook.” She finds the
distractions startling.

She says, “Things are tough in life for
people like us.” When asked who “us”
is, she says it refers to many people:
the elderly, those who grew up in her
home country, and anyone who struggles with understanding new technology. It makes her happy when she has
the opportunity to connect with others
who struggle. “I don’t feel like I’m
lost by myself...like I’m an alien.”
Sitting down to have this conversation
with Almaz allows me to step back
and reevaluate the connections myself
and others have with technology. For
myself, growing up in an environment
where the glow of a computer screen
was no stranger, it can be difficult for
me to pinpoint the "complications" of
technology.

“

Learning English is what
I want to do most...
There are many things
I can do on the
computer to help
[with] that.

“

Almaz voices some of her frustrations:
“I feel like I didn’t [use computers]
when I was young, so it creates more
problems.” Growing up in Eritrea, a
small country bordering Sudan, she
thinks technology education is something that many take for granted. “I
didn’t even have school in my country,” she says. “It’s hard when you
don’t have that foundation from the
start.”

Maybe if I seldom touched a computer
or a smartphone, it would—as Almaz
states—make it easier for me to sit
down, relax, and connect with another
human being. But could I clock in on a
computer at work? With paper appli-

cations disappearing, could I apply for
a position that I wanted or needed?
Could I type this right now a nd would
you be reading it?

Reflecting on what keeps her coming
back to the computer, Almaz states
that it is her desire to learn. “Some
don’t care to learn. They like the simplicity,” she says. Almaz isn’t concerned so much with doing anything
“too difficult” on the computer, but
longs for the tools that allow her to
live her daily life more easily. “Learning English is what I want to do most.
I want to help myself to improve my
spelling, my writing, and my reading.”
Pausing, Almaz leans forward and
gently touches the computer monitor
in front of us. “There are many things
I can do on the computer to help that.”

– Josh Katzenmeyer, CTEP Americorp
member (Article first published on the
CTEP Blog)