Valley Tech to Offer Communication Course for Adults
The world is changing at a fast pace, and if you don’t keep up, you can easily get left behind. The Internet/Social Media Age has changed many things for the better. And, some things have changed for the worse. I could write a book about that, and we could discuss it for days. One thing that has significantly changed in the Internet/Social Media Age is communication. Communication is now instant. There are also so many new communication channels: social media, instant messaging, text messages, email, and more.
Unfortunately, many senior citizens and adults have gotten left behind in this instant communication world. Most senior adults have adopted email and text messaging, and more and more have started using social media (mostly Facebook). Now, social media platforms/apps like Tiktok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X, and more are the preferred communication channels for most young people these days.
Not only are they using these new communication channels or applications, their method of communicating has changed. These youngsters may be communicating in 3 different apps with 3 different people at one time, so they want to make things as quick and easy as possible. So, words or phrases have been shortened or abbreviated. For example: Thank you= TY, You’re Welcome= YW, I Don’t Know= IDK, and many more. This has caused many adults to be left behind in this modern world of communication.
Valley Technical Institute (Valley Tech) is a community college in Valley City, and they do a great job of serving the citizens of The Valley. Valley Tech sociology and psychology instructor, Benji Rush, recognized this communication issue among older adults and teens and 20 somethings. Rush said, “I approached our dean about creating a communication course to educate adults about communicating in the modern world. They were on board, so I started working on the curriculum. I’ve worked on it for about 3 months, and we’re going live with the course next week. The name of the course is “Communicating in the Modern World.” The course will educate adults on using social media, learning abbreviated words and phrases, and learning current slang words and phrases, and it will last 6 weeks. Right now, we have 11 people signed up, and the average age of the students is 65. I’m really excited about it.”
I was able to catch up with a couple of the students, and they were excited about the course. Billy Bean, a retired truck driver and grandpa, said, “Look, I just got a smart phone 6 months ago; I had a flip phone forever. I have been overwhelmed with all this technology. I got on Facebook about a month ago. My kids and grandkids text me, and I don’t know what half the crap they text me means. So, I decided to take this course to learn more.”
Karen Krasczinsky, a retired secretary and grandma, is also taking the course. She said, “I’ve embraced texting and social media. I’m on Facebook, and I recently got on Tiktok. I think I’m a pretty cool and hip grandma, but I need to learn more. I listen to my grandkids talking to each other and their friends, and it’s almost like they’re talking in a different language. I wanna learn more about the current slang of youngsters, and using and mastering hashtags.”
Rush has a couple parents under 40 in the class, so it’s not just senior citizens and grandparents that are struggling with modern communication. Rush also expects this course to be offered more in the future. If you’re struggling with communicating in this crazy world, consider taking Rush’s class at Valley Tech.
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