Let’s face it, today’s world is becoming more and more tech-focused every day. From using cell phones to communicate to using computers for every job on the planet, it’s a guaranteed thing that you’ll have to use technology to get through life in the modern world. However, not everyone takes naturally to using technology. If you’re less tech-literate than you’d like to be, whether that means being able to use your phone more functionally or getting that promotion at work, here are a few tips for improving your skills.
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Choose Your Goals
First, it’s important to establish why you want to become more tech-savvy. Unless it’s your job to, most people won’t know the ins and outs of the majority of technology they’ll use and be around during their lifetime. Learning about ICCID numbers is a very different goal from understanding what a graphics card is, so you should establish some clear goals for your learning experience. Once you know what you’d like to learn about, you can start researching some good learning resources for that topic.
Find Good Resources
Next, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to learn about your chosen topic. If you simply want to learn about your cell phone, tablet, or laptop’s inner workings, you could easily find a YouTube video about your specific model that can walk you through the process. Try to keep track of terms you come across as you learn since they’ll probably come up again as you advance through levels of learning. And never underestimate the power of simply asking someone for help. If you have someone in your life who is notably good with technology, they might be willing to sit down and show you how to use specific software or explain concepts to you in-depth.
Learn Cybersecurity Skills
One of the best things you can do for yourself as you learn more about technology is to spend some of that time learning about cybersecurity for the average tech user. Most people don’t pay proper attention to how safely they’re navigating online spaces and can open themselves up to various kinds of cyber-attacks. Phishing, scams, and data breaches are all something many people will experience as they create account after account online. You’ll learn about how to create safe passwords, set up multi-factor authentication, and how to update your software to keep your systems safe. Just knowing how to be safe online is going to make you more tech-literate than many people today.
Join Online Communities
Once you have an established baseline of knowledge, you may want to begin learning more in-depth about specific topics. This is a good time to find online communities where you can have conversations with and ask questions of others who are interested in the same topics you are. Message boards and chatrooms make for a place to get mentorship and peer review without the effort of going to school – plus, you’ll feel more enthusiastic and motivated to continue learning with more people behind you.
Get Some Coding Skills
A great way to become more tech-literate is to learn the basics of coding. Knowledge of HTML can be incredibly useful in many areas of life, and you’ll be sure to impress by pulling up the source code when you’re having issues with a website. It might seem intimidating at first, and you might feel as if there’s no real point to learning how to code if it’s not going to be your career. But having that baseline of knowledge is going to help you feel like you know what’s going on in most tech-related conversations, and you’ll have something to contribute, too.
Lastly, it’s important to continue this educational experience beyond the point where you feel that you’ve achieved success. The technology around you is constantly changing, and even the phone you’re holding in your hand or the laptop you’re staring at is guaranteed to undergo some changes, so it never hurts to continue learning about them.