by Elizabeth Ikpaha

I have an African mom who wants all the latest things but doesn’t know how to use them. One of those things being technology so I decided to teach her about digital literacy. The goal was to teach her basic skills that would allow them to safely and effectively manage the digital world. My mom uses WhatsApp where there are a lot of scammers so she needs to know this information anyways. The lesson covered how to evaluate information found online and how to keep personal information safe. I used some real-life examples, like fake and real news stories to look over, and a short activity that would help you make strong passwords. My mom paid attention the whole time and asked lots of questions, especially about how to differentiate the difference between AI and a real video or picture. She was especially interested in the part about digital safety, and she even told me about a suspicious text she got from a man in Africa claiming to be one of her nephews. She liked the notes and said they would be useful for going over the information again later. She was relieved to learn that these skills were easier than she thought it would be, and she was excited to navigate her social media with the information provided by me. This lesson taught me that to be a good teacher, you need to be both prepared and able to change your plans. Even though I had an organized plan, I had to change things up during the session to deal with questions and interests that came up out of the blue. I also learned how important it is to keep people interested with useful, hands-on tasks. My moms excitement and interest showed how important it is to teach these important skills in this digital age. My mom was a great student and now I understand why she was a “teacher’s pet” like she would always tell me.