I helped a co-worker filling in online applications for students to go to boarding school. How problematic!
To begin with, she didn't even know where to access the application. She thought that the e-mail service was the application. She didn't even have the slightest idea what would the application look like. I at least have pictured some kind of form that can be clicked here and there, and then sent to the admin of the application, of course the email that she directed me to didn't have this feature, and yet she insisted that it was the application although we could not even access the email account because she didn't even know the user name and the password prepared for the email service. So I looked carefully at the piece of instructional paper that was already crumpled and were written with all sorts of things, probably reminders for her, and decided that we go to another URL printed on the paper. When I saw the online application on that page, I assume that I was already at the right place.
The problem of getting to the correct page to access this application was finally resolved, then another problem arose. She didn't know that this application too needs a sort of user name and a password. She just blindly asked me to use this name, or that name, this password or that password and I got really annoyed and I suggested that she calls the application admin immediately to retrieve the user name and the password but she called another teacher in other school and the worst was she couldn't explain her problems! I don't know what she was asking although I was right by her side listening to the phone call. At the end she said "Use Google Chrome". My goodness! Then I ask her to make another call specifically instructing her to ask for a user name and the password. So she called again and thank God for this time she got it right.
Just imagine my anxiety level at that moment. I was in the lab to do some small work until she came in and wasted most of my entire free time that morning. She didn't know how to instruct and probably due to the fact that she didn't know what information to be extracted during the briefing. It was clear that she didn't have the slightest idea on what she was doing. I am not sure about the briefing, but in my experience, when the group of teachers are not IT educated, the speaker/ instructor would tend to jump to shortcuts and do not explain why do we get to those shortcuts, which reminded me of another quite similar situation.
An IT teacher instructed a class of pupils to open an email account. He didn't instruct well may be due to his lack of understanding English. I even noticed he instructed the pupils to "just type anything" in the CAPTCHA verification and when it was prompted, he didn't even notice this error. When the first create button was clicked then, many pupils were not able to open an email account and the instructor didn't know from where to start to help them out. At the end, a few pupils were able to open an email account on mere luck and I even heard a pupil voiced out that she didn't understand anything.
If at the end I would be the one to complete the whole thing, being IT literate, I wouldn't mind going to the briefing in the first place. Although the students were applying for places in sekolah agama, it doesn't mean that the agama teacher has to go to the briefing on how to apply online.
To begin with, she didn't even know where to access the application. She thought that the e-mail service was the application. She didn't even have the slightest idea what would the application look like. I at least have pictured some kind of form that can be clicked here and there, and then sent to the admin of the application, of course the email that she directed me to didn't have this feature, and yet she insisted that it was the application although we could not even access the email account because she didn't even know the user name and the password prepared for the email service. So I looked carefully at the piece of instructional paper that was already crumpled and were written with all sorts of things, probably reminders for her, and decided that we go to another URL printed on the paper. When I saw the online application on that page, I assume that I was already at the right place.
The problem of getting to the correct page to access this application was finally resolved, then another problem arose. She didn't know that this application too needs a sort of user name and a password. She just blindly asked me to use this name, or that name, this password or that password and I got really annoyed and I suggested that she calls the application admin immediately to retrieve the user name and the password but she called another teacher in other school and the worst was she couldn't explain her problems! I don't know what she was asking although I was right by her side listening to the phone call. At the end she said "Use Google Chrome". My goodness! Then I ask her to make another call specifically instructing her to ask for a user name and the password. So she called again and thank God for this time she got it right.
Just imagine my anxiety level at that moment. I was in the lab to do some small work until she came in and wasted most of my entire free time that morning. She didn't know how to instruct and probably due to the fact that she didn't know what information to be extracted during the briefing. It was clear that she didn't have the slightest idea on what she was doing. I am not sure about the briefing, but in my experience, when the group of teachers are not IT educated, the speaker/ instructor would tend to jump to shortcuts and do not explain why do we get to those shortcuts, which reminded me of another quite similar situation.
An IT teacher instructed a class of pupils to open an email account. He didn't instruct well may be due to his lack of understanding English. I even noticed he instructed the pupils to "just type anything" in the CAPTCHA verification and when it was prompted, he didn't even notice this error. When the first create button was clicked then, many pupils were not able to open an email account and the instructor didn't know from where to start to help them out. At the end, a few pupils were able to open an email account on mere luck and I even heard a pupil voiced out that she didn't understand anything.
If at the end I would be the one to complete the whole thing, being IT literate, I wouldn't mind going to the briefing in the first place. Although the students were applying for places in sekolah agama, it doesn't mean that the agama teacher has to go to the briefing on how to apply online.