Technology Elders wins Rep. Robert Garcia’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 42nd District

When asked what inspired the creation of Technology Elders, the student said, “As a person who considers myself a daily user of technology, from my phone and school Chromebooks to personal passions like coding, I’ve never known how it feels to be completely lost in a piece of technology.  Even if I don’t know the solution to some problem, I always know what steps I can take or where I can seek advice on how to solve it: another person, a YouTube video, or conducting a quick Google search. I have been raised to have expectations such as browsers always featuring a magnifying glass to indicate where their search bar is or phone’s menu bars always having to be dragged down. Another expectation would be the standard habits in video games. Despite playing completely foreign games, I’ll always know that the keys WASD are going to be my ‘movement’ keys(the keys to physically move my player around) or that the UI will always feature a health bar and inventory. These habits have been ingrained for years and have become second nature.
        

Others do not have these luxuries. They see technology as an endless unknown. This gap is what makes me want to help others. In today’s world, we see how everything is going digital. We see how shopping malls are closing down, and stores going fully online. Banks are all managed through the app. You’re able to scan checks, check on your account, and even receive messages as you make purchases. If these people don’t learn, they WILL be left behind. Our world is advancing too rapidly for any chance of survival. As the world keeps moving faster and faster towards technological evolution, some don’t have the opportunities or resources to learn. That’s where I come in. I can see Technology Elders being a default app on every android and IOS, windows, and mac, so people CAN learn. They won’t have to be afraid when buying something new because they can just open up the pre-installed app and begin learning. No more embarrassment of asking random people or falling behind. I believe that everyone can achieve tech literacy through the correct tools.”