When The Preston of the Park Cities helped a seniors’ home help Owen Robertson hold a course on cryptocurrency, Non-Foldable Tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse for its residents, the 21-year-old didn’t expect how quickly he would be picked up. about complex topics.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Quai Network Marketing Associate, McCombs Blockchain Initiative Board Member, and Guest Lecturer at The University of Texas, said he was more than eager to help when he was first contacted to set up a class:
“The elderly community is almost never exposed to the coding ecosystem unless their grandchildren tell them to.”
The 21-year-old found that throughout the lecture, residents were mostly quiet because they learned of an industry that even experts have trouble keeping up with, but in the end, he was impressed by how quickly some of the attendees picked up the pool. Threads:
“I finally got some thought-provoking questions from residents wanting to learn more about the technology, and it was great to see.”
Preston of the Park Cities offer a variety of activities through their Watermark University program, from knitting, music therapy, traditional exercises and fitness to gardening, yoga, tai chi and meditation.
However, the idea of giving a lecture on cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the Metaverse is a relatively new addition to their collection.
Debra Dickerson, director of community life at The Preston in Park Cities, told Cointelegraph that one of the main goals was to help residents improve their overall digital security.
“In the current news cycle, we often see stories on these topics but even I find it hard to understand what each of these entities are:”
“We wanted to bring in an expert to provide a basic understanding of these concepts while also educating them about the risks that technology can create, how to identify online fraud looking to take advantage of seniors, and how to improve digital security in general.”
Robertson said he wanted to run the course because he knew seniors were often “highly vulnerable to scams”.
“So I wanted to make sure that before talking about the positives in subsequent sessions, I covered all the negatives like the many hacks and exploits that have occurred over the years,” Robertson explained.
“After hearing the lecture and my recommendations, residents concluded that the risks outweigh the potential benefits, which was the goal of the chapter,” he added.
Twitter Reply Divided
Despite Robertson’s best intentions, the reaction on Twitter has been somewhat polarized, with some concerns that he may have been deceiving the elderly, while others who were there were won over.
Whatever the crypto community says about the course, says Robertson, residents seem eager to learn more.
“Residents seem to be very interested and looking forward to participating in the next two classes that are taking place this summer,” Robertson said, adding that he has already been asked to teach two more classes, diving into more specific topics such as Bitcoin (BTC) history, NFT and Metaverse:
“I hope that over time, education about the original values that Bitcoin and Quai were founded on will help deepen the public’s understanding of the technology and make it more accessible.”
As a bonus, attendees will be able to walk away with their NFT for the selfie taken in the first lesson.
