When we first heard: “The computer doesn’t like me”

January 2025

“This always happens to me.”

The computer froze. The document wouldn’t move. The participant pulled his hands away from the keyboard, as if the device might get angry.

“The computer doesn’t like me,” he added, half-jokingly.

A quiet chuckle rippled through the classroom. But there was more to that sentence than humor. It was an interpretation.

When we understand technology as something that has a will of its own, we attribute power to it. And when we attribute power to it, we unwittingly take it for ourselves.

We used to understand tools

If a hammer slipped, we knew we were holding it wrong. If a car stalled, we knew it might have run out of gas. Tools were mechanical. Their behavior was understandable.

Digital tools, however, operate in layers. The program, the operating system, the network, the server. When something doesn’t work, we don’t see the mechanism.

And when we don’t see the mechanism, a sense of helplessness sets in.

Technology isn’t personal

In DigComp Competence 5.2, we talk about the ability to identify needs and choose the appropriate technological solution. This means understanding what we want to achieve—and which tool is suitable.

But before we get to choosing a solution, we have to overcome something else: the feeling that we are the problem.

The participant who said, “The computer doesn’t like me,” already had enough knowledge to work in the program. The problem was a slow internet connection. It wasn’t his fault.

Once we explained this, his attitude changed. He was no longer slouching. He picked up the keyboard again.

From Personal Blame to Systemic Understanding

At UPI Žalec, we’ve noticed that adult participants often blame themselves for technical glitches. If a document won’t open, they think they saved it incorrectly. If a page won’t load, they think they clicked the wrong link.

They rarely first consider that the problem might lie with the system.

And this is where a crucial shift occurs.

When we begin to distinguish between user error and system limitations, we gain power.

Technological solutions as a conscious choice

As part of the DigCompAE project, we also asked ourselves whether we always choose the most appropriate tool for a given task. Do we use a tool because we are familiar with it, or because it is the most suitable?

The same applies to our participants.

If someone is writing a long document in an application not designed for extensive text, the problem isn’t their ability. The problem lies in the choice of tool.

Once we understand that we have a choice, our attitude toward technology changes.

The computer isn’t a judge

At the end of the class, one participant said, “Oh, so it’s not that it doesn’t like me.”

It wasn’t a joke. It was a shift in perspective.

Technology isn’t personal. It doesn’t reward or punish. It operates according to rules. And we can learn those rules.

Once we understand this, we return to the position of an active user.

At UPI Žalec, we don’t just teach how to use programs. We teach a different attitude toward technology.

• From “I don’t know” to “I understand”
• From “I broke something” to “let’s find a solution”
• From “the computer doesn’t like me” to “what does the system need to work?”

And this is perhaps one of the most important digital competencies. Not because technology has become simpler. But because we become more confident.