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For some older people, just downloading an app or successfully navigating certain websites might seem like cause for quiet celebration.
But not Shirley M. McKerrow, a retired business owner and politician from Darwin, Australia.
Ms. McKerrow, who is 84, revels in the thought of learning to develop those same apps and websites. Last year, she began taking free online coding lessons through Codecademy, an interactive platform that teaches programming languages, and was tutored along the way by her tech-savvy grandson.
She could hardly contain her enthusiasm: “I might use my newfound skills to create personalized, all-singing-and-dancing online birthday cards — in fact, all sorts of greeting cards for my family and friends. Maybe I could even graduate to making greeting cards personalized for businesses or for members of Parliament to send to their constituents.
“I have all sorts of ideas,” she continued, “but need to progress my skills a little further before I get too carried away.”
While millennials make up the bulk of those learning in-demand skills like web design, programming or digital marketing — the average age of students at coding boot camps, for instance, is just under 30 — some people old enough to be their parents or even grandparents are also acquiring these abilities.
