My uncle, at the ripe age of 60, has done a total makeover on his life. His life-in girlfriend (who I was brought up to believe was my aunt for all these years) moved out last year and he’s since lost 60 pounds and semi-retired. He has no kids, so I’m his helpful niece (who works for the odd restaurant giftcard and an always-welcome place to crash in sunny Florida). In his ongoing quest for self improvement, he’s decided to learn to use computers. How the hell he’s managed for the 15 years computers have been necessary, I’ll never know.
So far, I’ve got him signed up for all the various classes at his local library. He lives in Florida, so there are plenty of retirees looking to learn. He attended his first “mousing” class today and had a blast. However, he’ll only be doing 1-2 classes/week (basic internet, word processing, the ins and outs of hardware and the basics of software, etc). He’s looking to do as much as possible as quickly as possible. As soon as he’s not a beginner, he’ll start taking classes at the local Apple store as well (he bought a top of the line Imac 2 years ago and never took the classes we signed him up for.)
What books or other resources do you recommend for him to work on his skills at home? If I lived with or near him, I would just interview a high school student and offer them $10-15/hour to tutor him a few hours every week. So far for home I bought him a Mavis Beacon typing program, since he’s a hunt and pecker.
There are certain classes at the local community college as well. Would he be suited to these, has anyone had an experience in the past or with a relative or friend who has used them?
Ultimately, he wants to be able to take CME (continuing medical education credits) online, surf all of the newsites he currently gets in print, and monitor his investments online.