I work as a volunteer at our local senior center and have been giving one-on-one tutorials to them on how to do basic computer / internet stuff. So far it’s gone pretty good, but at this point (several months in), I’m thinking my more laid-back approach might need an upgrade. So let me tell you what I’m already doing and perhaps someone can give suggestions on what all else to add.
[ol]
[li]anything email related[/li][li]search engines[/li][li]Wikipedia[/li][li]eBay[/li][li]different sites to use as a home page[/li][li]how to save Favorites and make folders[/li][li]misc. things that they specifically inquire about[/li][/ol]
Overall, I’d just like to add to their knowledge base. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
You say computer/internet but I didn’t see anything about word processors. Most of those courses only teach Word, but often the needs of many users are low enough for Notepad.
My mother types very slowly, so she types lettes in Notepad before cutting and pasting them to gmail.
I would add the difference between http and httpS sites and security. You know how to tell if you’re on a secure site.
You also want to do a bit about phishing scams, and don’t forget those annoying pop-ups that tell you “warning your computer is infected,” and it’s just an ad.
I would also do a bit about how to rip CDs and put them on to mp3 as a lot of seniors like books on tape (CD) and such.
Also if they’re very old check out the Intenet archive for old time radio shows.
My advise is to use a lot of analogies to cars and television.
Fer example- Just like a car, your computer makes a series of noises when you turn it on. Pay attention to those noises. You don’t have to know what they mean, but if they change there’s usually trouble.
I think pictures are a big thing for seniors (well they’re big for people of any age). I think showing how to scan (already mentioned) and/or get them off a camera, add as an attachment to email, share online, send links, etc is pretty important.
Paying attention to where you download stuff is a good idea. Every new user has a problem with this.
Going over “My Documents” should be important, too. “My Documents” sometimes turns into a wasteland of stuff - apps make folders in there for storage, stuff gets downloaded there, programs save there to default. Much nicer if people know how to use it and organize it - and not put everything on their desktop!
Irfanview. My mother loves it. My brother (33!) finally learned how to turn pictures last month, when I taught him how to use my scanner (he’d used one at work). It’s free, it’s got more features than most people will ever need, features are easy to find.
I taught my father-in-law how to program when he was over 60. (BASIC, but still.) Now he is 93, he is more computer literate than most, but he has problems with thinking that the computer is running slow because he has too many files. He doesn’t quite get how bit a couple of gigabytes is.
Two more things:
How to back up your files. If they delete something they want by mistake, and they will, they’ll stop using the computer altogether.
Rebooting - because they will get so confused they won’t know what to do, and a reboot might be the only way for them to find their way home.
And I second the notion of simple word processing.
Things are much easier today. My father-in-laws first computer was an MS-DOS machine, and it took two times for him to learn that typing
format c:
was not a good idea.
Eleanorigby and others have nicely complemented your list, which is really just internet skills and not computer skills.
I helped my retiring veterinarian as he was starting to learn about computers, and explained that there are programs, which are tools that work on things, and there are data files, which are the things the programs work on. (Shhh, don’t mention compilers.) It was like a light switching on for him. Imagine not having this simple notion! But, where does it come from these days?
Thank you everyone for your replies. These are great suggestions and now I’m making up a list with them on it. And to trupa, I appreciate your kind comments. I’ve always thought my heart was with teaching kids, but perhaps I’m wrong. I truly love working with these people. They’re all so wonderful. So thank you.
Now if y’all would just keep the suggestions coming, I’d be eternally grateful.
Most of us seniors have some form of eye problems and many are loath to admit it.
I use the scroll wheel to change font size a lot. Many of the seniors I know have problems learning scroll wheels. Other mouse problems too. like click drag and drop. One instructor I know said she just gave up on triple click; quit trying to teach it.
That’s a good one - we’ve increased the size of things on his computer quite often. The control panel isn’t a place you want seniors to visit very often, so a very explicit set of commands would be good.
Aren’t there accessibility features in Windows? I’ve never had cause to look at them, but some of them might be helpful.
One other thing: it might be good to write down very clear instructions for common tasks and print a little manual. My father-in-law is still quite sharp, but he gets lost in multistep procedures, and has a hard time remembering what to do next.
