[TIP] How to give computer lessons to seniors

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

Just trying to give back a little with my area of expertise, teaching. I'm not sure how many useful tips there are for you folks in this video, but I have to assume even though you're computer experts you run into situations where you have to train a very end user and hopefully some of these ideas might help. I hate listening to my lisp.

Rick

 

[britechguy]

Excellent advice, and it applies well beyond the specific audience you have discussed in the video.

I can't emphasize enough that allowing for mistakes is one of the best ways for truly teachable moments to occur, and two things that get taught (if you do not do the "Don't do that!!" yell) are that this is a natural part of using a computer, and you can "work your way out" of whatever situation you get yourself in, whether gracefully, or even otherwise.

The only time I try to avoid allowing a mistake to happen is if I honestly believe, from observing during a lesson or lessons, that it is going to reinforce an unwanted behavior. Even then, you don't stop it with a declaration that causes alarm/nervousness, but try to get the person to pause, then ask them what they are trying to do, and what they were about to do next. If those two things are not compatible, you then explain why, in the simplest and most direct terms.

I will admit, though, that my patience for dealing with complete computer neophytes has grown very thin, and I avoid doing so whenever I can. All of my clients, including senior citizens, have the basics of computer use down already. It's also been interesting to see how different the whole process is for learning how to do something on a computer, with a keyboard and mouse, versus a smartphone or tablet, entirely by touch. The former seems to intimidate the uninitiated much more than the latter, which makes teaching the latter quite a bit easier because the student is already more relaxed from the start.

 

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

Excellent advice, and it applies well beyond the specific audience you have discussed in the video.

I can't emphasize enough that allowing for mistakes is one of the best ways for truly teachable moments to occur, and two things that get taught (if you do not do the "Don't do that!!" yell) are that this is a natural part of using a computer, and you can "work your way out" of whatever situation you get yourself in, whether gracefully, or even otherwise.

The only time I try to avoid allowing a mistake to happen is if I honestly believe, from observing during a lesson or lessons, that it is going to reinforce an unwanted behavior. Even then, you don't stop it with a declaration that causes alarm/nervousness, but try to get the person to pause, then ask them what they are trying to do, and what they were about to do next. If those two things are not compatible, you then explain why, in the simplest and most direct terms.

You sound like a good teacher.

Rick

 

[britechguy]

You sound like a good teacher.

Thank you. Having more than a decade behind me doing technology tutoring with those who are blind and vision impaired has taught me a very great deal about how one should allow natural mistakes and consequences, and then handle those results calmly.

Whether it's with someone in that demographic or not, I cannot count the number of times I've said, "You are going to make mistakes, and you may even make this same one again, but at least this specific one will look familiar in some way and you'll know you can get out of it, whether that's independently or with a bit of help."

One thing that has persisted in the computer world, and particularly for those above 70 (right now, this is sliding scale) is the memory of how catastrophic certain trivial mistakes could be early in the PC era. You really could destroy things via making some very trivial mistakes. And it wasn't limited to DOS/Windows, either. There was a time, under Linux, where doing an "rm -rf" while sitting at the system root folder wiped out the whole machine without asking "are you sure" first. Most Unix/Linux finally got smart about this and when that command is issued from the root folder, by the root user, you're asked if you're sure first. We all get distracted and do what would be "just fine" in one location where it would not be in another. Many still believe that they could wipe everything out by accident, and this has not been possible for a very long time, and it helps to actually show them that, at times.

OSes on the whole have come to recognize that, to a reasonable extent, they need to protect users from unintended stupidity. Intentional stupidity is a whole different ball game.

 

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

Any tips for me if I get a blind or vision impaired computer tutoring student?

 

[britechguy]

Any tips for me if I get a blind or vision impaired computer tutoring student?

I hate to say it, but no, and that's because if you have someone who's either blind or has a visual impairment that's enough to require the use of a screen reader, you have to know how to use the screen reader in order to tutor them (at least in any meaningful way).

They will make some mistakes (or just potentially not know about) certain screen reader features that come into play as well as any of the other stuff you're trying to teach that they don't know. These two things are very much intertwined for a computer user who's blind.

If you want to prove this to yourself (and, believe me, you can) start trying to access your computer, for things you know how to do, but doing it using Narrator, even with vision. You have to know how to use Narrator to access the things you're trying to access, then you get into the "how tos" in the various applications you are using the screen reader to access.

It is hideously difficult to teach screen reader basics and Windows basics (or Word basics, etc.) at the same time. Luckily, most individuals who are blind and are using computers fall into one of two categories:
1. Blind since birth and their initial computer education was in a setting where screen reader use was woven into the process.
2. Those who lost their sight after having been computer users, so your focus isn't so much on Windows or even the basics of many Windows programs, but on how to use a screen reader to access with your ears and fingers what you used to access with your eyes, fingers, and a mouse.

 

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

Would you recommend something like Dragon Naturally Speaking?

 

[britechguy]

I have worked with Dragon Naturally Speaking, but mainly with clients who have disabilities related to gross and/or fine motor movement in their arms and hands such that keyboard control of the computer is not feasible.

The last time I worked with it was just over 10 years ago now, and even then it had improved by leaps and bounds over what it was in its early days. The client was effectively quadriplegic and his speech was not easy for the unfamiliar listener to understand. Dragon managed to understand virtually anything he said or command he issued after going through the training of the software by reading something like 3 paragraphs of text.

It's an amazing product, but not something I'd use with "your random individual who's blind" or just "your random individual," period.

It's also another case where it would be sheer hell to try to teach Dragon Naturally Speaking as well as Windows basics (and I do mean basics) at the same time. This client had used a computer for quite some time, it was just his specific circumstances changed to make access by keyboard functionally impossible as a practical option.