Teaching people with ZERO comp experience how to use one?

[Frey Grimrod]

Just wondering if anyone has had to try to teach someone who has had NO computer experience how to use one. Im talking like senior citizens here and my grandmother expressed interest in learning, just how to E-mail people and simple stuff, but Im still impressed. Any techniques that tend to work well?

[reboot]

Start by making the screen big (appear big) as in 640x480 or 600x800, then increase the font size in Explorer, or the whole machine to 125%.
Install the Accessibility options, and turn on the magnifier.
Next, show them how to open a program and close it again, both IE, and Outlook, using the mouse, get them to practice on the Start menu with the mouse, just opening and closing, so they can manipulate the mouse. If it's difficult, turn down the sensitivity.
Show them how to GET email, then show them how to send and recieve, compose, and forget about stationary and signatures for now.
Show them how to SEARCH, using a small search engine like excite.com first, move up to google.com later.
Show them how to narrow a search down by category.

Geez, this could go on for chapters and end up as a book.

[mairving]

After spending a couple of years as a trainer, I found that the single biggest problem that older people had was fear. They were so afraid that they would break something and so were afraid to use the computer. Try first to get rid of some of these fears. Tell them that it is just a tool and not to be afraid to try new things.

You will also find that they will take the hardest route seemingly possible. My mother-in-law said she kept sending us email that was always returned. When I was out visiting her, I looked in her address book to see if she had the address wrong. Well guess what. Her address book was written on a piece of paper. She didn't know that you could have one in your email program. She was also using Netscape because one of her friends used it. I set up an address book for her and showed her how to add new addresses and set up IE for her to use. You should do all the setup and then show her how to send email. Bookmark her some sites and let her go.

[Frey Grimrod]

Ok thnx this is helping I was thinking about trying to explain in VERY general terms how the internet is basically just allowing all the different computers to communicate over the existing phone lines just so she'll have a slight clue whats going on. She was a telephone operator for years so should understand a good deal about the phone system or is this just a flat out bad idea?

[LawyerRon]

You guys are jumping WAY ahead.

First, show them how to use a mouse. We take it for granted that they will catch on to this quickly. Not so. Start with the basics, moving the cursor on the screen, Pointing, single clicking, double clicking. The show them how to play Solitair. That's the best mouse training program. Only when they are comfortable with the mouse should you move on.

[K A Hall]

Here ya go. Funny little story that deals with this topic. Has some tips as well
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/reviews/0,6755,2676462,00.html
and here is a follow up story http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/reviews/0,6755,2692065,00.html

[HAL9000]

I agree with Ron here, get them hooked to card games first. Solitaire gets the draggin and dropping, single clicking and the difficult to master double click. I can't tell you how many people that I've showed the double click too and they still go click.... 2-3 second pause ..... click.

[glc]

Yes, double clicking can be very difficult to master. Get the person a 3 button mouse and set up a button as double click. This is less confusing in my opinion than setting up the hover/single click desktop.

[moonlight burner]

My experience is senior staff have problems with typing, before anything else.
Not a easy hurdle to overcome .

Moonlight burner
:o

[archie]

Reading that article kind of reminds of when my wife and I introduced her 80 yr old mother to solitaire. The mouse skills that we all take for granted have to be learned first. Double clicking could be overcome by clicking once and pressing ENTER. Even mouse travel and aiming the icon to restore instead of closing a window needs to be shown. Go at the pace of the learner, otherwise they'll get overwhelmed. <B>Be patient</B>.

[Parangles]

See an old post of mine. Might be something there.
I agree- the mouse first- start with playing cards.
Also have them pound randomly on the keyboard- " See, it didn't explode !"

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=11701

[Frey Grimrod]

K thnx for all the replys really have been helpfull. Im going to clean up my desktop to make it a bit less overwhelming now and anyone know how to make the general windows font bigger? Im using Windows 98 right now.

[Chris in U.K.]

I'm sure the Solitaire gang are right. Also why not working with simple documents - just a few sentences will do - write, save as, close, re-open, edit, change font & colour, close again. It's what they call confidence-building measures in the diplomacy business. Also try to encourage a good directory structure for any files created - it'll prevent a lot of frustration when the trainee starts getting busy.
Chris.

[Frey Grimrod]

Well it took a full hour but she managed to play an entire solitair game and win it by herself. I had to tell her where to put the cards but she moved em all amazingly enought she had neverlearned to play solitair minor setback I explained it as we went along. Basic mouse skills are improving AND she got the double mouse click just about down by the end of putting all those cards up top :) thnx for the help to all of you and ESPECIALLY for the solitaire Idea if I had tried to start out with something else woulda been a totall loss.

[LawyerRon]

Hey Frey,
The main idea is to get them involved in something fun. When I'm helping seniors with computers the first thing I tell them is there's absolutely no way they can hurt the computer. I tell them to go ahead and make mistakes, that's the best way to learn.