Computing with Elders

guru who invited me to speak at Gnomedex last year) has been an advocate for elders’ use of technology from his earliest days online. He posted a new video this week about some ways to help elders use computers more easily. Here’s the video. You canread the textat his video blog. (6:50 minutes) ¶ Only one of the current presidential candidates has a proposal for true universal health coverage; the rest would, instead, maintain insurance companies as middlemen. But as

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Chris Pirillo »Computing with EldersPosted 38 minutes ago

Elders FTW!

2nd.

My parents need this. They are horrible with computers and I have given up on teaching them…

haha old people r old

lol.. the comments

Hey that is my List YAY!

Heh, my mom still wouldn’t understand after watching this ;)

Those tips seem a little patronising

you think your having a rough day? the other day they couldn’t even open up the web browser and HUGE argument was taken place… just because the BIG ICON isn’t there doesn’t mean its gone.

>:O

If you have patience which you will need for teaching the elderly to learn how to use the computer, because its something they aren’t use to and its more simple for them to pick up the newspaper then to get on the net to them its a gadget they don’t need.But once they start to pick up how to use the computer there eyes light up and all the information and media right at there fingertips.Start out with something from there past maybe a place they visited or a time they remember well once they see some of these things they will want to learn more.I have taught some of my elderly friends they thank me all the time for teaching them how to use the computer.Some have become very addicted to the net.

Re bullet 4, my mom is 51, has a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford, has had the necessity of the process explained multiple times, and still insists on clicking the Cancel button when AVG Free tries to update. One would think that she’d listen to me, given all the things I’ve done (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, etc.)…

my mom thinks that a computer can only do one task at a time. she yells at me for doing too many things at once. Too many= more then one (sigh). She doesnt even understand how they work. she thinks the impossible is possible. We have arguments every day…

My grandma wanted to try the internet, but she really didn’t look like she was getting into it and she didn’t go on it much. I can see where you are going with putting an elder on a Mac, but for me 1) I really never used Mac OS X much at all, and 2) even if i wanted to put her on Linux, it seems like that would be somewhat confusing as well, and I really don’t use Linux, I guess i just have no needs for it atm.

Great Tips anyhow! :)

whoa. you are worse than me XD good luck

I have to help my grandparents all the time. They have a 17″ monitor so I guess it wouldn’t be bad to get them a 22″ Widescreen some time.

The closets Computer my grandpa has is the Wii. He gets Internet from his neighbor’s open wireless router.

Top 5 tips is a great idea. Having someone else’s point of view does help other. Some of these tips i did not even think about but they make sense.

Keep up the good work.

Good list. I would say another thing you could do which if you get them windows you could give them a limited account because i’ve had the experience with my grandmother thinking every file and folder in the C Drive was something she had downloaded from the internet and then started to delete all the things she could (i taught her how to delete) but forgot to tell her what things she shouldnt delete. So this way they can’t delete everything.

good list…i recently set up my grandparents for skype so we can video chat lol they love it they video chat there relitaves in the usa too

I’m going to have to say starting an elderly person out on Linux would be a bad idea… IMO. Even with Ubuntu which I dual booted for quite some time I got lots of little errors or bugs that I did not know how to fix and would have to google around and hope that I find the correct way to fix it. Maybe I just pushed it to hard by installing so many different programs. Also many older people I have met will not pay for DSL or high speed but stick with dial up because they only need the internet to check email or something like that. A lot of modems cause issues in linux and are weird to work with in my experience. Yes even in Ubuntu. I would have to say go with the Mac for an older person OR Windows.

Windows XP on an older machine with some minimal protection is more then sufficient for an older person such as grandma. So is MacOS X Tiger or Leopard. Between Linux and Windows on the PC side I would give them Windows anyday over Linux simply because I would rather update their virus software occasionally (assuming they just click it off all the time) then try and figure out a problem they are having in Linux. Imagine the calls you may receive? Since they do not know much about computers in the first place they may buy a hardware device that doesn’t have linux drivers or they may buy a piece of software that they thought looks nice and would be confused when they can’t install it in Linux.

I know I know use Wine and search for Linux drivers AND use open source alternatives. I know this BUT I’m not going to try and explain to grandma how to use the package manager. Seriously… I know you are a little anti-windows these days but Windows would be so much easier. If you do not give them Windows give them a Mac.

TheDub

I wouldn’t recommend using Dvorak unless you can get them a keyboard that has the layout printed on it. I’ve been using Dvorak for years now, and it always confuses other people when they have to use my computer. Teaching someone new to computers to use something that is different from 99.9% of other users is asking for confusion. I do find the layout less stressful on my hands and wrists, but I couldn’t recommend it for someone who needs simple, easy computing.

If the older folks have broadband, buy a copy of PCAnywhere and install it on the their box. (no, I won’t use GoToMyPC; I refuse to pay for something forever). There’s nothing like being able to remotely control the box when they have problems, and, its a great way to walk them through how to do things. I live in California, my dad in South Carolina, and my aunt a long drive in CA. Being able to provide instant support for their problems from the comfort of my study is a blessing indeed.

thats a pretty good list =]
i got my grandpa a 32W by 20H screen for christmas ^.^

Geez, what a crock! I’m 80 years old and a grandparent, and I don’t remember when I read such nonsense. The Dvorak keyboard? Listen, friend. Most of us learned to type long before you were born; the Dvorak keyboard would be holy hell to learn at this stage of the game. A BIG monitor? Yes,that’s OK. But Internet browsers like Firefox can blow up the size of type, as can MS Word. They don’t need a fast computer, you say. Listen, old chum, at our age we need the fastest we can get. We don’t have that many years left. At my age, I don’t the time or patience to mess with a dial-up modem. Been there, done that. And having my grandson, the nerd, help me with computer stuff is a waste of time. We’re not on the same wave length.

Walter

Hey, Thanks for the Tips!

My parents are classified as “seniors” or “elders”, because they had me when they were in their forties… well now that I have aged some and almost out of high school, my father kind of learned off of me how do use a computer, and every now and then he needs help with a program not working correctly, or something of the sorts.

My mother started using a computer only until recently, and the ONLY thing she does and knows how to do is to use her homepage! She double clicks on the Mozilla firefox icon, and it takes her to the homepage (QVC) and she checks it for a short bit (5 minutes MAX), and then she is off!

The tips for the old computer is brilliant, my brother thought it would be a good idea to get a new computer for them, and I said they are fine with the older PC, because they would be angry with changes and what not, because they do NOT like changes. So sure, they can wait a while!

I always help them out as I still live at home because I am in high school.

Anyways, thank you very much for the tips!

Take care!

Good tips, thanks. I’ve been tutoring seniors (you know, people my age) for a couple of years now and am always looking for ideas on how to make computing understandable to them. Metaphors and similes work well. Sitting next to them as they learn basic commands seems to instill more confidence.

Most have already bought their computers, but I’ll keep your tips in mind the next time one asks about what to buy.

Another tip is to take your time and be patient. I find myself showing the elderly how to use a computer and rushing through. They end up telling me they didnt catch it all. Also, be patient. Some people just dont get it the first time around. It took at least 5 or so times before I could get my aunt to learn how to sign into gmail instead of using her ISP’s crappy email service.

Im in high school. Wow you have a wide variety of audience i love your videos and always talk on the chat. My grandparents are online too. These are really good tips my grandparents love these tips. I have them running ubuntu cause windows was too hard for them.

Who the hell is Clay and why did you give him the time of day?

Yeah, buy the old folks nothing but crap, they are old and slow, so old and slow technology is good enough. Just enough to get by. Bare bones.
Real nice.

Don’t forget to sign them up for NetZero to complete their experience.

Walter Blum is right.
I’m 60, I’m a grandparent.
“they will only want the internet.” Well duh, but everything is on the internet. They will want to upload and manipulate pictures, watch videos, chat.

Stuff like this makes me want to puke.

Way-to-go, Walter! All I would add is that “most of us also were taught how to spell”…something sadly lacking on this and other forums, but then, that’s another issue.
I’m 68 and have been involved with computers since 1968. I have used a PC since 1982 and have had a PC Repair business and tutoring business since 1995.
I work with lots of seniors-about half my clientele. The other half is mothers and fathers asking to clean up the mess left by their kids. (Even the kids call when they can’t get their stuff to work)
Most senior citizens I have dealt with, even the new-to-computers ones, have just as much talent and perception in the learning process as young people do, so please people…stop treating them like they were “3 steps from the top of the hill” or over it! My kids aged 44, 36 and 38, and their children, all depend on me to keep them computerized…not the other way around.
Most young people (and I include the kids who donate their old computer to their parents), don’t have time in their lives for seniors so aside from what I have said here, I applaud the commentors who have helped, or tried to help their relatives.
Geez, I could go on forever, but obviously I can’t. I have to go get my geniatric injection so I can make it through the day!

Glad to see you’re acknowledging these needs – its good to be inclusive, but you do need to be a bit more careful when making generalizations like “elders don’t need high speed or newer computers because they have time and patience.” Watch those stereotypes lest they come back and bite you (as Walter did – good on ya!) I’m an anthropologist looking at the aging experience, and know plenty of folk who would disagree.

rushringleader, have you showed her that it works? xD

yes, i have. she is never gonna learn, at least from me. i dont have the way of teaching that would allow it to make sense to her. I told her to take a computer basics class, because i could never teach her. She is just unchangable.

Shitty. :\ :P