Help! I'm over 55 and learning computers!

I am currently teaching a continuing education class - Computers for 55 and Up. Everything that just ran through your mind is probably happening in the class, but I am actually really enjoying it.

So, we are in the middle of week two of the three week course, and I actually feel like we have made some good progress. They have learned over 38 terms and the actions that go along with them. That's a lot for a group of people that are really very much beginners to the computer world.

For those of you with parents, grandparents, or friends in the "55 and up, New to Computers" category, let me give you a few tips that I have picked up about how to help them when they ask for assistance.

1. Be patient! This is a learning process. It will take time.

2. Listen to the context of the question. More than likely they will use the wrong terminology when asking how to do something. You need to help them decifer what they are really asking.

3. Don't give them too much information at one time. Kind of like answering the question "where do babies come from" to a 5 year old. Most of the time they only want/need a little information - not the full birds & bees talk. As you explain something, check with them to make sure you are addressing what they need and that they are following it all.

4. Let them do the actions themselves. It is so much easier (and quicker) to scroll and click on things yourself, but if you really want them to learn how to access the Internet, you need to let them do it. Stand or sit next to them and walk them through it, but if you do it for them, they typically won't remember how to do it on their own later. It is part of the learning/remembering process.

5. When explaining things, it is good to give them the proper terms, but then explain it in regular language. For example, take the Recycling Bin. Once I told them it was a trash can and that you could put things in and take things out just like a trash can in your house, they got it. You are not "dumbing it down." You are making it understandable.

Most of us know someone who is learning computers and it is easy for us to feel frustrated when they don't "get it" right away. Remember, it is just as frustrating (if not more so) for those who are in the learning process.