[CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
Over 20 years ago, my 1st computer student was an 80 year-old writer. He had been a farmer and retired at 65 by moving to Washington and starting a 2nd career as a writer. He wrote for mags like Reader's Digest and Parade (the Sunday newspaper insert). So at 80 he was an early adopter, getting a Mac because he knew it would be a big thing in the publishing industry. His greatest problem was selecting with the mouse, his hand was not steady enough to use menus. Definitely a situation where keyboard input would be superior to mousing. I have started teaching computer use at our local senior center. I have a little 4-machine lab and a whole bunch of people who are curious, yet afraid of new technology. One by one they are starting to come in to try their hand at it. I have browsers set to open with Google and 2 people now have Gmail accounts. It's only been 2 weeks, and some of them are becoming fairly confident with the machines. Anyone who wants a bit of more advanced help can ask for it. It's very rewarding to watch them walk out with big smiles on their faces. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
At 10:02 AM 02/04/2009 -0500, Tom Piwowar wrote His greatest problem was selecting with the mouse, his hand was not steady enough to use menus. Definitely a situation where keyboard input would be superior to mousing. That's the biggest problem I've observed also. I have one Trakball, and nearly everyone is successful with that. I have a keyboard shortcut chart on the wall, but some can't seem to get the hang of that either. I helped with classes at another center previously, and the strategy there was to do mouse practice with Solitaire. Big mistake..they were trying to teach them as a group, but once they showed them how to access solitaire, that's all the students did during class! As you mention, sometimes seniors just aren't physically able to control a mouse. One-on-one works much better, along with teaching them what they want to know. Sue * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
That's the biggest problem I've observed also. I have one Trakball, and nearly everyone is successful with that. Great idea. There are some trackballs that have a very big ball, like grapefruit size. I think that would probably be the best for seniors. Need to adjust the ball to make it less sensitive, so it takes a lot of motion to move the cursor. That would make tremors less of a problem. I helped with classes at another center previously, and the strategy there was to do mouse practice with Solitaire. Big mistake..they were trying to teach them as a group, but once they showed them how to access solitaire, that's all the students did during class! I recently taught some classes for the LC for their non-tech staff. I started out with web sites. Sites like Shopzilla, Google Maps, Flickr. This got everybody excited and looking at different things that interested them. This gave them lots of active practice. And reasons for learning more. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
At 02:23 PM 02/04/2009 -0500, Tom Piwowar wrote Great idea. There are some trackballs that have a very big ball, like grapefruit size. I think that would probably be the best for seniors. Need to adjust the ball to make it less sensitive, so it takes a lot of motion to move the cursor. That would make tremors less of a problem. I have the Logitech TrackMan (I think it is) with the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel is also very helpful for them. I recently taught some classes for the LC for their non-tech staff. I started out with web sites. Sites like Shopzilla, Google Maps, Flickr. This got everybody excited and looking at different things that interested them. This gave them lots of active practice. And reasons for learning more. I'm so looking forward to getting some new machines for the center (which we've been promised). Someone set it up several yrs ago with equipment that was already used...running Win 2000 with 256 RAM. Then they walked off and left it. Nothing updated, nothing configured for easy. No support. No one has used this lab for a couple of years. We've been promised some XP machines soon. We do have broadband, but things like Google Earth and even interactive weather maps are going to have to wait. Right now, most of them don't know any better, so we're managing. I get so disgusted with projects like this--my tax dollars at work! * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
I get so disgusted with projects like this--my tax dollars at work! Wrong thread, you want Resodding... * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
so now he's 100 and must have gotten the hang of it !! -Original Message- From: Tom Piwowar [mailto:t...@tjpa.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 10:02 AM Subject: Senior Computing [Was: political discussion] Over 20 years ago, my 1st computer student was an 80 year-old writer. He had been a farmer and retired at 65 by moving to Washington and starting a 2nd career as a writer. He wrote for mags like Reader's Digest and Parade (the Sunday newspaper insert). So at 80 he was an early adopter, getting a Mac because he knew it would be a big thing in the publishing industry. His greatest problem was selecting with the mouse, his hand was not steady enough to use menus. Definitely a situation where keyboard input would be superior to mousing. I have started teaching computer use at our local senior center. I have a little 4-machine lab and a whole bunch of people who are curious, yet afraid of new technology. One by one they are starting to come in to try their hand at it. I have browsers set to open with Google and 2 people now have Gmail accounts. It's only been 2 weeks, and some of them are becoming fairly confident with the machines. Anyone who wants a bit of more advanced help can ask for it. It's very rewarding to watch them walk out with big smiles on their faces. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
I work with people with disabilities like CP, thus they often have trouble using a mouse. Some can use keyboard shortcuts and mousekeys, but almost all have had success with a Kensington ExpertMouse trackball. It has a nice size ball (about the size of a cue ball) and 4 programmable buttons. I like the buttons because you can program them not only for things like click and right click, but also for a number of other things like double click or drag or scrolling. It retails for $99, but you can usually find it for less. Steve His greatest problem was selecting with the mouse, his hand was not steady enough to use menus. Definitely a situation where keyboard input would be superior to mousing. That's the biggest problem I've observed also. I have one Trakball, and nearly everyone is successful with that. I have a keyboard shortcut chart on the wall, but some can't seem to get the hang of that either. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Senior Computing [Was: political discussion]
MS made one years ago called an Easy Ball. It was about 4 across. One of my old members is also a CP victim and can only use it as her movements are limited. Only problem, only one button. She has to have her sister there on a backup mouse with buttons when we do some work. Usually I just get on her system with Logmein and fix stuff for her. Stewart At 06:42 PM 2/4/2009, you wrote: At 05:48 PM 02/04/2009 -0500, Stephen Brownfield wrote I work with people with disabilities like CP, thus they often have trouble using a mouse. Some can use keyboard shortcuts and mousekeys, but almost all have had success with a Kensington ExpertMouse trackball. It has a nice size ball (about the size of a cue ball) and 4 programmable buttons. I like the buttons because you can program them not only for things like click and right click, but also for a number of other things like double click or drag or scrolling. It retails for $99, but you can usually find it for less. Steve I'll make a note of that trackball. If only we had $99! This center is basically self-supporting now. It was started with grant money, that no one bothered to reapply for. They all seem content mostly with just the socialization and lunches that they pay for, in space donated by the school. Most of them are depression-era folks, so they don't expect a lot. Maybe some of them will get interested enough to buy some new equpiment. Sue * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * Rev. Stewart A. Marshall mailto:popoz...@earthlink.net Prince of Peace www.princeofpeaceozark.org Ozark, AL SL 82 * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
