Advice for Elderly Surfers

mikewebs

I would agree with geekgirl but think that the most beneficial thing they can do is go back to school and enrol in one of the silver surfer/computers for the terrified courses that most adult education centres run these days. This will teach then how to do the simple tasks, teach them that it is not the computer that is stupid and also teach them that they can - ad should - use computers. Also it provides another social activity and for many older folks this can be very, very beneficial - even if they are still married as a change of scene and faces is good therapy.

geekgirl

Agree with mikewebs I am a tutor on these courses and we get a lot of mature learners. They have a great time and I go above and beyond to make sure they understand staying safe and keeping their computers running. The oldest learner I had was 92 and I taught him basic HTML as he wanted to learn it.

Farway

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I am over 70 ....... I used to think I could offer to give free advice to older people in the district who are just starting with the Internet but decided that I could possibly be overwhelmed by requests. .

Jakesgran
If you still feel inclined to help why not check your local Age Concern?
Some run computer "courses" for older folks and always need volunteers to help, and they provide the venue & times so it is as & when you want thus no phone calls etc unless you want to go further

I did this teaching for a while and found it rewarding, but sometimes frustrating as believe me so many do not even know a "mouse" from a "keyboard", but we all had to learn sometime