skype

Today was the first day we didn’t begin our lessons with a preliminary phone call to give her instructions on how to call me on Skype. Mom and I had made a date; she would call via Skype at a specified time. I opened the program prior to that and left it open. [...]

The computer tech, a nice (and handsome, by all accounts) young man named Brad went to my mother’s house, whereupon she called to have Don confer with him. The reason the computer wouldn’t turn on was because the plug had been slightly dislodged from the socket. When that was corrected, the tech found [...]

It was important to me to present my mom’s lessons in a logical, progressive manner. I was trying to remember what it was that made me the most motivated when I was learning computing. Of course! It was email. Communication is one of the basic human needs. Like most everyone [...]

Well, we did it! Or more to the point, she did it. This morning my mom put together a computer desk, unpacked her boxes of computer hardware and this afternoon she called, ready to rock.
Here’s the set-up we sent her;

1.3 GHz P4 with 384 MB of RAM, equipped with PCLinuxOS 2007
Mouse
Keyboard
[...]

New project! My husband Don Crowder (aka eldergeek) and I are so excited.
My mother is in her late 70s and has never owned or operated a computer. Over the last couple of years we’ve been encouraging her to consider learning and since she’s been a lifelong learner, she decided she’d like to. [...]