Just Asking For Directions?
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It’s happened again. This week I helped a new senior couple set up a new Vista system to replace their old W98 PII machine. As has happened so many times in the past, the husband stood in the distance and looked skeptical. He conveyed the impression that this was not his idea, but he would tolerate his wife’s activities because they had been together for a long time. The woman was obviously naive about computer usage and technique, but she had a written list of pertinent questions and projected an air of eager anticipation tempered with an almost pathological fear of either breaking her new computer or destroying the software.
She was definitely not bashful about showing her ignorance and seeking advice. “I’m sorry to have to ask for help, ” she said, “I set up the old Gateway by myself, but this one is more complicated.” That revelation told stories.
How do we appear to other people? I am a senior man and like to think I am open to new ideas and still learning new skills, but is that how other people see me? Certainly my male clients do not think of themselves as stick-in-the-muds compared to their active wives. Their self-images are probably quite different from what I experience.
Maybe this is nothing more serious than another aspect of the well-known male aversion to asking for directions. Some people would rather be lost than query a stranger. Some people would rather not know how to send email than sit with a tutor and learn. Or maybe my client was just bashful.
That could be, but nothing changes the fact that I spent a total of three hours with some new clients and the husband has yet to touch the machine in my presence. He did carry the old one out of their office to be given to a neighborhood teen. In contrast, his wife sat at the keyboard and laboriously read every window that popped up before hunting for and clicking “Okay.” One of my most difficult tasks is to sit patiently and let my clients do the entries while I gently prod. If I did not believe that is the best way to learn, I would rush through it myself and show them the results. But that would help neither of us.
On the other hand, the senior PC users group I attend is dominated by males who are not hesitant at all to express their opinions. The contrast between these two groups of people is striking. I’ve learned many new tricks from members who probably consider themselves less knowledgeable than me.
The few male-only clients I have only call on me to fix specific problems whether by tutoring, installing software, or even fixing hardware. To the best of my knowledge, none of them is following an organized study plan. But several of my female-only clients have signed up for formal courses and want some additional tutoring to help them over the rough spots.
Nothing I am writing is meant to imply that either males or females are better at picking up computer techniques. I am only observing that members of a specific subset of humanity demonstrate a definite male-female dichotomy in how they approach becoming computer literate at a mature age. That dichotomy is at least partly due to the sociological environment in which we matured. The next generation would probably behave differently except they will not have to become computer literate at an advanced age. I wonder what the grandchildren of our grandchildren will be forced to teach to their grandparents.
Click here to read about my new tutorial on helping seniors. The new version has grown considerably over the original. It has more topics and anecdotes, and fewer typos. While you’re at it, check out my expanded tutorial on decision theory.
[tags]senior learning, senior computing, tutor, impression[/tags]
5 Comments
Tom Fritts
March 22nd, 2007
at 2:16am
All of Sherman’s articles seem to indicate a belief that “Seniors” are an alien species from a strange unknown planet whose educational needs are also alien and strange. Nothing is further from the truth! The strangest thing is that Sherman admits to being a member of this alien species himself, yet displays little understanding of the human dynamics involved.
Vern
March 22nd, 2007
at 7:18am
I have done computers since 1978 with the TRS-80, Apple II and Atari 400/800. Macs, PCs, DOS, Windows, Linux, I’ve been around the block with all of them. Nearly all of those years was spent in the trenches working with users.
I totally disagree with your male-female theory. Sex does not have a pattern, neither does age. Today’s kids are just as clueless as their parents when it comes to technology, they just hide it better under a fog of acronyms and storm of fast mouse clicks. Most schools teach Microsoft Office. Take many of those kids, park then in front of Wordperfect or an AS400 text based word processing system and they are rendered helpless.
I knew one manager of a large department in our state government who would proudly boast ” I don’t need to know that stuff, I’ve got minions to take care of it” and he was 100% serious.
I have seen seniors that could run rings around their grandchildren when it came time to do something serious with the computer. The kids were too busy playing games, at which they were very good, to pay attention to how to properly format a resume or write a clear concise essay. Like, ya know, like who needs to know like details like to, too and ya know that other one, and like maybe their, they’re, weather and ya know whether, ya know whatever.
Most teens cannot program the VCR any better than their parents.
That computer that was taken away to give to a neighborhood teen was probably promptly tosssed in the trash by the teen because it was not powerfull enough to play any of his/her pirated games. Few teens will touch an old PC for any reason. Mosf them with the latest high power hardware purchased on the false hope that it will further their education. Ha!
Most users do not want to learn and understand what is going when they use a computer, they merely want to know “teach me what button to click and when to click it”
In spite of what we claim or tell ourselves, we are not a technologically savvy society, regardless of age.
Best regards,
Phil Dazley
March 22nd, 2007
at 9:45am
Sherman, I totally understand about learning new things! In 2000 the firm I work for was offering appernticeships for Skilled Trades and at 43, I embarked on a new adventure. I received an Electrical Apprenticeship and actually had to work and attend college. I had not been back to school since I graduated in 1975 so I was quite anxious about it. Not to worry I maintained a 3.75 GPA and on May 5, 2006 I received my Journeymans card, a whole 6 months early. It made me feel excellent to know that this old brain I have could accept and retain knowledge that young people where getting and be able to use it. So, learning to me has nothing to do with age, you just have to be willing to try!
Ray Merriam
March 22nd, 2007
at 12:30pm
You are absolutely correct in letting the person learn by doing as you watch and guide them. While I have not done any computer training of others face-to-face, I have assisted relatives, friends and even customers when they encountered problems with their computers, usually via email or phone.
Many whom I know are aware that I build my own computers and am not afraid to try out new hardware and software and, yes, sometimes “break” things in the process, so I also learn by doing.
In addition to publishing books on military history, I also produce PDF files of old military manuals and other publications and documents. One customer called me after receiving the CD with several PDFs on it and did not have a clue how to open the files. He told me his secretary usually handles such chores. I’m guessing he only knows the bare minimum of how to use his computer for just the basic chores to get his work done. It took me the better part of 20 minutes over the phone to guide him throught the relatively simple process of opening the PDF files.
Fortunately, my own experiences in dealing with technical support over the years for those times when I ran into unsolvable problems prepared me for instructing people over the phone on how to fix their particular problem.
Before I was able to work full-time at my business, I spent five and a half years working in a local factory, about half that time as a supervisor of an assembly line. Regardless of the age of the workers (which were mostly female) I hadwhich ran from late teens to mid-60s (approximately 20 when fully staffed), it was amazing how difficult it was to train them to do what was a pretty simple and easy assembly process involving approximately 8 or 9 pieces at most.
Although initially I had to show them how it was done a few times before letting them try it, after they started it was a case of letting them work at it as I watched and guided them. Usually after about an hour, I would be able to leave them alone and only occasionally check back. Some workers you knew almost immediately would never “get it” and I would have to find a different job for them or send them to a different department.
The best “teachers”, no matter what is being taught, are those who guide their “students” to find the answer or let them learn how to perform a task.
bernhard muller
March 22nd, 2007
at 1:19pm
You seem almost apologetic when suggesting there may be a sex difference in how seniors approach computers. Why? There are lots of differences between the sexes in many behaviors ON THE AVERAGE. The error is not in believing there are differences between groups. The error is in ascribing the characteristics of the group to any one individual of that group. But you know that.
bern muller