Nifty Free Things From The Internet

By the time you see this, I will have completed presenting my first short course on "Nifty Free Things from the Internet". This was a whimsical idea for a volunteer presentation through OASIS, which caters to continuing education for seniors. While I have no idea how it will turn out, I have already been surprised by the response. We planned a single presentation with a second one to be scheduled if the first one was successful.

At this writing, both sessions are over-subscribed with a waiting list. That is gratifying, but since I doubt that rumors of my superior lecturing ability have preceded me, we have to ask, "Why is there so much interest?"

Most of my clients use the Internet rather sparingly, and almost all of them are very nervous about downloading anything. As a group, they have a deep fear of malware. When I meet with clients, we usually visit a few safe sites and download goodies just to show them it can be done safely. Of course, I make sure they have a secure system before trying anything funny. After downloading something, we review techniques and how to reduce the probability of getting a nasty surprise along with a treasure. Not many clients believe me when I say they can do the same thing. They would rather pass up freebies than take a chance, and I cannot really fault that logic. Safety is a major consideration

Another consideration is that most clients think free software is probably worth what they paid. I show them OpenOffice, Iconoid, Spybot Search & Destroy, etc., but they still have this idea that free things must be second-rate. That prejudice gets diluted by the fact that they realize they have not paid for Google or Yahoo!. A few use Firefox. Several use iTunes. None of them have any idea of what sourceforge is.

Adoption on new ideas is facilitated by hands-on experience. For my new students to get the idea, they must be able to surf and find things by themselves with only some guidelines. To do this safely, we need some special tools. The computer lab where I will present the lecture is equipped with "Deep Freeze," which allows students to download and even install almost anything they want. But when the system is re-booted, it returns to the state it had been in at the start of the session. Pretty sweet. My students will be able to download and install software and see its functions in a relatively safe environment.

Hmmm… Should I try to turn them on to Linux?

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 computing, adult education, senior learning[/tags]