It seems that iPhones and iPads were the popular holiday gift, but in polling my students who take this class only about 1/4 say they got their device for the holidays. Some students have had their iPhone or iPad for as long as a year, but still aren't sure what they can do with it.
This class has been sold out at several of the colleges since the start of the year, and we've been adding class dates to accomodate the crush. I think that having someone with grey hair helps, since the Apple Store only seems ot make mature adults feel more insecure. While Apple does offer some classe in the stores, the stores are often crowded and noisy, so it's hard for adults to get comfortable on the stools and listen.
I had reasonable success putting together a class on Entertainment and Travel apps for both iPad and Android users, but the Android users asked me if I did a class that would teach them more. I suspect that the over 50 age group is one of the largest untapped markets for smart phones and tablets, and neither the cellular providers or Apple is really addressing the training needs of this age group.
Fortunately, the California Community College system has been pretty good about offering my classes, as this is an age group that typically learns best by in-person live demonstration and practice. I've developed a 30 minute exercise for students to use that gets them using several of the standard apps. This, along with showing them how to navigate the touchscreen and what is available on iTunes seems to be getting them using the devices.
Each class usually has one or two students who take it just to learn about what the fuss is with iPhones and iPads, (as well as other smartphones) and I think Apple should start paying me for getting more customers.
So far my biggest challenge is that some students don't know the difference between a training class on how to use a piece of technology, and customer support. There are people who have had "help" from family members who have changed App icons areound, changed settings, or did other things to someone elses iPhone or iPad without letting them know what changed. Of course, at this point most of my students wouldn't know what was changed anyway, but it's frustrating. Often these are the students who were "sent" by their family to learn how to be more independent, and frankly, one three hour class isn't enough for some.
For new adult users, there's a fear of breaking something or getting stuck that doesn't exist for younger users of technology. This fear keeps them from starting to use their device and try things out, and unfortunately no technology company is prepared to deal with this. I can't wait until Microsoft introduces Windows 8 to the world and creates another lost tech generation in the hopes of catching up.
As we begin a new year, I thought I would take a moment to review where Web publishing has come and where it seems to be going. We certainly stand at a crossroads, as we move from the "golden age of blogging" into whatever we are going to call things this year or this moment. I tend to think of this as the post-blogging era.
As we begin a new year, I thought I would take a moment to review where Web publishing has come and where it seems to be going. We certainly stand at a crossroads, as we move from the \"golden age of blogging\" into whatever we are going to call things this year or this moment. I tend to think of this as the post-blogging era.\n\nThat isn't to say that blogs are over: we at RWW certainly don't think so. But the very nature of the blog is changing. The days are coming to an end when, 9(5_0_1*no*no*0)&guid=ON&x_utmac=MO-421291-3)
