Beanworks

I have told a lot of people, and posted advice here, to use handouts with visual cues, like this one:

Someone asked how to create this type of handout with screenshot images, so here’s a rundown on how I do it in Windows. I have used OpenOffice.org, Word and WordPerfect, but this post will only cover MSWord; I’ll do OpenOffice.org and WordPerfect posts next.The first step is to get screenshots. If you don’t know how to do that, see the instruction page for Windows.Once you have the images saved, you are ready to put the images into the handout document. Open MSWord. I usually do this in Word 2000 or Word 2002, but these steps should work in Word 97. Make sure the Drawing Toolbar is visible; if it isn’t, go to the View menu, select the Toolbar option, and click on Drawing if there isn’t a check by it already. It should appear at the bottom of the window.

Type whatever text or instructions you are going to use, and move the insertion point a couple lines below the text (by pressing the “Enter” key). Click on the “Insert Image” button on the Drawing Toolbar:

Navigate through the dialog box to the image you want (in this case, the larger image saved in the Print Screen exercise), and select it to open. If the Picture Toolbar is visible (notice it “floating” above the image in the example?), click on the text-align button. (If it is not visible, right click on the image and move the cursor to the align option.) Choose the “Tight” option in the menu that drops open.

Resize and reposition the image where you want it (notice the enclosing box disappears and the black square “handle” boxes have been replaced with circles) by clicking and dragging on one of the corner dots (to resize) and clicking inside the image and dragging (to reposition).

Click on the “Insert Image” button again, and navigate to the smaller image to insert it. Change the image alignment as with the larger image, and position it where you want it. Click on a corner and drag to enlarge the image when the cursor turns into a double arrow.Click on the Auto Shapes button at the bottom and choose the rounded rectangle from the Basic Shapes options.

Now move the cursor to the part of the image you copied earlier and drag across what you had copied. An opaque box will overlay the image.

Move the cusor back to the Drawing toolbar and click on the “Fill” button. Select “No Fill” from the pupup menu.

Click on the “Line” button and select a wider width.

Click on the “Color” button and select a different color, if desired.

Repeat these steps to put a rounded rectangle around the smaller image. You can resize the rectangle at any time by clicking and dragging its corner. If the boxes or lines seem to be snapping to a preset grid (they won’t change position to exactly where you want them), hold down the Alt key (next to the spacebar) while you click and drag.Now click on the Line button and move the cursor back onto the document.

Click on one of the corners of one of the drawn rectangles and drag across to a corner of the other drawn rectangle so there is a line from one box to the other.

If the line is not the right thickness or color, change it now using the line width tool and color tool you used for the boxes. You can also change the length of the line by clicking and dragging one of the ends.

Draw another line from an opposite corner of one box to another corner of the other box.There is only one thing left to do: “glue” them all together. Click on one of the lines or boxes. Hold down the shift key and click on each of the drawn units until they are all selected. Keep holding down the shift key and click on the images as well, so that everything is selected.Click on the “Draw” button on the Draw toolbar. Click on the option that says “Group.” Now the images and boxes will stay together as one group as you continue to add to or edit the page.

The cognitive slowing that occurs with aging affects an older adult’s ability to maintain linear connections required for learning. Most teaching involves steps, but the older adult’s ability to remember those steps is affected by the aging process (see Tip #2). What may seem obvious for younger learners can no longer be taken for granted. They will not necessarily make the connection between a cause and effect without explicit instructions broken down into discrete steps. An instruction to “click on ‘New’ in the File menu” may be easy for a younger learner, but what the older adult hears is “file” and “new” and tries to figure out what is where. They need an instruction like the example above broken down into discrete steps, such as: “Move the cursor to the upper left corner and click on the word ‘File’. Move the cursor over the word ‘New’ in the list that opens. When the word is highlighted, press the left mouse button.”

Consistently using specific step by step instructions begins to take the mystery out of computers for older adults. It also reduces the load on their processing, which is already taxed.

Also, since repetition is important (see Tip #4), handouts or other materials intended to give them practice should use discrete, numbered steps. Numbering is important as a way of isolating each step. For example, instructions to copy and paste might be broken down into four distinct steps: highlighting something, copying it, moving to the destination, and pasting. Each step should then have detailed instructions. Using the example to copy and paste, printed instructions for steps one and two might look something like this (but would, of course, include relevant visual cues):

Step 1 (highlighting):

Place the cursor on the item to be copied

Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor across the item

When the item is highlighted, release the mouse button.

Step 2 (copying)

Move the cursor to the top of the window

Click on the word “Edit”

Move the cursor over the word “Copy” in the list that opens

When the word “Copy” is highlighted, press the left mouse button

Tip #6: Use discrete, step-by-step instructions, both verbally, and in printed materials

After much trial and error, (there’s probably another post coming comparing video sharing sites), only one site has successfully uploaded and converted part two of the Connecting the Disconnected videos. It is not the sharpest image rendering, but at least it works. 🙂 I much prefer dotsub.com, but they are still working on why the clip, which works perfectly on my end, stops halfway through playback after uploading. This is what happens on all the other sites except for (drum roll, please) Grouper.com. One is supposed to be able to embed the video at Grouper here in WordPress, but after several failed tries, I have given up on that.

So here are the links to the two videos:

Connecting the Disconnected, Part 1

Connecting the Disconnected, Part 2

Be sure to turn the sound on for Part 2 🙂

These are from the first half of my presentation at the pre-conference workshop on Libraries, Older Adults and Technology, and are intended to give you a glimpse of what it feels like to be older and trying to learn new technology. Enjoy!

I will be speaking at a few conferences this year. The first one coming up is next week’s American Library Association, where I will be part of a pre-conference workshop on Libraries, Older Adults and Technology. I will be talking about (surprise!) Connecting the Disconnected, technology training for older adult novices. I’m not sure how interesting my little talk will be compared with the other speakers and topics on the slate. If you are going to be there, you are in for a phenomenal day.

The extensive crystallized intelligence available to older adults, which is not only stable, but continues to grow, does have a drawback. Although building on existing knowledge and skills is a good thing (see Tip #3), it is actually easier for an older adult to learn an entirely new term and concept than it is to learn a concept associated with a word that already has a familiar meaning. This is because the attentional processes, which involve controlling the attentional focus and excluding irrelevant information, decline with age. Learning to use computers requires learning new concepts and associations for familiar words, such as “shortcut” and “button.” But declines in attentional processes make it more difficult to exclude prior associations with familiar terms and replace them with the new associations.

Imagine going to a reunion after many years. People’s appearances have changed, and you must make new associations to continue to recognize them. But imagine finding everyone’s names have also changed. You can recognize them, but to learn the new names you must first suppress the tendency to associate the faces with the old names. The more familiar the name and face, the more difficult that is to do. As we get older it becomes even more difficult to exclude the prior associations when learning new concepts.

This can be made easier with visual cues. Consider the difference nametags would make at that imaginary reunion where everyone’s names have changed. Cues, such as “cheatsheets” and labeled graphics, when combined with repetition (see Tip #4), greatly enhance retention.

Tip #5: Give them visual cues

I should probably pause here to point out that there is wide variation among older adults’ abilities, skills and experiences. Because aging is such a highly individualized process, the older a population group, the greater the differences will be among the group’s individuals. This means it is virtually impossible to predict how easy or difficult new technology will be for anyone based solely on age. For some, physical and cognitive declines begin as early as the thirties. For others, the changes are not noticeable until well into their sixth decade. Still, there are some generalizations which can be made, especially when it comes to learning, and especially since the group we’re talking about here is over sixty (most seem to use 65 as the cut-off for “older adult”).

One of those generalizations is the need for repetition in the learning process. With cognitive slowing, repetition seems to be the adaptive technique adopted by everyone. Even when they understand a concept or task, older adults will ask to be guided through the steps again, and again. Even when they have mastered a procedural skill requiring only a few steps, they need to return to the task and repeat it periodically to retain it. The more they repeat the new skill, the more likely it will “stick,” becoming part of their “crystallized” intelligence.

So here is Tip #4: Be repetitive.

Be very repetitive. Come back to a learned skill frequently, even while building on that skill and knowledge. Don’t just give them opportunities to practice a new skill, encourage it. Emphasize the necessity of practicing the new skill. Require practice, if possible. I have found older adults will forget what they have “mastered” within two days when they do not practice the new skill. I sometimes compare learning to use computers to learning another language: the more they use it, the easier it gets, and conversely, the less it is used, the harder it is to remember.

One of the advantages of teaching technology to older adults is the richer background they invariably have. That background is part of what has been called “crystallized intelligence,” which is stable and “lossless” under normal circumstances. The knowledge and skill remains even after they have stopped using it. This is a very important advantage that is often overlooked. I once had a 91 year old woman in my classes who had been a typist 70 years earlier. She struggled to hunt and peck on the keyboard. Finally, she carefully placed her fingers on the keyboard, closed her eyes, and typed perfectly.

A major task for the trainer is to identify existing knowledge or skills, to make the process of learning technology easier. Even if they do not have experience on a computer, their history is part of the history from which current technology developed. Instant messaging is just a new way of sending telegraphs. A camera’s memory card is just a new type of film: it has to be inserted into the camera to get pictures, and must be carefully removed to prevent losing the pictures. By making a connection between the new and the known, the skill (or concept) becomes an extension of what is already familiar.

Building on existing knowledge and experience reduces the processing overhead, part of what is called “fluid intelligence,” which is the hardest hit in the aging process. Whether it be remembering how to type, or making a conceptual connection, any time learning can piggyback on stable, “crystallized intelligence,” there is less burden on working memory and the process of creating more crystallized intelligence. This is a good thing.

Tip #3: Build on what they already know.

As processing becomes slower and memory acquisition becomes more limited, older adults begin making adjustments to compensate. They begin to draw more on their strengths (semantic and global memory) to compensate for the greater difficulty in learning new material. This is why analogies work well (see Tip #1). To put it in computer terms, learning requires blocks of short term memory for the process of laying down a block of long term memory. If that process can utilize links to existing long term memory, the demands on short term memory are lessened, and the new block of long term memory has links to something that’s already stable, increasing the likelihood it will successfully map. On the other hand, without links to existing long term memory, the process becomes more resource-intensive in areas that are losing efficiency (short term memory).

As we age, processing speed slows so that the blocks of short term memory fail by the time they are needed at the end of processing. For example, in a four part process where step one must be remembered for step four while executing steps two and three, step one, utilizing a block of short term memory, typically gets lost during the intermediate steps so that step four cannot be completed.

One of the ways older adults deal with the increased difficulty in learning is to limit what they try to learn. They are motivated by how important a thing is to them personally to learn it, and they will learn only what they need to know for that item. For example, keeping in touch is important, whether it is with a spouse, children, grandchildren, friends, or doctors’ offices, so that cell phones no longer seem to be a convenience, but a requirement, even to the older generation. But all the bells and whistles available, even on the cheapest phones, are just that to the older generation: non-essential items which have a high learning cost. They will learn how to turn the phone on or off, how to keep it charged, how to make a call, how to answer a call, and how to “hang up.” Those are pretty straightforward tasks, using visible buttons on the phone. Learning to navigate through menus on the phone’s screen comes at a higher cost. For most, the additional features don’t add to their core requirement, which is to simply use the phone to make and receive calls anywhere they go, so there is not much incentive to attempt to learn how to use those features. How many older adults do you know who have a cell phone? How many of them can use the phone to take a picture and send it to someone? How many even want to?

Tip #2: Teach them only what they need to know to do what they want to do.

One of the things I do is teach technology to older people, especially those for whom it is still something new. These are typically people who have a very rich background which doesn’t happen to include computers. The basics of cell phones are fairly easy for them to grasp because they have used telephones to communicate for quite a long time, and their experience typically includes wireless home phones. So the “leap” to cell phones is really not that great, although there is a steep learning curve beyond simply answering the phone and ending a call. Not so with computers.

Computers have practically landed in their laps over the last couple years, full grown and ready to be their means of integration with the rest of the world today. Many have dodged the bullet, so to speak, by having a secretary or other, younger, worker interact with computers for them. But then they retire, and there is no one to do it for them any more.

There are also many who had embraced computers early on, and followed along with their development. But the changes are harder for them to manage now. Learning is not as easy. They tend to want to freeze time where they are comfortable, or at least slow the pace of change so they do not feel left behind.

Technology today represents a difficult place for the older adult. The constant changes require continual, rapid learning while traditional learning paths are becoming more difficult for them. And here’s the kicker: the assumption today that everyone has access to a computer and can use it. Product instructions assume prior knowledge of or familiarity with computers. Computer courses assume participants have at least some familiarity with computers, with a pace set for a much younger generation.

I see the ones who have fallen through the cracks, and it is not a happy picture. These are people with a very rich background. This is the World War II generation through the sixties. Yet their experience and competence pales for them compared with what they see “kids” capable of doing today. If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard one of them say “I’m so stupid,” I could retire.

My main job (the one I actually get paid for) is finding ways to make learning to use computers and technology easier for older adults. So here are some tips for the rest of you out there trying to connect with the older generation:

Tip #1: Analogize. Tell a story. Make a comparison they can relate to. Accuracy is not as important as relevance. Here’s a handy example:

There was a discussion among a group of seniors of varying levels of computer experience about the difference between a hardware firewall and a software firewall. The easiest explanation I could give, and one which they all instantly understood: “You have a house, and you do not leave the door open so that people driving by can see inside (and decide whether to drop in and help themselves). In fact, most of you live in a gated community [this is Florida; everyone here understands the concept of gated communities]. A hardware firewall is like a gated community, keeping out unauthorized people. A software firewall goes a step further. It’s like having a high hedge around your house so if someone actually gets through the gate, they can’t even tell your house is there, much less see what’s inside.”

More tips to come…