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IT-GUY
02-22-2009, 09:52 PM
I felt the need to start a new thread. I noticed Kandi mentioned she had done some one-on-one computer tutoring. I would like to hear more of the results, both good and bad.

And I am wondering if any other folks have ever tried any type of teaching or tutoring sessions? -- NOT one-on-one which eats up your time and like someone here said, "They want to learn it all in 1 hour or less", but more like an informal short course similar to a college course.
One that could be titled, "PCs for non-techies","PCs for Newbies", PCs for beginners".

I hesitate to say, "PCs for Dummies" even though there is a book by that title,
Amazon.com: PCs For Dummies: Dan Gookin: Books (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470137282/interactiveda940-20)

vangogh
02-23-2009, 12:07 AM
I've done one on one stuff, but never a course. I just happen to be the computer guy in my circle so I get asked a lot of questions. Every year I visit my family at Thanksgiving and it always involves my mom wanting some computer time so I can help her with some questions. Usually it's things she wants to know how to do with some of her software and I walk her through. I'll set things up and explain as I go. She picks up most of it, but there are always some things she doesn't have to do again after and forgets. Repetition definitely helps in learning.

With most other people the experience is the same. It's them asking me questions about things they want to do and me doing my best to provide answers and explanations. They get to lead the curriculum so to speak.

As for a course I would think your best bet would be to focus on one specific thing. Maybe one software application or task. It sounds like you're going after the complete beginner so you could teach them how to use their email or how to use their browser. I'd probably pick very common applications and keep things as simple as possible. Assuming the absolute beginner is your market. No matter who the market I'd keep the focus on one application or one set of common tasks.

thx4yrtym
02-23-2009, 06:03 AM
IT-GUY,

I have done a very limited amount. The latest experience involved using skype to tutor an individual in England (I'm in South Bend, IN) . He had a particular need in programming that I was able to assist with. I gave a quote and he accepted. Payment was through paypal. That same individual uses programmers from all over (Egypt etc) where it's hard to compete with the hourly rate.

In other words, tutoring can be done in a variety of ways, so if you have some very specific skills, using something like skype your customer could be anywhere.

Thanks for the kind words about my site, it's a work in progress between programming jobs. Demos and video tutorials will be posted for some programs shortly.

Regards,

kml9870
02-23-2009, 08:34 AM
In addition to 1-1 tutoring, I was asked to do an introduction to computers class for child care providers. I ended up giving 5 times and learned a little more of how to structure it each time. I prepared a hand out with a lot of the basics....when to use ctrl/alt/del, keyboard shortcuts, how to set up outlook to send/receive a POP acct, how to save a file, how to search for a file, defrag, disk cleanup and what to check before calling for help when the computer won't boot. I went over the handout for the first 90 minutes and then 30 minutes of Q & A. They seemed to get a lot out of it and gave rave reviews to my then supervisor.

rezzy
02-23-2009, 08:41 AM
It really depends on who you want to cater to. I know in previous posts you mentioned helping older people (senior citizens), they may have their own learning to do.

For instance, if you gave her a mouse, she wouldnt even know how to hold it. Although she has an interest in computers, she would need one on one training.

I think what I am trying to say is, tailor the course to the type of people you want. You wouldnt want people new to computers in class learning advanced excel or web programming. Think about where you skill is and build a course/class around it.

billbenson
02-23-2009, 10:09 AM
Wife took a class in the late 90's that got her into forums and chat. If you can get someone to do that, they can figure everything else out. It just took that and she is very computer literate today. Mind you she grew up in a 3rd world country and had never seen a computer at that time.

KristineS
02-23-2009, 12:35 PM
Our local community college has a lot of adult enrichment classes and many of them center around computers or learning a specific program. They go from very basic to quite advanced. If you have any kind of extension or adult ed courses in your area, they might have something similar. They might be looking for teachers too. It could be a good way to get your feet wet and try things out.

IT-GUY
02-24-2009, 03:12 PM
Thanks for all of you who commented. I have no great desire to be a teacher, but just thought maybe I could help some folks get off the ground who may not even know what PC they want to buy.

One reason why I would do this would be to create goodwill and let people know I am around and can help when they have problems or want to upgrade a PC. I would be sure to pass out promotional materials such as business cards, refrigerator magnets, etc.

I know there are courses at the community colleges for everything from gardening to digital photography and computers. I decided to call them lectures, thinking that might not scare people away. IMHO, there (may) be a lot of people who just don't want take a college course, even a non-credit one.

An example of the lectures could be:

Series 1 (4 part series – about 2 - 2.5 hours each)
1. Computer terms, Windows flavors, Mac OS X, or Linux
Advantages & Disadvantages of these operating systems
2. How to choose a PC – (hardware) & “Is my system too old to upgrade?”
3. How to choose proper software for your PC, & Settings in IE and OE ties in to #4
4. How to use Internet Explorer to search the Web, search engines, and how to use Outlook Express as an email client. – Maybe compare other email clients, also.


There could be continuing series, but I wanted to start right at the “beginning” for someone who has not bought a PC or has just bought one and is still mystified.
This is just a ROUGH idea of what I might start with. I would much prefer to be fixing PCs than messing with this. And just sitting here thinking it through, I am not so sure I want to do it. :confused:

The first classes I ever attended were in a church. A technician came in and taught it. IMHO, he got a little too deep for people who didn’t own PCs yet. He got into creating web pages and how to upload them to the Internet. That is too advanced for a complete novice. This was sometime before 1998.

vangogh
02-24-2009, 03:21 PM
I think teaching a continuing ed sort of course is a good way to generate some business. I had thought of doing something similar when I first started out. I guess you can pick up a little money (probably very little) for teaching the course and it's good will helping the community.

You will be seen as the expert by most of the people who take your courses.

What you might want to do is look through what's currently being offered, which it sounds like you have and look for the gaps. At the university here you'll find courses in Excel and Access (I can't remember if there's something for Word) and other similar applications. I think it's applications mostly here, though perhaps there are some basic classes on surfing the web and using email. Maybe it's all in one beginner's course.

billbenson
02-24-2009, 03:51 PM
Something else to add to your list.


Online bill paying and banking (people that are new to computers or elderly frequently don't trust this. you could go into security as well)
How to search - probably the most common activity on the web and most people don't know how to search properly.

IT-GUY
02-24-2009, 06:39 PM
I guess you can pick up a little money (probably very little) for teaching the course and it's good will helping the community.

You will be seen as the expert by most of the people who take your courses.

:) That IS the idea.

IT-GUY
02-24-2009, 06:51 PM
Something else to add to your list.


Online bill paying and banking (people that are new to computers or elderly frequently don't trust this. you could go into security as well)
How to search - probably the most common activity on the web and most people don't know how to search properly.


Search would be covered in my #4 lecture. I like the title, "Google is your friend." I would cover how to narrow down your search results etc.

I would have to put security way ahead of online banking. I actually don't normally encourage the people who are having trojans etc. on their PCs to do it. I am concerned for their identity. I think I need a little more reasurrance that online banking is really safe, myself. :o

I am not sure how much I will be able to get into 2 hours. I would think that Internet Security would possibly be in the second series. I may be wrong. I may be able to squeeze way more into 2 hours than I think.

I don't think any troubleshooting will be included in the first series. One thing I would endeaver to do is match my students within each series, to better meet their actual needs. Though this may not prove to be practical.

billbenson
02-24-2009, 07:16 PM
One thing that might be appropriate, probably series 2 though, is open source software. A completely new user might be hit with sticker shock when it comes to office and the likes. I know people that never install or update an antivirus. Avast is free. How to install and set up free software might be a good teaser to get people to come to series 2 assuming you want to do a more advanced course as well.

When I mentioned security above, I was thinking of using password generators to generate complicated passwords. Copy and paste them rather than type them, using one credit card for online purchases so its easy to spot fraud on the card, etc.

Just tossing out some ideas...

vangogh
02-24-2009, 07:34 PM
I am not sure how much I will be able to get into 2 hours.

You can plan for more and let the class lead you in what you cover. Many of the continuing education classes I've taken tend to do that. There's a plan for the course, but sometimes most of the people are less interested in your plan and more in answering their specific questions so you should be prepared to be flexible.

Also build in some time for Q&A.

One other point I found from taking a few cont ed classes. They end up catering to the least common denominator. Often the teacher ends up spending far too much time helping one person. Watch out for that. While it's great for that one person it's unfair to everyone else. I once took a class in Visual Basic programming and the teacher had to stop to help one person move files from one folder to another in Windows Explorer. She clearly didn't belong in this class and fortunately the teacher recognized that. Had he spent all his time helping her I would have demanded my money back for wasting my Saturday afternoon.

IT-GUY
02-24-2009, 09:29 PM
One thing that might be appropriate, probably series 2 though, is open source software. A completely new user might be hit with sticker shock when it comes to office and the likes. I know people that never install or update an antivirus. Avast is free. How to install and set up free software might be a good teaser to get people to come to series 2 assuming you want to do a more advanced course as well.

When I mentioned security above, I was thinking of using password generators to generate complicated passwords. Copy and paste them rather than type them, using one credit card for online purchases so its easy to spot fraud on the card, etc.
Just tossing out some ideas...

And some good ones at that. Letting them know of the option to use Open Source software is a very good idea. I agree that M$ Office seems overpriced. But I do like it. As a student I can purchase Office 2007 for around $65.00 :D

The people I have delt with do not want to use any passwords on their PCs. I am not happy about that, but hate to tell them they must, since it IS their computer.

I realize that you are not talking about a log-in password just for access to the PC, but my point is, it is hard to get people to do things safely. That is why I always just say, "Good, I'm glad you aren't using online banking" after I clean off some malware.:rolleyes:

Bill, you might throw me a link to more info on using passwords for online banking that a person would put on a USB stick or whatever. I admit, I am not up on that myself. Maybe I need to use my friend, Google :)

IT-GUY
02-24-2009, 09:48 PM
Vangogh,

What you say about letting the class lead makes good sense. So long as it doesn't get out of hand. I would welcome ideas from them and think I may ask, "What do you want to talk about the next 3 weeks". I could have a list of topics and let them vote on the topics. Majority rules. Still, there are certain basic skills that people need to learn. That is why I said earlier that I would like to try to match the class, (if possible) by a sign-up sheet with some basic questions, just to get an idea of their experience level.

I would not get into deep troubleshooting for just one person, while everyone else just sat there. I would gladly invite them to bring their problems for me to analyze and work with them away from the classs (for a fee) if they are having PC problems. And I hope to have a lot of this.

What you said concerning the student who was hogging too much time in your VB class is an example of a situation I must avoid. Thanks for bringing that up.

vangogh
02-24-2009, 11:28 PM
In some of the classes I took the teacher went around the room the first night asking who we were and why we were taking the class. He or she would mention some of the topics that were planned and asked if some were of more interest than others. They the course was tailored a little for our needs.

Most people would be fine without whatever was planned, but a few would prefer one topic over another. That's why I suggested having more planned than you necessarily need in case you want to offer some options.

The other thing I noticed was most teachers needed to go through the whole course a couple of times before they really knew the best way to approach the course. Don't feel like you have to have it all planned out perfectly before the first time. You'll likely figure out a few things along the way to make the course better.