Google 101 with Dad

I spend my days trying how to figure out how to get the most out of emerging technologies for today's college students. So it's really refreshing to spend time with my 90-year old Dad and his iPad.

Until recently, he has mostly used it for email. That in itself has been a big leap, and a real help to keep him connected with friends and family -- especially since my Mom passed away last summer.  He tends to be on a different schedule than my siblings and myself, staying up later at night and sleeping in longer in the morning. (But hey, after working for 70 years, he's earned the right to make any kind of schedule he wants!)  Being able to email with us means we can stay in touch constantly, even if one or the other of us is asleep.

Just recently, Dad discovered Google. Wow. It's amazing to me to even write that phrase. I mean, he knew about Google, but he didn't know how to Google. Now he has the Google icon at the bottom of the screen, I hope he will use it frequently.  He's a smart man, but he challenges me constantly to use my best tech teaching practices.  For example, after our first lesson on how to Google, he wanted to stop and "write it down so I'll remember."  Now, if something is complicated, or it's a task you won't use frequently, I see no harm in writing down the steps.  But in this case, I said, "How about we just keep doing more searches?"

He was happy to oblige!  My Dad is the kind of person who will sit and read the dictionary. He is a Google dream.

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed by technology, or if you just need a pick-me-up, I suggest you find an elderly person and show them how to use one of these tools that the rest of us take for granted every day now.  Explaining to someone what a search engine does will make you stop and think, "That is pretty amazing."

Update:

He has discovered YouTube.