Having spent a number of years assisting older new computer users in becoming accustomed to their machines, I think I can offer some helpful suggestions. My advice is perhaps best broken into three categories: attitude, metaphors and technology.
Attitude
One of the most common mistakes I see among younger people working with the elderly, even well-meaning younger people who are volunteering to help in the first place, is a patronizing or condescending attitude. Most older computer users expect that computers are going to be frustrating, to some degree. They don't need to be "soothed" and can deal with frustration. By the same token, they don't need to be faced with two sources of frustration: the computer and the instructor. To avoid contributing to frustration:
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace and a volume perhaps slightly louder than you are used to using with twenty-somethings. This is a generally good habit to get into with people in their seventies and eighties. Don't scream, but don't mumble, either.
Don't digress. While you may think it is profoundly important to explain how the software is working in the background, or what the difference between RAM and the hard drive is, this extra information is just clutter to someone trying to accomplish a task. Only bring up extraneous information if you are asked a direct question.
Use common language and avoid jargon. If jargon is necessary, define all terms. It's true that people benefit from explanations and context, but only if they understand those explanations.
This last point leads to my next section, on the use of appropriate metaphors.
Metaphors
The biggest conceptual leap for an older computer user is the idea of hierarchy in the computer, whether that hierarchy is expressed in the layers of the file system, or in layers of stacked windows. Operating system GUIs, all of them, fail miserably in terms of usability by allowing windows to be stacked, and allowing non-modality. Yes, of course you readers of Slashdot are power users, and these things don't confuse you, but have you ever been in a forty-five minute conversation trying to explain what happens when a pop-up window disappears behind the main browser window? It is impossible to overestimate how difficult this concept is for many older people. It is not, by any means, a lack of intelligence, capability, memory or any such thing. Rather, it is a learned concept that the average Slashdot reader was fortunate enough to pick up transparently in childhood. I don't mean to suggest older users _won't_ get the hierarchy concept, but that instructors should not brush by the idea without acknowledging what a big conceptual leap it is. Metaphors can help the transition.
There's a reason why the Macintosh has a "desktop"; it was presumed that the metaphor of the desk and working with static, page-like files would allow users to comfortably transition to the hierarchic file system. Use the desktop metaphor to explain the idea of layered windows, which are much like stacked pages.
The "tree" metaphor has also been successful with a lot of my clients. The hard drive is the "root", the folders/directories are the "branches" and the files are the "leaves". Go ahead and draw a picture; this isn't patronizing.
By the way, don't encourage new users of any type to mulitask. For example, never, ever, ever start by saving a document to a personal folder in the hierarchy. Save everything to the default location. Then, close all applications, and commence a completely different exercise: moving the document from one place to another. This prevents users from conflating the function of the application and the filesystem.
Technology
It is extremely worthwhile to attempt to set up your users' computers beforehand to make their experience better. Make sure that all applications are easily accessible from the Start or Apple menu. Make sure that all windows in applications are maximized, so the desktop is hidden (this is much less confusing). Make sure each user has a "My Documents" or personal folder accessible from the desktop. Make sure that to whatever extent is possible, applications present modal windows, and that Web sites you visit do not generate pop-ups or other screen clutter. Plan the lesson ahead of time and set the lesson up in your software, so that you are not in the position of confusing the user in the process of correcting an overlooked and extraneous step.
There is no inherent problem with PDF as a file format given its intended use, which is to permit the exact replication of formatted documents, including all fonts and layout. The original purpose of PDF was to permit the transfer of print-ready files from one machine to another, ensuring layout fidelity. Hence its use in IRS forms and other government documents, which are often machine read and thus require that the position of fields on a page be regular. PDF as a file format has not adequately been extended to account for the unique capabilities of online or dynamically-driven content, and this is a weakness some would find. Frankly, though, that's why there are multiple file formats; each format is supposed to do its one job as perfectly as possible. Also, just as a point of information, in this offtopic thread, PDF is a superset of PostScript; the PDF specification includes all of PostScript Level 3, and is in some senses the logical progression of the PostScript language.
Though undoubtedly Titan A.E. draws from a wealth of contemporary sources (Star Wars, Tron, etc.), its most significant influence is quite ancient: the Hebrew Bible. Specifically, the story is a retelling of the Messiah tales embeded in the prophetic books of Jeremiah and Isaiah. In the prophetic books, the Messiah was conceptualized not so much as a spiritual or mystical figure, but as a political hero who would restore national sovereignty to the Israelite nation following the Babylonian Exile of 586 B.C.E. The movie and the books of the prophets are closely parallel, e.g.:
The Kingdom of Israel (Earth) is threatened by the "alien" Babylonians (the Drej); the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians (the destruction of Earth by the Drej) leads to the exile and Diaspora of the Israelites (the scattering of humans across the galaxy). An unlikely hero descended from the builder of the Temple (Cale) becomes the Messianic savior of the Israelites by participating in the miraculous rebuilding of the Temple and the ingathering of the exiled Israelites from all corners of the world to the promised land (I'm sure you can see the rest of the parallels).
Of course, Titan A.E. isn't meant to be an especially religious story; it's just important to remember when we complain about how one movie draws heavily from another, that almost every story at its core draws from the themes elaborated in the canons of Western civilization.
Slashdot Mirror
Having spent a number of years assisting older new computer users in becoming accustomed to their machines, I think I can offer some helpful suggestions. My advice is perhaps best broken into three categories: attitude, metaphors and technology.
Attitude
One of the most common mistakes I see among younger people working with the elderly, even well-meaning younger people who are volunteering to help in the first place, is a patronizing or condescending attitude. Most older computer users expect that computers are going to be frustrating, to some degree. They don't need to be "soothed" and can deal with frustration. By the same token, they don't need to be faced with two sources of frustration: the computer and the instructor. To avoid contributing to frustration:
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace and a volume perhaps slightly louder than you are used to using with twenty-somethings. This is a generally good habit to get into with people in their seventies and eighties. Don't scream, but don't mumble, either.
Don't digress. While you may think it is profoundly important to explain how the software is working in the background, or what the difference between RAM and the hard drive is, this extra information is just clutter to someone trying to accomplish a task. Only bring up extraneous information if you are asked a direct question.
Use common language and avoid jargon. If jargon is necessary, define all terms. It's true that people benefit from explanations and context, but only if they understand those explanations.
This last point leads to my next section, on the use of appropriate metaphors.
Metaphors
The biggest conceptual leap for an older computer user is the idea of hierarchy in the computer, whether that hierarchy is expressed in the layers of the file system, or in layers of stacked windows. Operating system GUIs, all of them, fail miserably in terms of usability by allowing windows to be stacked, and allowing non-modality. Yes, of course you readers of Slashdot are power users, and these things don't confuse you, but have you ever been in a forty-five minute conversation trying to explain what happens when a pop-up window disappears behind the main browser window? It is impossible to overestimate how difficult this concept is for many older people. It is not, by any means, a lack of intelligence, capability, memory or any such thing. Rather, it is a learned concept that the average Slashdot reader was fortunate enough to pick up transparently in childhood. I don't mean to suggest older users _won't_ get the hierarchy concept, but that instructors should not brush by the idea without acknowledging what a big conceptual leap it is. Metaphors can help the transition.
There's a reason why the Macintosh has a "desktop"; it was presumed that the metaphor of the desk and working with static, page-like files would allow users to comfortably transition to the hierarchic file system. Use the desktop metaphor to explain the idea of layered windows, which are much like stacked pages.
The "tree" metaphor has also been successful with a lot of my clients. The hard drive is the "root", the folders/directories are the "branches" and the files are the "leaves". Go ahead and draw a picture; this isn't patronizing.
By the way, don't encourage new users of any type to mulitask. For example, never, ever, ever start by saving a document to a personal folder in the hierarchy. Save everything to the default location. Then, close all applications, and commence a completely different exercise: moving the document from one place to another. This prevents users from conflating the function of the application and the filesystem.
Technology
It is extremely worthwhile to attempt to set up your users' computers beforehand to make their experience better. Make sure that all applications are easily accessible from the Start or Apple menu. Make sure that all windows in applications are maximized, so the desktop is hidden (this is much less confusing). Make sure each user has a "My Documents" or personal folder accessible from the desktop. Make sure that to whatever extent is possible, applications present modal windows, and that Web sites you visit do not generate pop-ups or other screen clutter. Plan the lesson ahead of time and set the lesson up in your software, so that you are not in the position of confusing the user in the process of correcting an overlooked and extraneous step.
There is no inherent problem with PDF as a file format given its intended use, which is to permit the exact replication of formatted documents, including all fonts and layout. The original purpose of PDF was to permit the transfer of print-ready files from one machine to another, ensuring layout fidelity. Hence its use in IRS forms and other government documents, which are often machine read and thus require that the position of fields on a page be regular. PDF as a file format has not adequately been extended to account for the unique capabilities of online or dynamically-driven content, and this is a weakness some would find. Frankly, though, that's why there are multiple file formats; each format is supposed to do its one job as perfectly as possible.
Also, just as a point of information, in this offtopic thread, PDF is a superset of PostScript; the PDF specification includes all of PostScript Level 3, and is in some senses the logical progression of the PostScript language.
Though undoubtedly Titan A.E. draws from a wealth of contemporary sources (Star Wars, Tron, etc.), its most significant influence is quite ancient: the Hebrew Bible. Specifically, the story is a retelling of the Messiah tales embeded in the prophetic books of Jeremiah and Isaiah. In the prophetic books, the Messiah was conceptualized not so much as a spiritual or mystical figure, but as a political hero who would restore national sovereignty to the Israelite nation following the Babylonian Exile of 586 B.C.E. The movie and the books of the prophets are closely parallel, e.g.:
The Kingdom of Israel (Earth) is threatened by the "alien" Babylonians (the Drej); the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians (the destruction of Earth by the Drej) leads to the exile and Diaspora of the Israelites (the scattering of humans across the galaxy). An unlikely hero descended from the builder of the Temple (Cale) becomes the Messianic savior of the Israelites by participating in the miraculous rebuilding of the Temple and the ingathering of the exiled Israelites from all corners of the world to the promised land (I'm sure you can see the rest of the parallels).
Of course, Titan A.E. isn't meant to be an especially religious story; it's just important to remember when we complain about how one movie draws heavily from another, that almost every story at its core draws from the themes elaborated in the canons of Western civilization.