I have been working with a client who is developing classes for adults designed to teach them how to use their iPhones effectively. His research from the major cell phone providers shows there are several million iPhone users over 40 who all have data plans but rarely use any data from their service providers. His courses are designed, at the basic level, to teach older people who really did not grow up with personal technology, how to text, email, use voicemail, the Contacts app and the Calendar app, as well as showing them how to go online for information, travel bookings, financial stuff (like online banking) and shopping, to make their lives easier. A big part of the course will be based on teaching them how to use Siri for most of these basic functions, especially for older people with shaky hands and poor eyesight. He plans to have live classes with no more than 20 people in a class, where a trainer will go through a 2 hour, hands-on session and demonstrate all of the basic features available on an iPhone right out of the box. The classes will be casual and social, and he will sort like people (from an iPhone usage pov) into classes via questionnaire that will be filled in at the online registration process. He will also eventually offer online video streamed versions of the live classes for students who don't live in an area where he will offer classes. He is also developing more advanced versions of the classes as well as a class designed to teach people how to find useful apps in the App Store. He will also eventually create sibling courses for Android. I'm doing the back end of the company for him and working with the initial setup and website creation. He has had a terrific response to the idea so far and his 1st class is scheduled in early August in L.A. Any thoughts?
I can't comment on the behind the scenes stuff but this is a big deal. My dad is a site supervisor/foreman and they are pushing tech on him as well. I had to teach him a whole bunch of stuff regarding his smart phone. Before this he used a flip phone for phone calls and nothing else (including no texting). Now he takes pictures and emails them directly to individuals and much more. That is the only obstacle I see in this case. New gen has a good concept of it and can teach parents. Not everyone has this luxury and some people are old school and take classes for it + hands on.
Spent the weekend teaching my 68 year old mom how to use the new iPad Mini I bought her. Sounds like something that would be in demand.
The first live class is scheduled for Woodland Hills CA on Aug 2. It will be interesting to see the response to the class material. It is almost full at this point
I'm a Verizon sales rep. We give free classes 3 days a week in our stores. One class in the mornings is for Apple and then we do one in the afternoon for Android operating systems. We also have started a tablet class as well as a more advanced class. I think you got a great idea though. There is a lot of people out there I see daily struggling with the basics of cell phones. Good luck with things. I hope it works out for you.
I would put less effort into the online portion of it and focus mainly on live training. The audience that is looking for smartphone training and tablet training are quickly turned off by online videos. Honestly if they don't know how to use their smartphone, they won't know how to login and watch the videos online - it's over their heads. I built an app for teaching the iPhone, it wasn't very successful (of course we all have different ideas of success, but it wasn't worth the effort). I've been in tech training all my life.
My grandma is 80 and she had a free android phone for the last few years that she hated. The last straw was when it deleted all of her contacts during a crisis. We got her an iPhone and she loves it. Picked it right up. Even got her doing group texting with our whole family. Amazing how easy the apple devices are for children and older people to use, very intuitive.
Good idea Mr. A. This comes to mind when teaching older people about technology, and having lots of patience. Image Unavailable, Please Login
True, but there is a demand for additional learning; I've been tossing the idea around as well. Many local libraries also offer tech classes for seniors.
The test classes have gone extremely well. Great responses. especially from the age 65+ participants The company's website goes live on October 1 (hopefully.) Initial locations will be in the LA area, expanding to the Bay Area, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Anywhere where there are largish retirement communities. They are seeking a Florida partner too for that expansion. That is a very large market, but it will need a full presence, including administration and marketing in-state. They have developed three iPhone courses so far - an Essentials class for true newbies to the iPhone, an Intermediate class teaching some nuances, like conference calls, attachments to texts and emails, managing settings and expanding on internet interaction, and an APP class teaching how to download and set up apps, recommending certain essential apps and teaching how to manage battery life by closing and deleting apps. There is also a law profession specific course being developed as well as a couple of specific courses like finance apps and Photography with the iPhone
The company's website went live yesterday. iCamp This is going to be interesting. Their take on the tech education market is that there are very few, if any, tech industry entrepreneurs paying any real attention to the seniors market,because most of those entrepreneurs are under 40 and literally disregard the market for people over 40
A relative mentioned this to me years back & thought this was a good business idea. I probably should have pursued but I do not have patience to teach, so I was short sighted.
The trainers are mostly women with teaching experience. The ones who taught K to 4th grade are the best. They have the patience and the ability to repeat their lesson in a slightly different way.
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