"A computer is a means to an end. The person you're helping probably cares mostly about the end. This is reasonable."This thing to tell myself when helping somebody with a computer is a refreshing thing to read. My Pepere just got a computer a year or two ago, and he uses it for nothing but email. When he first got it, I tried to get him excited about it and interested in how it works, but I quickly realized that he was only interested in the one thing he got the computer for - staying in touch with his kids more easily and frequently.
"Attend to the symbolism of the interaction. Try to squat down so your eyes are just below the level of theirs. When they're looking at the computer, look at the computer. When they're looking at you, look back at them."This one stuck out to me because I know that this is difficult when you're trying to help somebody with a computer problem. This goes along with the rule about taking the keyboard away - for some reason, computer problems seem to be the most urgent thing in the world when you know what the problem is. It's easy to just want to take over the situation for the person requesting help, but that doesn't help them at all.
If I'm teaching somebody to use Google Earth, it'll be easier than usual to attend to symbolism of the interaction - the controls are somewhat intuitive, but it's easy to fall into a place as another person who's just in awe of the amazing technology of the program, instead of a "guru."
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