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By Carol Neuberger

1.  Coming from the secretarial world, I used Word/Excel, but never understood the Cloud.  All these new clouds and google programs have been great to get to know. I only learned Google Docs two years ago when a volunteer sat with me a the Senior Center. I didn’t understand it really. Use Libre Office at home.

2.  Guides: many were tech trainers professionally; they explain extremely well. Presentations are well-organized, down to the second. They all speak clearly, slowly and no humming and hawing. Get point across with analogies. No question is stupid and they are so kind and welcoming. You don’t get that anywhere else.

3.  Better than YouTube, because they can answer your questions right there and guide you through. The Guides know what you need to know as a beginner. Feel at ease because of calm, welcoming manner. Less stress learning in your classes as compared to intro computer classes I’ve taken.

4. I went to several hacker spaces before COVID-19. Even if their group’s mission statement is teaching the community, most hacker spaces are full of IT and engineering professionals, who are not the average adult learner. It does not mean they can teach. It was a struggle to understand a free electronics class.

5.  GSU has exactly what I want.  A class on house music with GLENDA SPRINGER . . . my friends are not into that kind of music. But, here, at this class, we dance around and talk about house music. I lost 5 lbs this week. Her 60s music really took me back. In addition, the urban line dance class with SHIRLEY is wonderful. Not only does the teacher take teeny steps, which is how it is done, but I can re-live all those wonderful urban line dances that I learned 5 years ago. She’s an older lady, not some young kid jumping around. I like learning from my peer, not some kid.

6.  There is even a craft class about using toilet rolls and make things out of household objects. That is so up my alley as a creative person. Where else would I get such a perfect class for me. Feels like GetSetUp is tailored to me. SUE MURRAY even had the answer about how to put an axial on a toy car with a straw!!!!

7.  The classes all in Spanish are great, so I just listen and pick up Spanish words, which I type in Word.  

8. Things I use everyday like email...I have ten more tasks I can do with it. Amazing. Zoom…. learning all the extra things about it I didn’t know. Zoom puts lipstick on me, so I don’t have to find my makeup! I can adjust the lighting to hide my wrinkles.      

9.  Art apps and Photography: Didn’t even try any of these apps before. I get to see how they are used in real time.

10. Teachers say hello to you! Sometimes I jump out of my seat, because they say, "Hi, Carol" and I didn’t expect it.

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Things I have learned

GMAIL: Try to right click/delete a Label—doesn’t work, so went to Gear and looked in Settings: Went to Settings/Labels and removed a label. Renamed a label.

SHORTCUTS: Feeling more comfortable with the Settings in Windows, I found out how to do the shortcuts to websites. The first shortcut was putting Getsetup.io on my desktop.

TERMS: Just learning the correct term such as ribbon, gear, task bar, flag, label (file names in Windows), donut..oh, I mean waffle, is awesome, because I never know what to call those things.

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Amazing Guides

BOB COHEN: Speaks calmly, slowly. - Agenda: Clean. Well organized.   Objectives: Clear - Gives great analogies. Amazing teacher.

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Want PILAR to teach an advanced beginner Spanish conversation class where she gets us to answer her and talk with us. I like her firm personality...like saying, Carol, firmer the second time, because I totally didn’t understand. This is good for learners, because you need to get our attention when you don’t understand a new language!!!!  

During PILAR’s skin class, she yelled at me to wear sunscreen. I was out in the yard for 2 hours and put sunscreen on before I went out. I usually don’t, but since I was told to - Boy, the spots I missed got really red! Thank you, Pilar!

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WADE YARBOROUGH: Google Calendar. Kind, speaks clearly and distinctly. Slight southern accent which is welcoming. Well organized. No lag. Goes right into the next topic. No time wasted. Sticks to agenda, yet welcomes questions. Covers a lot of info. Uses terms we can understand like “lives in the cloud." Perfect for a beginner. Love to see pictures of his dog as examples, and kissing his wife goodbye is precious!!!!!

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DONNA: Can be my friend. Very natural. Giggles. Great organization. Explains well. Also likes art.

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VICKY: Very professional. Sticks to agenda, yet welcomes questions.

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SCOTT: Very informative. Knows his subject. Many examples. Photo Class: Learned: Portrait mode on cell. Blur mode. Took an amazing ← self-portrait following his rules! My friends on Facebook loved it!!!!!

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[Carol is a learner benefiting from the Baltimore County Department of Aging partnership with GetSetUp ]