COMPUTER LANGUAGE, Part 2
During COVID, I planned my first Zoom call for my siblings. One of them had attended Zoom calls or webinars, so they knew how to click on the link that was sent to them, by the organizer in an email. All of them had email addresses, so that was one aspect that they could handle fairly easily. But I needed to understand the different-looking ‘desktops’ that they would be using for the Zoom call. As well, setting up the time, in each city, required consultation and an email to finalize the times of the call.
Plan #1: Send an email to each of them, with instructions of how to click on the blue lettered link to the Zoom call, and then, in the next ‘window’, ‘Open link’ and then ‘Join with Video’.
Lesson #1: Verify if those instructions worked for the more savvy sibling. Then phone or send a follow-up email to the others to see if they had any problems with my instructions or the times. Ask leading questions, to verify that they really DID understand.
Plan # 2: Have a Zoom call with each hesitant person, individually, and teach them how to locate and turn on their microphone and ‘share their screen’ with me, so I could see what they see, and help them to navigate their own ‘desktop’. Some test calls began with a phone call to navigate Zoom.
Lesson #2: Establish the basic vocabulary of navigation, e.g., the top ‘menu bar’, top left or top right of their desktop and the ‘+’ and ‘–’ symbols, including how to differentiate their desktop, from their ’email window’. NB: some of the language was a hybrid of computer lingo and my siblings’ language. The key factor was communication in whatever language worked, with lots of guesswork on my part. For example, I had to learn that they don’t have red/yellow/green dots on the upper left of their screens (an Apple feature for closing or minimizing the window). My bad! They don’t have Apple computers.
Plan #3: Help them to feel at ease moving photos (received in an email) to their desktop. The aim was for each sibling to put photos on their desktop, so they could take turns, during the Zoom call, sharing their screen and showing their photos to the others.
Lesson #3: Explain terms such as ‘minimize’, ‘close’, ‘folder’, ‘attachment’, ‘screen share’, ‘stop share’, ‘mute’ and ‘unmute’, to name a few.
Plan #4: Go for it! Get on Zoom ahead of the call, in case someone arrives early… and expect the unexpected!
Result: A few of them saw this as another chat around the dinner table, like the old days, interrupting the speaker to crack a joke or just add their two-bits. The loudest voice dominated the call. It was a mess! One person didn’t get on, because they didn’t realize that ‘Join with video’ meant that they had an option to ‘join with‘ or ‘join without video’, which meant that they needed to choose one. They figured that the blue box meant it was already chosen, so they waited… OMG!
Fiona