Best way to teach a beginner?

[KillerG]

I just bought my mom a new Bionic, as it was free on contract and I needed to replace her old Motorola flip phone. So what's the best way to teach her how to use it? I can teach her myself...but I won't be home until the 27th to teach her. So I'm thinking an online tutorial should do it, anyone know of any good ones? I know Verizon offers some, but I was wondering if someone knows of anything else that's good?

 

[SamuriHL]

Is there a VZW store near her? They will offer training if you ask them. Hands on to answer questions would be best IMO.

 

[hokiesteve]

Is there a VZW store near her? They will offer training if you ask them. Hands on to answer questions would be best IMO.

Yeah, I would have her go to the VZW store. If Verizon wants to charge a $30 upgrade fee for "training customers", I'd make them earn it.

 

[ngc457]

Have her read this blog Android Made Fun - Android Made Fun. It is for casual Android users and covers the basic how to.

 

[mamawM]

the phone comes with a preinstalled app called help center. it has video tutorials for phone use and also the guide (owners manual) and a tips section. that would be the quickest and easiest place to start. also the preinstalled app guided tours should provide a bit more assistance.

 

[BasPilot]

I would actually say tell her to spend an hour or so just going into and looking at everything in every corner of everything program. Tell her to change settings and see what happens. Let her just mash buttons and put all sorts of stuff all over the place.

Then, tell her when she's done messing things up just to see what they do, tell her how to factory reset the phone and then she can pick what she remembers and liked. When it's your first time going into android, or first time on a phone, there isn't all that much that you "need" or can't delete. Just don't go getting All sorts of apps set up, just goof with the phone settings. Factory reset is an awesome way to let someone mess with stuff and have absolutely no fear of messing up anything at all that won't get fixed in just a little bit anyway.

And, tell her to just have fun!

 

[KillerG]

I would actually say tell her to spend an hour or so just going into and looking at everything in every corner of everything program. Tell her to change settings and see what happens. Let her just mash buttons and put all sorts of stuff all over the place.

Then, tell her when she's done messing things up just to see what they do, tell her how to factory reset the phone and then she can pick what she remembers and liked. When it's your first time going into android, or first time on a phone, there isn't all that much that you "need" or can't delete. Just don't go getting All sorts of apps set up, just goof with the phone settings. Factory reset is an awesome way to let someone mess with stuff and have absolutely no fear of messing up anything at all that won't get fixed in just a little bit anyway.

And, tell her to just have fun!

the phone comes with a preinstalled app called help center. it has video tutorials for phone use and also the guide (owners manual) and a tips section. that would be the quickest and easiest place to start. also the preinstalled app guided tours should provide a bit more assistance.

Have her read this blog Android Made Fun - Android Made Fun. It is for casual Android users and covers the basic how to.

Yeah, I would have her go to the VZW store. If Verizon wants to charge a $30 upgrade fee for "training customers", I'd make them earn it.

These are all great ideas. My mom doesn't seem like the type of person who would go into the store, but I forgot about the built in things. I'll remind her to check those out when she activates the phone tomorrow. And I'll point her towards the Android Made Fun website as well.
Also, she hates messing with stuff because she messes stuff up. If I told her to go crazy, she wouldn't know what to do, but I'll tell her anyways, see what happens.