[Beyond Borders]

The local economy where i grew up is going to shit, and I've had a few of my family members come to me curious about bringing in income online. That I can help them with, but at least one of them could really use some improvement in basic computer literacy first - she's sharp but behind the times.

At first I was going to send her to the local adult ed school, but group classes are a traditionally slow way to learn and generally paced for the lowest common denominator population rather than those who soak up new info fast - this stuff isn't exactly rocket science. Plus, if she needs to develop the self-motivation to get shit done online, she might as well get started there with her learning instead of relying on a live environment.

Can anyone recommend a good resource for basic computer literacy training through the web? YouTube is an obvious go-to, but we're talking about newbs to the web and I don't want her going on wild goose chases on every marketing funnel she comes across.

At least at this stage of the game, I just want to send her to a credible, structured resource that'll teach her computer/internet basics so she has some ground to stand on before studying more valuable skillsets.

[sonoran_]

Your local library card might give you access to Lynda.com

If not then there are free versions such as Allison.com

[Beyond Borders]

^ Doesn't necessarily need to be free resources at all. Thanks for the tip, though.

[Huey]

Mozilla has a program called Web Literacy. Might be worth checking out.
https://learning.mozilla.org/en-US/web-literacy

I also recommend a programming course, particularly this one since it's one of the highest rated courses on Udemy. The instructor has another course on MySQL that I recently bought so I can vouch for his competency. Anyway, while she won't specifically learn computer literacy, she'll learn a marketable skill - web development - and a lot about computers in the process.
https://www.udemy.com/the-web-developer-bootcamp/

After re-reading your post it looks like what I suggested might be too much.

https://www.udemy.com/computers/ This looks like a good course. I took a glance at the curriculum and it covers (maybe too much) what the average person should know about computers.

[debeguiled]

This isn't online, but it works.

I was computer illiterate till my early forties. I know this will sound lame, but pick your operating system, get one of those "For Dummies" books, and have your family members read 15 pages and take notes, then actually do each thing they read. Takes hour or two a day max, and after a few weeks you are good to go.

Those books really are pretty good, and the repetition of writing and then doing works a charm. Also, since they are computer illiterate, they don't have to do any scary computer stuff to get started, they get started with reading, and then move on to simple things like turn it on, this is a cursor, this is a mouse, only worry about the left button for now, this is a hyperlink, this is a file, this is a program. Doing it at their own pace is key, so they won't feel stupid when they get newness overload, but don't want to let you, their teacher, down.

In this way, they can do it for themselves and don't need you around answering boring and obvious questions. Also, the terminology is key as it allows them to ask questions without saying, you know the thingy that looks like a blinky thing? So you don't have to sit there next to them holding their hand throughout the whole thing.

If they really want to learn, let them get up to speed on the boring basics on their own, and then they can do the fun stuff with you.

Not only was this a fun and easy way to learn how to use a computer, it has made me a really good teacher because I remember how it was then, and how important it is to get all the basic definitions down, so they can conceptualize what a computer really is.

(I tell them the internet is just a shared filing cabinet with all sorts of things inside it, for example. Really simple metaphors and descriptions.)

People really are scared at first, and think it is some magic thing for young people that is beyond them. They don't realize that they only have to know some basic words and principles to get started.

And also, it won't waste your time.