The Hazards of emailing!

The shock and excitement of getting an iPad is wearing off and the fear of having one, and actually using it is setting in. The sun rises on the day after, and the technology hangover is taking force. My Grandma wakes up and as I was having a week-long sleep over at her house the iPad training starts early.

Actually before I get really into the training, first I should set the scene. The night before the big unveiling, I with a little help from my elves had spent some 5 hours setting up the iPad. My Grandma's email details (and all her contacts) were loaded into the Mail app and her Telstra Wi-fi was set up. A beautiful (or horrid) 'selfie' of myself was set as her background wallpaper and all her Apple ID stuff was created.

Lesson One: The basics of email.

To make sure that she was not overwhelmed I decided to introduce my Grandma slowly to all the features of the iPad. Now, while it may seem slightly skittish as to the order of what is being taught, you need to know the reason for my Grandma getting her iPad. She came from England as a 10 pound pom with her husband and three daughters, leaving all her blood family behind. Therefore it was imperative that she learn as soon as possible how to Skype and email so that she could get in contact with her brothers and sisters, and with that in mind How to send an Email became lesson one. The steps are as follows.

Step 1: Tap on the Mail app, (one of the icons at the bottom of the iPad).
Step 2: To write an email. Go to the top right hand corner (row of icons) and tap on the last one, a picture of a square and a stick (pen).
*A new page will come up and this is where you will compose an email (and it will look the same when you reply or forward an email).
Step 3: Tap on the box next to where it says TO:
Step 4: Type in the name of the person you wish to write to. (Before I gave my Grandma her iPad I had already programmed her iPad to recognise all of her friends email without the need for her to type the email address in each time she wishes to send an email.)
Step 5: Tap on SUBJECT:
Step 6: Write a general few words summing up the email (Hey, Candles or Money for birthday for example.)
Step 7:Now tap down under SUBJECT to get the cursor into the body of the email, so that you can now begin to compose the email in full.
Step 8: When you are satisfied with your email tap the send button at the top of the page on the right hand side.
Step 9: (if the iPads sound is on) You will hear a noise signaling the email has sent and the iPad will be take you back to the screen you started on.
Step 10: To read an email. On the left of the screen you have been presented with are the emails in you inbox. To look at an email tap on the email you wish to look at.
*All new email will have a blue dot on the far left side of the email.
Step 11: Read.
Step 12:To reply to the email. Go to top right hand side of the screen and tap on the fourth icon (which looks like an arrow going backwards.
Step 13: You will be presented with a screen very similar to the screen you see when you write an email. However the TO: will be filled in already and so will the SUBJECT.
Step 14: If that is the case continue with step 15, if not go and follow steps 3 to 7.
Step 15: Tap down under the SUBJECT to write your reply. (see Step 7 for more details)
Step 16: Once again, if satisfied with your email tap the send button at the top of the page on the right hand side.
Step 17: (if the iPads sound is on) You will hear a noise signaling the email has sent and the iPad will be take you back to the screen you started on.
Step 18: To exit app, either use small round button on the face of the iPad or hand thing (spider)
*Spider is the term my Grandma uses when she put all her fingers (spread out) on the iPad and brings them to the middle to close the app.

And that folks is 18 steps on how to navigate the Mail app. I found that by making my Grandma send a few emails whilst I was with her, helped her gain her confidence and as a result I now expect an email every day from her. You may see this as over the top but I don't expect essay length emails from her, just a quick hello or a run down on her day does the trick perfectly. It also makes sure she remembers how to turn the iPad on, and connect her to the internet (which is an effort in itself sometimes).

In hindsight the daily email conversations between my Grandma and I have brought us even closer together. Before I would talk to her once or twice a week, but now with it being everyday I know so much more about what she does everyday before even my mum or aunts do. My peers ask me why do I even bother with it all? And every time I respond with she is my Grandma, I love her and I will do what ever it takes. So tune in next time for Google'ing 101.