Computer Course Helps Seniors Play Catch-Up : Education: Older adults have their own uses for communications technology. And they have plenty of time for learning.
At age 69, Joanna Goodblood joined the telecommunications revolution.
“I want to know as much about computers as my daughter knows,” said Goodblood, one of the newest recruits in SeniorNet, a nonprofit organization that teaches fundamental computer skills to people 55 and older.
SeniorNet, based at the University of San Francisco, runs 35 computer training centers in 17 states and Canada.
The newest is at Johnson County Community College in this Kansas City suburb, where Goodblood and 35 others are enrolled in three computer classes and there are 30 names on a waiting list.
“A lot of time people, when they get old, are intimidated by technology,” Goodblood said as her classmates pecked away at their keyboards during their second day of class. “But this is a way to get into it without your feeling like a dodo.”
Since its start in 1986, SeniorNet has trained more than 4,000 older adults to use computers. About 1,100 of them have signed up for a SeniorNet network that allows them to send and receive messages to one another via personal computers linked to telephone lines.
“The people in our classes aren’t in there for their resumes,” said Mary Furlong, an education professor at the University of San Francisco and a founder of SeniorNet. “The majority want to keep learning. They want to keep up with their children and grandchildren.”
Furlong and a colleague began SeniorNet in 1983 as a research project. They wanted to find out whether older people would be willing to learn about computers and use them.
Although about 20% percent of all U.S. households have computers, industry surveys have found that only 9% of adults between ages 60 and 69 own computers, and only 3% of those older than 70.
“What we discovered was older adults were very interested and very capable . . . largely because they had more time to learn,” said Furlong, who is co-author of a book “Computers for Kids over 60.”
“Seniors bring patience and expertise to their computer learning,” she said. “They find that using computers can open new doors for them, once they overcome their initial fear of the technology.”
For a $25 fee, members receive a two-month, hands-on training course and a quarterly newsletter. They also can pay a $15 membership fee for access to the network. They are charged $5.70 an hour for their on-line time.
The computer curriculum includes, among other things, training in letters, newsletters and budgets, Furlong says.
On the network, members go on line every Wednesday night. They exchange greetings and debate issues, such as the Persian Gulf situation and the stock market.
Many of the students, whose ages range from 55 to 95, have used their training to do things such as organizing and indexing collections and keeping track of investments.
“I’m in a lot of groups, and a computer would be a convenient way of helping me with file-keeping and my records,” said Lee Fisher, 65, another SeniorNet student.
The John and Mary R. Markle Foundation of New York is the chief financial supporter of SeniorNet, which is the first nationwide effort of its kind.
Its computer centers are in schools, community centers, nursing homes and eye-care centers.
The college was chosen as a base because of its willingness to supply computers, class space and instructors, said Cathie Peterson, a college spokeswoman.
Some critics contend that working on computers will contribute to the isolation of senior citizens, but those involved with SeniorNet disagree.
“The communication we’re trying to establish is like that of a park in the 1990s,” Furlong said. “You may not be able to walk across town, but if you go on line, everybody is right there.”
