Seniors Getting Computer Savvy

The East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center is helping seniors become computer savvy with a four-week course on using the Internet.

Students learn to set up an e-mail account and use e-mail to communicate with friends and family. During the hourlong one-on-one lessons, they are also taught to surf the Web for information.

Fran Koosed, 75, said she likes the class because it has improved her communication with her children. She now regularly e-mails her three children who live in Northern California, Oregon and Texas, plus the few of her friends who are computer users.

“I felt as if I was letting the whole world go by without a computer, so I got a computer,” she said. “I wanted to be along with the world a little bit.”

Older adults benefit from more than the sense of connectedness the Internet can provide, said Siouxsie Calderon, volunteer coordinator. Just learning to use the mouse properly can help improve and sustain hand-eye coordination.

“There’s a stigma that older and wiser people don’t want to try the new technology, but these people here, they really challenge themselves,” Calderon said.

Volunteer John Chang, a structural engineer who teaches at the center, agrees.

“It is amazing,” he said. “The students have a very good mental attitude and a very high desire to learn something.”

Students are asked to give $40 to help fund the program at the East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center, 5000 Colfax Ave. in North Hollywood.

For more information, call (818) 766-5165.