Older generations joining digital, online revolution

Although Internet companies have mostly catered to young people, senior citizens are starting to garner more attention.

?Seniors were overlooked,? said Paul West, a retired IBM employee who now volunteers to teach seniors computer and Internet skills through Front Range Community College and the city of Longmont’s Senior Center. ?Computers were nabbed by children.?

The workplace also played a role in leaving seniors out of the digital revolution. ?Adults became accustomed to using (computers) at work,? West said. ?Anyone over 65 in 1990 has had little exposure to it.?

This is a situation West and teachers like him are working to change. ?We’re filling that generation gap that left seniors out with no real capability of getting training,? West said.

Many local senior centers and commercial businesses now serve seniors’ computer needs. Classes for seniors range from $5 to $40 each, and many labs are free or charge a minimal fee for Internet access.

Workforce Boulder County helps not only young people but also seniors re-enter the workforce by learning computer skills. ?We have a variety of classes that are limited to seniors who have become unemployed,? said Judy Willis, an employment and training specialist at Workforce Boulder County. ?These people have (business) skills already, and we help them transition into using a computer to do them.?

Some training classes have been started because of seniors’ interest in computers, according to Betty Krahling, program coordinator for the city of Boulder’s Senior Services. “The seniors have expressed the interest (in computers),” she said. Boulder Senior Center offers classes at the city’s Computer Training Center at 1101 Arapahoe Ave. They include beginning computer classes and the Internet. Most classes are two hours each and run for six weeks. Boulder residents pay $70 and non-residents $87. Seniors interested in the classes should contact the Senior Center at (303) 441-4150.

It’s Never 2 Late, a 2-year-old Englewood-based company, helps coordinate computer and Internet classes for seniors and is an Internet service provider (ISP) exclusively for seniors.

?There’s a misnomer out there that seniors should be lumped together,? said Jack York, the company’s co-founder. ?The needs and interests of different ages are widely varied.?

The company employs six, and its 2000 revenue was $250,000, York said. While 500 seniors have signed up for Internet service, ?more of our focus is building adaptive computer labs in retirement homes and assisted-living communities,? York said. ?We want to start more adaptive labs in additional states.?

Senior-friendly labs can include oversized keyboards, touch screens, simplified software and alphabetized keyboards. ?Most of the men in their mid-80s and older had women typing for them,? York said, ?So the women want the QWERTY and the men don’t.?

QWERTY keyboards, so named for the first six letters on the top row, are arranged in the standard, non-alphabetical order.

Before a new Never 2 Late seniors lab is set up, ?We give a presentation on what to expect,? York said. ?One lady wasn’t sure how hard she had to type to send an e-mail message to her son on the West Coast.?

E-mail is a big lure for seniors to get online, according to York and others. ?So many families don’t live in the same hometown where they were born,? West said. ?E-mail is so convenient.?

Certain Web-site topics have proved to be popular, too. ?Access to health and genealogical information is also important,? said Michele Waite, a manager with the city of Longmont’s Senior Center computer program. Waite’s program uses the computer lab at Front Range Community College (FRCC) and a group of 15 peer volunteers who work through SeniorNet.org.

?SeniorNet is a national organization sponsored locally by the Senior Center and FRCC,? said Bruce Lunstrum, a peer teacher and a retired IBM employee. SeniorNet currently maintains 200 computer labs for seniors nationwide, each using peer-to-peer teaching techniques.

?People feel more comfortable working with peers,? Waite said. ?The senior volunteers help keep the 1-to-3 ratio intact.?

Added Lunstrum, ?Those 20-somethings know it so well and do it so fast. We can’t follow that.?

A high teacher-to-student ratio also helps. ?We have coaches in the classes so students get one-on-one attention,? said Jenny Johnson, the computer learning center coordinator at Aurora Senior Center.

Computer use improves seniors’ outlook, according to a study conducted by Jenny Johnson, a senior recreation assistant at Aurora Senior Center. As part of her coursework at Metro State College a year ago, Johnson conducted a study on seniors and the Internet.

Johnson helped an elderly woman learn to use the Internet for the first time, and Johnson recorded the woman’s feelings about the experience. ?It was a work in progress, so I had limited data,? Johnson said, ?But it did show she had an increase in mood. She felt useful and empowered by learning something new. She was able to e-mail her grandkids.?

Community Resource Coordinator Diana Superka at Louisville Senior Center said that one man using the facility’s lab ?does research for a class he’s taking at CU. The Internet is making seniors stay more in touch with what’s going on.?

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