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Local Classes Help Senior Citizens
Get Connected
By Alexis Moncman, Tribune-Review
April 26, 2005
When Kathryn Stevenson found out that her daughter was moving overseas, she decided it was finally time to learn to use the Internet.
That was five years ago. Stevenson, now 86, says e-mail has been a way to stay in touch with friends and her four children in China, California, Oregon and Beaver County.
"A lot of older people get into a shell and don't have outside interests. I just think this is a great outlet," says Stevenson, who learned how to use the computer at St. Barnabas, her retirement community in Richland.
An increasing number of senior citizens are going online to communicate with friends and family, according to a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, D.C. Stevenson is one of the 26 percent of Americans age 65 or older who use the Internet, up from 22 percent last year, according to the survey. That's compared to 15 percent of seniors who used the Internet in 2000.
More family members might be pressuring their aging parents to learn how to use e-mail to stay in touch, says Susannah Fox, Pew Internet Project's associate director.
"Some of these seniors have grown up without a phone in their house, so it's quite a leap for them to sign on," she says.
Several programs are available to encourage even more seniors to get connected.
SeniorNet, an international nonprofit organization designed to teach senior citizens the ways of computers and the Internet, is offered at The Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania, Bellevue. Other SeniorNet centers are located in Franklin Park and East Liberty. Classes also are available through the University of Pittsburgh, Web Wise Seniors and the Community College of Allegheny County.
SeniorNet classes are successful because of the peer instruction, says Norm Mast, program coordinator for SeniorNet. Classes and workshops are taught by former students and aided with coaches.
"There's a sense of community built around the technology," Mast says. "This technology brings people out of their homes and gets them involved."
SeniorNet instructor Marge Watkins, 77, of Emsworth, learned how to use the Internet when the center opened in 2000.
"A lot of the new students have a negative attitude, and aren't sure they can learn at first," she says. "My satisfaction comes from showing them that they can."
Instructors also say the benefits from participating in the classes are evident even outside of the SeniorNet lab. Instructor Chuck England, 67, of McCandless, recalls one student who was reclusive before attending classes.
"She was unsure how the reception from others would be," he says. "Then she started coming out and met people with similar interests. Now she is very involved in all kinds
of activities here."
Keith Hampton, assistant professor of technology, urban and community sociology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studied the effects of online communication on people's socialization skills before launching I-Neighbors.org. I-Neighbors.org was created to help neighbors get to know each other and develop communities based on common interests.
"Over the last third of the century, people have become less socially involved and spend less time socializing in general," Hampton says. "The site allows neighbors to break down some of the communication barriers."
Learning how to use the computer encourages senior citizens to stay engaged, says Jeff Pepper, president of Touchtown Inc., based in Oakmont. The organization provides e-mail and Web sites to senior living providers and the residents.
"As our culture shifts toward online communication, it's really important that everyone has access to that -- even our seniors," Pepper says.
Kevin Kramer, vice president of Web Wise Seniors, agrees that some senior citizens are not interested in going online because they might be intimidated by learning how to use a computer.
Yet, he says there is hope. The organization offers computer classes throughout Allegheny County for people 50 and older.
"Once they understand the technology on their terms, with the help of instruction, they are never off of the computer," Kramer says, laughing.
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