Senior Citizens Learn Basic Computer Skills

Computer instruction for seniors is already underway as the second session, which lasts four weeks, began on Monday.

Five Yorktown residents eager to learn basic computer skills typed on the keyboards at the computer lab in the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center as two volunteer instructors walked them through how to log in and set up an email account. 

"We'll be lost without one and I want to be able to use the computer to look things up," Pat Rafferty said, who was there with her husband. 

Half way through the one-hour class, as the men and women were setting up a Gmail account, technology failed and the computers weren't letting anyone log in, which Councilman Vishnu Patel said was for security reasons. Despite the glitz, people said they will come back. 

Patel donated $6,500 to make the facility a reality and in January town officials  to be used to teach computer skills to seniors.

"I want to have a little knowledge," Margaret Sione said. "I feel inadequate because my grandchildren and kids are so proficient in it."

The woman said she wants to learn how to use the Internet in case she needs to look things up online, from topics she hears on TV to what stores offer before she goes shopping. 

"A lot of things you take for granted," volunteer instructor Geri Schwalb said because computer use comes as second nature to those who have grown up with computers or are already proficient in it. 

Lorraine DeSisto, a volunteer instructor from the Yorktown Rotary Club, said seniors take the classes to learn how to send and receive emails, use Facebook where they can see pictures of their children and grandchildren, while others want to be able to search the web and do shopping.

The difference she sees in people from the start the first class and where they are at the end of the session is that they get comfortable and lose their fear of computer use. 

Assistant Parks Superintendent Brian Gray said prior to the start of classes, seniors interested in signing up checked off days they would like to attend and a lottery decided who will be attending each session. There are five computers in the lab and class is limited to five participants per session.

Gray said one 90-year-old woman was in the March class instruction when she used email for the first time. Her son who was in England responded right away and everyone in the room got emotional, Gray said, who heard the story from an instructor. 

"As we move forward, we want to accommodate people who have signed up and continue lessons and get more advanced classes," he said. 

Six volunteers from Yorktown Lions and Rotary clubs have taught the classes, and Gray said more are needed.

Interested seniors can sign up for a computer course by picking up an application at the Parks and Recreation Department or the Nutrition Center. 15 people were chosen from a random lottery for April's session. Approximately 40 people have expressed an interest. 

Classes are offered on Mondays from 1-2 p.m., Wednesdays from 10-11 a.m. and Thursdays from 12:30-1:30 p.m. In addition to computer instruction, there will be an open lab Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the computer center for those who don't need instruction but need to use a computer. 

For more information on the senior computer classes, call the Parks and Recreation Department at (914) 245-4650.

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