UAMS, Volunteers Step Up to Help Seniors Learn Computers

By David Robinson

 Doris Davis coaches Phyllis Ruocco during a computer class at the Institute on Aging.

Sept. 9, 2010| Doris Davis remembers the day about 10 years ago when a friend gave her a computer.

“I said, ‘what would you like for me to do with that?’” Davis, 72, recalled. “He encouraged me to learn how to use it, so I found SeniorNet.”

SeniorNet is a nonprofit volunteer group that provides computer classes for people ages 50 and up at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.

“I took every course they had to offer,” Davis said. “After a year or so, they asked me to become a coach, and I’ve been with SeniorNet ever since.”

Like most people who come to SeniorNet classes, Davis found the teaching environment nonthreatening and that it opened new avenues for communicating with friends and family.

“I have family in Germany, and they like to know what we’re doing over here and how quickly my grandson is growing,” she said. “It’s so easy to put a picture in an e-mail and send it. It’s a wonderful way to stay in touch and especially to see children grow.”

SeniorNet has served about 300 people a year since 1994 or about 4,800 students, said Fred Clark, a SeniorNet instructor. Classes have been held at UAMS since 1997, and when SeniorNet faced closing its doors due to financial constraints in 2009, the UAMS Reynolds Institute on Aging stepped in to pay the printing cost for its teaching manuals. Today the cost is paid partly by UAMS and partly by SeniorNet.

Reynolds Institute on Aging Executive Director Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., said teaching older adults to use computers fits well with the mission of the institute because it contributes to a person’s overall well-being.

“As people age, it is vital that they take care of their physical health as well as their mental health, which includes learning,” Wei said. “Learning to use a computer not only sharpens the mind, it keeps people connected in today’s world. It’s important that older adults not feel left behind as they age.”

Al Taylor, an instructor at SeniorNet, said most new students have a limited view of what they need to learn.

“Most come in and just want to do e-mail, but there a lot of other things they need to learn,” Taylor said. “Microsoft Word and the introductory course on the Internet go along with it, as do spread sheets and file management.”

After learning how to use her computer, Davis said she couldn’t stay away from it.

“There’s just so much information out there,” Davis said. “I used to go to the encyclopedia. Sometimes when I watch the news I will hear something that I want to learn more about, so I go to my computer.”

Classes are held monthly. The cost is $40 per course for individuals and $65 for couples. An optional textbook is $15. Classes are in Room 1155 at the Institute on Aging, 629 Jack Stephens Drive, Little Rock. For more information and to register for a class, call 501-603-1262.

SeniorNet is looking for additional qualified instructors to offer a greater variety of classes. For information about becoming an instructor, contact Diane Hughes at seniornetdiane@earthlink.net.