Michelle Kaplan

SENIORNET UNLOCKS WORLD OF COMPUTERS 1,000 TO 1,500 STUDENTS A YEAR ARE GETTING CHAPTER AND VERSE IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY THROUGH PROGRAM.

Retired executive Ed Ostrowski, 74, of Delray Beach, gets his intellectual satisfaction from working for an organization that keeps seniors in the technology loop.

Since 1995, Ostrowski has been involved with SeniorNet and currently serves as the Boynton Beach chapter’s president. “We teach senior citizens to communicate with their grandchildren by sending e- mail,” he said.

SeniorNet teaches about 1,000 to 1,500 students a year and replaces its equipment about every two years, Ostrowski said.

The chapter has 70 volunteers. Elaine Gronert, 70, is one of them. She has taken computer classes for seven years. “I’ve taken just about every class that they teach,” she said.

Gronert became such an accomplished computer user that she now coaches classes.

The group has been teaching at Hochman Jewish Community Center west of Boynton Beach since 2004, and recently added classes in digital photography, buying and selling on eBay and Internet security. All classes meet once a week for two hours.

Classes also are taught at the Levis Jewish Community Center west of Boca Raton. Karen David, adult director, is trying to put together an Internet class. It only takes five people to form a SeniorNet class, she said.

Gronet started with the basics, then moved onto graphics, where she learned to make greeting cards and posters for her community, Bent Tree Villas West, in Boynton Beach.

Her latest creative venture is digital photography. For Gronert, photo albums are now history. “Our kids don’t want that shoebox full of pictures,” she said. “You can add voices and attach them to pictures. … This is history that we can pass onto our children.”

SeniorNet began 20 years ago as a research project to see whether computers and other communication technology could enrich the lives of older people. Today there are more than 240 learning centers all over the United States, according to its Web site. The organization is based in Santa Clara, Calif.

The group charges a one-year membership fee of $30. Classes range from $15 to $35.

Fred Stein, 82, of Majestic Isles, west of Boynton Beach, enthusiastically promotes the program. He started as a student about eight years ago and now holds three titles — curriculum coordinator, staff coordinator and public relations. He also sits on the board of directors.

“What we have to teach is, don’t be afraid of your computer, don’t be afraid to experiment with it,” he said. “They are afraid if they touch it, they’ll blow up their computer. We convince them that it doesn’t happen.”

Stein explained that many students didn’t come looking for technology; technology caught up with them.

“One of the reasons they come in is that their grandchildren give them their castoff computers and say, `Here, join the modern world.’ Then they think, `OK, I got a computer, now what do I do with it?’ We have a method of teaching that is time tried,” he said.

That method includes personal attention. Classes are limited to 15 students. There is one instructor and two or three coaches who float around the class, making sure everyone is on track. Each student in the class has a computer. A large screen displays what students should be seeing on their monitor. A take-home book reinforces the lessons.

“The class was very nice, small,” said Judy Shulman, 67, of Boynton Beach. “Everybody had individual attention. The instructor, as well as the helpers, were really there to help us, to work with us.”

It wasn’t the first time she had used a computer, but others in her class were beginners.

“For a class that had people at such different levels, there was always somebody to answer a question if you had a problem. I believe we all learned quite a bit,” Shulman said.

Phyllis Gale, 77, of Boynton Lakes, has gotten comfortable on the Internet. With SeniorNet she learned her way around the auction site eBay.

“I loved it,” Gale said about the classes. “I think it gave me some insight. I was oblivious to everything before that.”

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)

PHOTO 2; A CLASS ACT: [Judy Shulman], 67, of Boynton Beach, learns to use a computer during SeniorNet at the Boynton Beach Jewish Community Center. THE GURU: Instructor [Fred Stein] teaches senior show to use a computer during SeniorNet at the Boynton Beach Jewish Community Center. Staff photos/Carline Jean
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
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[BOYNTON BEACH Edition]
South Florida Sun - Sentinel - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Author:     Michelle Kaplan
Date:     Dec 22, 2006
Start Page:     1
Section:     Community News
Text Word Count:     719