Panda Picks-Seniors Work on the Net!

“A new Harris Poll finds  Babyboomers online are beginning to look more like the population of the country. Although senior citizens age 65 and older still lag, they are catching up and the difference is not so dramatic”, says  Senior Journal.com.  They go on to explain that we seniors are 16% of the population  but only 10% of the on line users.   Considering that at the top of age scale 80-100 most will never start to use the computer because of impairment and thus the elderly  participation  on the net is at a maximum level.  But we are catching up and probably have maxed out as 18 million of us seniors were using the net in 1997 but now a whopping 184 million adults are computers users.

The time to learn most things is 10 years ago
-Mignon McLaughlin

I came on line in 2004 so you see I was a little slow getting here.  I also was a little slow grasping all there wass to learn  often excusing myself as “computer illiterate” or that I did not speak “computer–eeze”.  Because many of us are still quite new to the cyber age, I thought some resources might be good for those new to the net and those who have been learning  and struggling for some time. 

LOCAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

If you are a hands on person, you will be learning as you go.  When we get stuck we just ask our grandchildren. Sometimes we find classes at the Senior Citizens Center, community colleges/universities, work on the job training, neighbors/friends, church or  other organizations offering classes. Ford Motor company in our community offered many kinds of classes for enriched lifestyle so computers classes were included as an option.  You might be familiar with Elderhostel who provide learning adventures for those over 55. You might find computers on the list of adventures at your local colleges or investigate their site at: http://www.elderhostel.org/about/default.asp.  SeniorNet also has learning centers thru out the country.  On the menu check out the over 200 choices for your area learning centers.

ON LINE LEARNING

You can worK with AARP.org and their 7  basic web lessons. 

Another self help site is: http://ricshe8.freehostia.com/seniors/computing2.html which was developed by college professor, Rick Sheridan. Check out his  many resources.

While looking around in Wired Seniors aka Senior Search, I found a lady who has on line classes which she sends each month.  She also sells how to books, she has created. I have yet to receive my first lesson so I will update this information when I get into the lessons. 

Here is a Series of books for seniors using the internet located at: http://www.visualsteps.com/. These are great for the visual learner as they provide a screen shot and illustration for step by step instructions..

Internet for Beginners by About.com has 39 areas of learning offered right on line. Click on any of the subjects to learn more.

Panda Lady suggests books for Finding your way on the Internet

Seniors Learning about the Internet

Learning Made Easy

Panda picked learning the computer as today’s subject because we never stop learning.  There is always another new skill, a new method, computer terms, a shortcut etc. Whether you seek advice on skype or yahoo from friends, read books or attend classes we seniors can be successful in our quest for learning about the computer. With these skills we have access to all the computer can  add to our lifestyle.

Mary Hofstetter AKA The Panda Lady