SeniorNet courses get local residents wired

Computer classes offered for ages 50 and up

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Communicating with grandchildren and managing retirement funds are just two reasons why senior citizens take SeniorNet computer classes.

Founded in California in 1986 as a small research project, today the international nonprofit computer learning program for adults ages 50 and older has thousands of members learning computer technology in more than 200 learning centers across the United States and Japan.

The local SeniorNet program has recently moved from the original downtown office it occupied since 1990 to the Manpower building at 6615 S. Eastern Ave., No. 104.

Dixie Frisk, SeniorNet coordinator, said she and her volunteer staff of 15 instructors are pleased with the new location at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Sunset Road.

"We're delighted really. The old building was getting kind of old," she said. "We do like being close to Henderson. We have a lot of students who come from Henderson, as well as some of our instructors living in Green Valley."

Frisk and her staff are working to set up the site in time for the new term, which starts Sept. 12.

SeniorNet classes are six weeks long and taught at 10 levels of computer literacy. Each class is two hours long and meets once a week, leaving students the rest of the week to practice what they've learned at home.

"Seniors want to learn," Frisk said. "Their grandchildren are speaking a language they don't understand. We're all on the Internet. We're all communicating with our families through e-mail, but there are so many things a computer can do beyond those things. The opportunities are endless."

SeniorNet courses include computer fundamentals, word processing, Windows operating systems, Internet, digital imaging, a spreadsheet course and graphic design classes that enable senior citizens to do everything from managing stocks to writing letters.

"Graphics is a fun thing, and a lot of our people are very, very interested in it," Frisk said.

With only 12 students per class, SeniorNet courses offer individualized instruction.

"Our program is unique," instructor Maurice Littlejohn said. "We have more one-on-one teaching as opposed to more crowded classroom settings you will find in Las Vegas."

Littlejohn said one SeniorNet class involves building a computer from the ground up, to teach students how to carry out basic computer tasks.

"They learn how to actually install a CD drive or a hard drive, any component of the computer," he said.

SeniorNet students are not graded, and a $40 fee covers a year of classes. Some computer classes may require an additional tutorial fee.

"Seniors, our generation, we have the desire to stay up with what's going on in the world, the technology. When we were kids there was no such thing. Participants tell me this has opened up a whole new world to them," Frisk said. "Continuing to learn is what keeps us young."

For more information about the SeniorNet program, call 363-2626.