COMPUTER, SMARTPHONES & INTERNET

WATCH out world! Dagupan’s senior citizens are determined to conquer the cyber world, never mind that they often forget their passwords for their Facebook, email and chat accounts.

Since the Fernandez administration decided that no elderly will be left behind in the use of computer technology, hundreds of grandfathers and grandmothers have been giving their relatives at home keen competition over the use of their home computers.

First challenge: Remembering username and password.

Corazon Langit, assistant city librarian, said the library is offering the city’s elderly a daily two-hour crash course for one week with the City Library’s personnel patiently teaching them basic tips about the computer including lessons how to compose a message using Microsoft Word, creating their Yahoo, Gmail and Facebook accounts and chatting with their friends, former classmates and family members in other parts of the country or abroad.

From the time the computer literacy program was launched this year with the support of Mayor Belen Fernandez, Langit said about 100 senior citizens who had zero knowledge about the use of computer and access to the internet, have already joined and completed the program.

“Their greatest happiness is when they are finally able to chat with their family and friends through Facebook,” Langit said. “They shout with glee once they get connected for the first time,” she added.

One elderly mother sent a friend request on FB to her daughter abroad but it was not immediately accepted. Her unbelieving daughter had to call her to verify if that was she that sent her a request to be added as a friend in FB.

Marilyn Caguioa, in charge of the program, said the library staff help the participants create their individual accounts and passwords and the biggest challenge has been how to make them remember these. The same challenge is shared by the elders’ grandchildren who help create their accounts and passwords at home.

In many cases, one participant ends up creating more than two accounts and passwords because they misplaced the paper on which their usernames and passwords were written.

“Some are just too happy to discover that they can play their favorite old songs on YouTube,” Caguioa said.

The eldest “elderly student” is 84-year old Pepe Siapno, who was former mayor of Dagupan.

Langit said most of their student-elderly admit they have laptops and desktops at home but never attempted to ask their relatives to teach them how to use them.

They happily found patient teachers at the city’s Computer Literacy Program.

Those who were quick to learn quickly moved on to learning about the use of smartphones that they brought to the library. The popular applications were installed on their units and were taught how to access their email, FB, YouTube etc.

Caguioa said their “graduates“” began asking about Viber, Twitter, Skype, Instagram that they hear a lot from their grandchildren. Still some, however, keep returning for a refresher course, Langit said laughing. (Tita Roces)

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