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Whizz kids help the elderly to log on
THE atmosphere is strangely intense. There is the murmur of calm voices, the occasional soft laugh but the sense of something important going on is almost tangible.
Looking around the room, grey heads lean in towards computer screens, fresh faces beside them, encouraging them on.
This is Log on, Learn, an innovative programme where transition year students help older citizens to become computer literate and where building bridges between the generations comes as a bonus.
And, at Colaiste Mhuire, Askeaton, one of the few Limerick schools who opted for the initiative, it has worked beautifully, creating a very special magic of its own.
Indeed, when the initiative was first advertised, the response was so overwhelming, they had to organise two separate groups to cater for the 30-plus older people who wanted to learn how to log on, teacher Siobhan O'Driscoll explained.
And she was unreservedly enthusiastic about the programme, which ran each week since the beginning of March and ended just before the Easter holidays.
"It is really not until it is done that you realise how beneficial it was, what a great programme it was for both our students and the participants. It is all about reaching out and getting the community involved which is a big part of transition year.
"It was just such a learning experience for the students. They were given the opportunity to teach which they wouldn't normally get. And I think the participants fully enjoyed it too. There was huge enthusiasm for it. I think they will use the information they learnt at home now. And students and participants bonded very well," she said.
The programme was based on modules designed to take the computer-shy from the very first act of switching on a computer to being able to shop online. But the key to the learning was the youthful teaching.
"I think it's very good," student Ben Sweeney, Askeaton, told the Limerick Leader.
"We don't always get to interact with older people. My grandparents are in Dublin and I rarely get to see them. This is very interesting. There is a good feeling about it. Some have a fear of computers so it was basically introducing them to computers."
And his key advice was: "The only way you can break a computer is by pushing it off the table."
"We have grown up with computers and mobiles," Darren Finnerty, Barrigone, explained, while those they were tutoring were used to letters and landlines.
"It was much better than I expected. You can go at their pace and you get to know them. Everyone loved the internet," he said.
"I knew a little bit about the computer," Theresa Kavanagh, Kildimo, said. "But there are an awful lot of things I am able to do now that I wasn't able to do before. Ruairi has taught me an awful lot. We got on great. He would be a great teacher. I saw no distinction between us and he always explained thing slowly."
Theresa's "tutor", Ruairi Nealon, Clarina, thought the project was "a great idea".
"Some of the older people don't have a computer and they didn't know what they were missing, "he said.
Usually, he added, it was older people teaching younger people and he found the turnaround a "great experience".
He was also aware of learning from Theresa – about her life, her past, her family.
John Kenneally, who is retired, had little experience of working a personal computer, but after his tuition with Robert Moloney he declared: "I am now going to get a laptop."
He was prompted to improve his skills, attracted by the ease of booking concert tickets and pushed by the need for online booking of flights and holiday travel. And he now plans to use email with his daughter in London.
The Log On, Learn was a joint initiative by Microsoft, Intel and An Post launched at Postive Aging Week last year by Junior Minister for the Older Person Maire Hoctor.
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