Published in Sunburst Magazine
By Maryan Pelland
The idea that older adults lack particular skills to easily acquire computer literacy may be balderdash, according to experts on computers and aging. While people over fifty don't learn anything as quickly as, say, school age children do, and techno-fear may be holding some back from screeching down the information highway, seniors are cruising the Web in huge numbers.
Plenty of facts support the idea that seniors do learn to be comfortable in cyberspace. According to SPRY (Setting Priorities for Retirement Years - http://www.spry.org) many boomers are computer wizards - and adults older than boomers are going online, too, drawn by the lure of convenient, inexpensive. communication with family and friends, accessible health information and exploring new venues.
A recent Georgia Institute of Technology study (http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/gvu/research/) reports seniors as the fastest growing group of computer users. Of those seniors who use the Internet, 58% of the over 50 group surf one to four hours a day, compared to only 42% of younger users. Another 30% are online over five hours a day. Older men are more likely to surf than women - though women's usage is growing, One third of older users have replaced TV viewing with computer activities.
Lots of older computer users are self-taught, and most have been cyber-active for less than two years. Does that mean there really is no "learning disorder" to keep seniors from becoming completely savvy? What about those who can't cozy-up to a Pentium III or who would love to send e-mail but feel they can't master the skills?
David Mitchell, Professor of Psychology at Loyola - University of Chicago and Director of their Center for Aging (http://www.luc.edu/depts/luccas/) says, "There seems to be nothing maturational here - nothing in the psychology of older adults to keep them from technology. We learn more slowly as we age - that's normal. But in this age group, there are those who are light years ahead in computer knowledge, those who don't even feel comfortable turning the machine on, and everything in between."
(A portion of a 1500 word article with side bars and links.)