By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

The Internet isn’t changing the world. It already has. Computers and the Internet touch every aspect of modern life, from keeping in touch with friends to paying bills to booking vacations. It is literally everywhere, and it is here to stay.

“I know a lot of people who are not online, and their comment is ‘I’ve lived all my life without the Internet and I don’t need it,’” says Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging. “If I took that approach, I’d be riding a horse to work.”

These days, if you’re not online, there’s a world of information and convenience that you are missing. That’s why an increasing number of older adults are embracing technology and getting online.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help
If you didn’t grow up using computers and surfing the web, it can seem intimidating. But a local computer class or tech-savvy grandchild is usually not hard to find.

“We don’t want somebody to help us because that makes us dependent on someone,” Milner says. “But in reality, it’s like anything; if you’ve never done it before, you need help.”

At Sedgebrook, getting online is easy. Not only is there a computer lab, but wired residents teach classes for their neighbors who want to learn more.

Jean Noble, a former Chicago school principal, has put her teaching skills to use by conducting computer training classes for her neighbors. “I probably learn as much as my students,” Noble says. “I loved teaching my whole life, and it’s nice to be doing it again.” Noble says some older adults are initially intimidated by using a computer but find the Internet exciting once they learn the basic skills like using search engines and sending e-mails.

“One of the things I tell them is that they can’t break anything, and there is a  whole new world out there,” she says. “It’s a case of reassuring them that this is not brain surgery, that with a little time and a little patience, they can master it.”