Facing a wild online world, Yellowknife seniors learn computer skills

The NWT Literacy Council recently held a graduation ceremony for seniors who attended a course that helped them learn how to use electronic devices, write emails and guard against potential scams.

Brian Reid, one of the graduates, said he had been a target of online hackers on three or four occasions, which made him grow a “fear of the computer” that did not fade until he attended the Digital Skills for Seniors program.

“For me, it was an eye-opener. I was in the trades for 40 years and I didn’t have to use a computer … the only thing I knew on a computer was to email and just get on the net and surf around,” the Yellowknife resident told Cabin Radio.

“I had got way behind. I lagged behind and I realized that time passed. In the modern world, in order to do anything now, you have to have some basic skills on the computer.”

The council collaborated with Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society and Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre after receiving federal funding through the Age Well At Home Initiative to launch the program.

Participants spend eight or nine weeks taking 90-minute classes on Mondays and Thursdays at Yellowknife’s Baker Community Centre.

According to Digital Skills for Seniors project specialist Oyuka Bernabe, the first batch of 10 students graduated in April and a second celebration followed soon after.

The next class is scheduled for the second week of September. Eight people are already on a waitlist for it.

Bernabe said the Computers for Schools organization donated 10 laptops, which seniors can borrow for practice at home. The free classes are meant to help seniors understand “very basic” aspects of working on different devices like laptops, tablets and phones.

A representative from the CIBC bank was invited to one class so seniors could learn about online banking.

For Reid, the program became a way to feel more confident and secure about browsing the internet. He said it “took the fear factor out of it, because now we know as seniors that there’s hackers – or what they call black hats and white hats.”

Reid said he got an opportunity to form a group outside the class, where he and other seniors meet and discuss new things they learn.

“Once this course is done, there’s a life of learning ahead of us. We decided we start a group. As a group, we would get together and meet and try to go over skills,” he said.

“Before the course, I know most of the seniors around the table with me, and they were feeling the same things I was feeling … they were getting bombarded by so much by attackers.

“After a while, they get so scared they don’t even want to go on the computer. They’ll call their daughter, one of their kids or somebody, asking: ‘Well, is this alright?’”

He said the need to understand newer technology became apparent during the NWT wildfires last summer, when residents had to evacuate without much time to prepare.

“Cell phones are changing so much too. It can be pretty complicated for people, especially somebody that really can’t read or write. They can answer the phone, but to get alerts – even like a fire alert – they can really put themselves in danger. They have to rely on somebody that could translate that for them,” he said.

Joyce Brown, who goes by Audrey, said the program became a way for her to meet new people and gain technical skills that are harder to grasp in a different setting. Brown said after retirement, she doesn’t use the computer regularly, which makes it difficult to keep up with updates.

The program encouraged Brown to be aware of “things on a deeper level” and she plans to use the knowledge to educate other people.

“I want to let other people know about the program. I’m a person who likes to share my knowledge, because that’s important,” she said.

“If you know something and someone asks you questions, I want to be able to tell the people or that person about my experience.”

While Brown can operate a computer fairly well, Bernabe said some seniors only held a computer for the first time during their first session, which turned out to be an “emotional” experience for them.

Dawn Lacey said she had “absolutely no computer experience” and was hesitant to give it a try before Bernabe encouraged her to participate in the class. She said the staff’s positive reenforcement made her “overcome very real concerns.”

“I learned in later classes where there is community support to continue learning and to work individually to improve computer literacy,” Lacey said.

Zahra Aidi, who moved to Yellowknife a decade ago to be close to her family, said she had been trying to learn how to use a computer for a “long time” but never found the time to do so. Even immigrating to the country was a little challenging for her, although her daughter helped arrange the paperwork for it.

Aidi said the classes became a space for her to eat with other seniors and share her culture. She prepared makloubeh, a traditional Palestinian dish, for her fellow participants.

Not being fluent in English created a barrier to her understanding of how a computer works. Despite that, she said it became easier as she learned basic functions and opened her first email account through the class, which she attended with her husband.

“Inside the class, it’s a very nice team. I remember all of them. All of them tried to help me,” she said.

“I like to type on the computer because I can use my fingers. When I start to type on the computer, so many times [I have to find] where is the L, where is the E? Now it’s better. I see it quickly.”

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