Some senior citizens, new immigrants, those with disabilities, and others have taken computer training in past without success. Those individuals tend to be more technophobic and many believe that they cannot learn because the are “too old” or for other reasons. One NGO using the Senior Connects model has experienced a 90% “graduation rate” with this type of populations group – but it involved teaching these individuals on a one-to-one basis so that the lessons covering the materials in the training manual could progress at a pace that was comfortable for the “student.” Because Senior Connects pairs high school students to teach senior citizens, the student volunteers are able to identify the value proposition (e.g., email friends and family, researching health issues, and instant access to news and weather) for each individual that they are instructing. This, together with the social aspect of the “senior citizen students” telling others that it wasn’t as hard as they thought encourages others to give digital literacy training a second chance.
