New computer courses coming to JSC

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Pat Strezo knows that teaching seniors requires a special touch.

Strezo, who has a master’s degree in adult education from the University of Rhode Island, has taught computer programs at the Johnston Senior Center for more than a decade. She understands the nuances of instructing seniors on how to use Google or learning how to research ancestry.

It all begins with putting it in terms comfortable for them.

“The keyboard is just like a typewriter,” Strezo said during an interview with the Sun Rise. “This is a typewriter and this is an adding machine. You have to put it in their frame of reference. And now, it’s going to be a lot easier because a lot of the younger seniors have already passed that. And now, you can sit and teach them like I would teach you, because they’re not afraid of it.”

Strezo has taught a few different programs at the center, including a legacy program that has been going for more than five years. Those students create what she calls a “master thesis.” They write family stories and place and manipulate photos to create a book that is professionally printed.

The process can take quite some time, Strezo said, as life can get in the way for some students.

“One story was done yesterday, and today we worked all day on one story … you just get caught in something and you just do it,” Strezo said. “So these are adults, these are married women [who] have responsibilities outside, so what they may [envision] may take a year to do.”

Strezo said she is winding down her time teaching the legacy program, but will continue to devote her time to other computer courses. Senior Center Assistant Director Millie Santilli said the new six-week instructional classes will begin in May, with an orientation taking place the week before. Strezo anticipates another run in the fall and winter as well.

Santilli said the courses will involve email, Google, online searching and other skills. Strezo said she looks to make her courses fun, but likes to help students grasp her teaching style before getting to work.

“Teaching a senior and teaching [younger people] computers is two different ways,” Strezo said. “I can sit here and say, ‘Do this, do this, do this, do this.’ And you guys will look for it, and you started that when you were 7, 8 or 9. At 7, 8 or 9, we were just learning how to print and how to add four plus four.”

Strezo said that, while she isn’t going to be doing legacy classes anymore, she would like to pull out certain elements into other classes. DNA and ancestry research, which has become popularized through testing companies like 23AndMe, and online banking are some of the examples she used.

“Banking online is so simplistic now, but they don't trust it,” Strezo said. “When you get home at 10 o’clock you say, ‘Oh, I have to write a check,’ whereas you can get on the computer and they’ll send it the next day, whatever the case is. This is something that these classes also do, is have them comfortable with the computer.”

She said the center has helped numerous seniors make strides in their computer education, but “there’s more it can do.” She said they can always use more volunteers to help teach courses as well.

Strezo said there is a definite need for the programs provided at the center, given the continual advances in computer technology. The Cloud, for example, is a concept “no one knows anything about.”

“There’s a need out there, because of all the new stuff,” Strezo said. “Right now, I’m the only teacher, so we need teachers and it’s researching and it’s trying to find out where we can get teachers. And especially teachers that can teach adults.”

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