Seniors get computer bug, pass it on to others

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/08/2003 (8179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THIS isn’t a story about viruses, although it is about a pair of seniors who have got the computer bug, and they’re passing it on to others.

Isabella Dryden, 86, and Jean Johnson, 83, are computer crackerjacks and they teach other seniors all about computers at the Creative Retirement Manitoba computer lab at 270 Sherbrook St.

Courses are available for beginners and for those looking for something more advanced. Software courses include standards such as Word, WordPerfect, Works and PhotoShop, among others.

Dryden and Johnson, both residents of south St. Vital, said seniors are increasingly interested in learning about computers so they can talk intelligently on a common topic with their grandchildren, and so they can communicate with them by e-mail.

“More and more people are coming in with less fear of the computer,” said Dryden. “I think it’s because most of them have grandchildren or friends with computers.”

Ingrid Wedlake, program director for Creative Retirement, said seniors also have expressed an interest in computers because technology surrounds them in their daily lives.

“We did a survey once and the computers are really important to seniors,” said Wedlake. “They use them to keep in touch with their children and grandchildren. Also, they use the Internet a lot.

“Also, they know if they become more familiar with computers, they’ll become more familiar with all the technology around them. You know, the bank machines nowadays are computers and the phones use computers.”

Dryden and Johnson are perfectly matched to teach the computer courses and both belong to the seniors agency’s computer club, which has about 150 members. Dryden has been using computers and teaching students about their application, and software programs, in business education since the 1970s. Johnson has had a personal computer at home for 20 years and not only knows the programs, but also does maintenance.

“My son kind of got me into them in the 1980s and it was kind of weird,” said Johnson. “I sometimes say I was born 40 or 50 years too soon. If something goes wrong, I seem to have the knack for working with it. If there’s something wrong with the software or the computer, I can usually fix it.”

Johnson worked for years as a civil servant with the federal government as an employment counsellor and a consumer services officer.

Dryden started out as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse near Virden, Mb. in 1937. Eventually she worked her way up into the elementary and high schools in Virden, teaching business education after the war. In 1967 she went to work for the Department of Education as a business education consultant, while teaching teachers at Red River College and the University of Manitoba.

Computers, back then, were very different from the ones people are familiar with today. Program code, in computer languages like Basic, Cobol and Fortran, was written out and then transferred to punch cards that were then fed into huge mainframe computers.

“They had big reels, like film reels, and we would throw our cards into the basket and the people there would run our cards through and print them out on reams and reams of tape and we would hope and pray that everything came out all right,” said Dryden. “Otherwise, we would have to do them over again.”

Today, Kindergarten students use computers in the classroom with nothing more than a keyboard, a mouse and a monitor in front of them.

“It’s amazing,” said Dryden. “There is no fear. I feared those huge mainframes. I knew your program had to be accurate from the word go, or else the computer wouldn’t accept it.”

Today, mistakes are corrected with the backspace or delete keys, or they are fixed automatically with spelling and grammar checking programs.

The computer teachers volunteer at least three days a week at Creative Retirement, and Dryden spends more time at home working on curriculum to keep the courses up to date.

Both say they will continue to pass on their knowledge as long as they are able, and with their enthusiasm and energy, that is likely to be for some time to come.

“We do enjoy what we’re doing and are very glad, at our age, to do what we’re doing,” said Dryden. “If you’re having fun in the classroom, you can’t help but learn. There I am, white hair and all, and most of the people in the classroom are probably younger than I am.”

“Isabella and I say we get a lot more out of it than our students do,” added Johnson. “We have the energy and it keeps us busy.”

For more information on computer courses or the club, visit www.crm.mb.ca or call 949-2565.