'Just can’t wait': Seniors look forward to technology skill classes at nonprofit Elderserve

Lamont Anthony Sr., a 66-year-old Russell resident, used to pay his teenage daughters to check his email.

He didn’t want to depend on them for long. So he played around and practiced on his computer, learning how to type with both hands and creating a resume on his own.

He was able to check his emails himself after that.

“They told me a couple of months ago, ‘Daddy, you don't give us no more $5. Why?’” he said. “Because Daddy knows how to do it now.”

Anthony Sr. said he believes his journey to acquiring technology skills is just beginning. He’s enrolled in a three-month course offered by Elderserve, a nonprofit serving seniors in west Louisville.

The organization is partnering with Simmons College to introduce classes for seniors to learn technology skills later this month. The initiative is funded by a $2.7 million federal grant, which helped create a technology center in the Elderserve building, complete with computers and a smartboard.

Simmons College students will teach the course, and Anthony Sr. said he’s ready to learn. “I'm gonna be inquisitive. I'm sitting in front of the class. I'm not gonna sit in the back of the class,” he said.

From sending emails and learning to detect suspicious pop-ups and malware on websites, to navigating telehealth and checking prescriptions, seniors will learn how to better use phones, tablets and computers. The class will meet weekly for an hour and a half, from late August to November.

Timothy Findley Jr., CEO of Elderserve, said it’s important to have an environment where seniors don't feel the pressure to hurry up and learn.

“Our seniors should not be pushed to the side and just said they can't learn and let them suffer in silence in a world that is continuing to move forward,” he said. “They deserve this training as anybody else would, so that they can live their best life.”

With advancements in technology, seniors who can’t navigate it can get left behind.

Some seniors, who as a group are already susceptible to social isolation, may not be able to reach their loved ones if they don’t know how to use a computer, tablet or phone. They often also have to depend on children or grandchildren to aid them.

A 2021 report from the Urban Institute, a liberal think tank based in Washington D.C., showed 18% of white Americans over 50 years of age who are employed have digital skills compared to 3% of Black Americans in that age group.

An important step for learning digital skills, however, is being able to access the internet. More than 21 million people aged 65 and older in the United States do not have access to broadband services, according to an Older Adults Technology Services report published with the AARP's Aging Connected initiative in 2022.

Race is a factor in digital disparities, too. The survey by OATS compared internet usage based on racial demographics and found that, compared to white families, Black people were more than twice as likely to be offline. Latinos were more than 3 times as likely to be offline.

“Unfortunately, when you talk about the digital divide and the lack of equity in technology training and all those different things, it hits those communities first,” Findley Jr. said.

He sees the Elderserve and Simmons College initiative as giving back to seniors for their role in the community. He quoted a proverb by writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ, who said , “In my country, every time an old man dies, a whole library has burned down.”

“Because it's us saying, ‘You matter, you have value. Here's what we want to do to make sure that we're doing our part in valuing your life and your contributions,’” Findley Jr. said.

Anthony Sr. hopes the classes will empower him to video call his nephew in California, who serves in the Marine Corps.

“They say you bring an apple to the teacher. So I'm gonna take two apples down there next week for the teachers, and I just can't wait. Class starts at 11 a.m., I'm going to be there at 8 a.m.,” Anthony Sr. said.

Seniors can enroll in the next cohort, which starts in January, here .