Brooklyn seniors are becoming tech-savvy one click at a time, thanks to Digital Girl, Inc.’s Senior Technology Intergenerational Course (STIC). The program, made possible by a $25,000 grant from AT&T, concluded its fall session with a ceremony last week at the Major Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, giving more than 20 older adults free laptops and certificates for their completion of the course.
From safeguarding their information to streaming music online and navigating software like Google and Microsoft to sending a WhatsApp message, the course equipped older adults with essential skills to navigate today’s increasingly digital world.
Linda Lee Kinley, 75, said she joined the course due to a love for learning. Before enrolling, she wasn’t familiar with Google Workspace. “I’ve only used Google as a search engine — you know, to look things up,” Kinley said. “But Google has its own universe, and I’ve seen these little icons and things on my screen throughout the year. I didn’t know what the hell they were and was terrified to touch them, but now, on my [own] computer, I can go there!”
Fear is a common barrier preventing older adults from embracing digital resources, according to Michelle Gall, founder and executive director of Digital Girl, Inc., who pointed out other obstacles seniors face when tapping into the digital space.
“Sometimes, when we don’t know the vocabulary, we shy away from it or get intimidated. We feel like we can’t be a part of the conversation,” said Gall. “We want them to be able to be a part of the conversation, hear something, and say, ‘I know what that is.’”
The course is marked by its intergenerational aspect, employing young adults to help teach and assist the older students. With that element, the lessons become a two-way street.
“It helps with the relationships they have with young people in their life, because now they can have a conversation that’s understood on both sides, and it’s just a beautiful thing when young people and older people can feed off of each other,” Gall said.
Kinley beamed as she described the welcoming environment set by the Digital Girl, Inc. staff. “I was impressed by the fact that Miss Toni had incorporated, in the structure of this program, the assistance of these young ladies who I call Toni’s Rangers,” Kinley said. “While [Miss Toni] is giving instruction, she has her Rangers interacting with the people in the classroom — the students who may have questions, who may be struggling, who may be a little bit slow. They don’t make you feel bad about not knowing, so it’s a good feeling.”
Gall and Toni Robinson, president of Digital Girl, Inc., a software engineer by trade, conceived of STIC during the pandemic. “We found, particularly with the pandemic, that a new group emerged that really needed help and that was the seniors,” Robinson said. “Remember, they closed all of the payment centers and stuff? People couldn’t walk into a payment center and pay their bills, and my mother used to say, ‘How am I going to pay my bill?’ I said, ‘You do it online.’ She’s like, ‘What!’”
The Aging Connected Report from Older Adults Technology Services shows that almost 22 million American seniors lack fixed broadband access at home. During the pandemic, 80% of deaths in the U.S. were older adults, and it’s estimated that approximately half couldn’t access online resources due to a lack of in-home broadband.
AT&T’s collaboration with Digital Girl, Inc. seeks to mend that discrepancy with a nationwide, multi-year, $5 billion commitment to bridging the digital divide in local communities. Robin White, AT&T director of external affairs for New York City and Westchester, emphasized the importance of grassroots organizers.
“Digital Girl is on the ground,” White said. “They know the kids, they know the adults, so there’s already a trust built,” she said. “They have a wealth of knowledge that covers all of these things. They know how to teach people, and the people know them, so we’re really proud to support their work.”
The Digital Girl, Inc. main office and tech lab are located in Crown Heights, where nearly half of the residents identify as Black. Gall emphasized the importance of offering these services to Black communities as a marginalized demographic.
“We are getting left behind by the other communities who have more money, who have more access, who have more programming …, and/or even just have more support at home, where they might not necessarily have to come in and take a class because they probably have someone they’re paying at home who can do things for them,” she said. “We don’t have that luxury here, so it doesn’t surprise me that most of the people who are coming to the class are Black and Brown because we’re the ones who need it.”
Some participants come back for more after taking an initial course. Kinley plans to return to the Digital Girl, Inc. classes and looks forward to expanding her knowledge and sharing it with others.
“[They] opened my world to something I did not know anything about before,” she said. “I was almost like a little kid in a candy shop — I love it because I like learning. I’m coming back because what I know now, I need to reinforce. It may take me two times to get it, but I’m going to get it, and then I’m going to bring my friends back with me.”
For more information about future courses, go to https://www.digitalgirlinc.org/.