Learning to surf ... on the Web
For that reason, the American Fork library teamed up with a local software training company, BrainStorm Inc., to help people learn the basics of surfing the Internet.
"BrainStorm was kind enough to come and offer their services as instructors, which we don't have the time or expertise to do," said library director Sheena Parker. "There really are a lot of people in the community who do not know a lot about computers, so this is a good service for them."
The library has 11 people signed up for the free course, and at the beginning of class the instructor asked them all to rank themselves from one to five, as to how experienced they currently are on the Web. All of the participants ranked themselves with either a one, the lowest, or a slightly more experienced two.
"Computer technology is something that is almost foreign to me and I need all the help I can get to understand it," said 57-year-old Thomas Jones of American Fork. "So any classes I can take, especially ones that are free, I am interested in."
"BrainStorm is a company with a great culture of trying to give back to the community and work with them as much as they can," said Janelle Griffiths.
Griffiths started by teaching what the Internet is, how people can connect to it and then focused on how to navigate through it.
Bobbie Echols, 68, of American Fork, said she sometimes gets lost on the Web. She feels ever-increasing pressure to conduct business online.
"You call a phone number for a business and they tell you to go to a Web address, but I would like a person to answer my questions," said Echols. "So yeah, the pressure is there, and I don't feel comfortable with it at all."
Echols appreciated the opportunity to get some hands-on training and hopes to continue to become more Internet-savvy.
E-mail: ethomas@desnews.com
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