Student volunteers, lead by Vaibhav Sharma and Eduardo Jacobo, sophomores at Olin, showed residents from Bethesda senior living how to turn on their computers, pick a password and navigate the Internet at the first Computer Comfort class on Sept. 19. The tutors also set up email accounts and taught their students how to send, and open, email.

“Now you can receive email from your families,” Sharma said. “It’s a great way to stay in touch.”

Harris Frank

Vaibhav Sharma and Eduardo Jacobo created the new Computer Comfort student organization to recruit volunteers to tutor senior citizens eager to use the internet. Former Bethesda resident Harris Frank who is 89, worked with students to develop the curriculum.

Frank worked closely with Mahendra Gupta, PhD, dean of the Olin Business School and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management, and Steve Malter, PhD, associate dean and director for undergraduate programs, to develop the program. He believes it can serve as a model nationwide.

Erin Kim, a freshman at Olin, helps Dr. Elsie Meyers navigate a Macbook in the Active Learning Lab in Bauer Hall in the new “Computer Comfort” class being offered for area seniors.

Participants are benefiting from the course by using their new knowledge to pay bills and stay in touch with loved ones.

Computer Comfort will continue throughout the fall with new participants and volunteers.

Thanks to Diane Keaggy for her article on WUSTL Newsroom.

Images: Photos by Joe Angeles, WUSTL Photo Services; video by Marc Niemeyer, AB’14