Another digital workshop for seniors is set to be held in Badger Creek during the Get Online Week.
The Get Online Week is a national campaign from 20 to 26 October established by Good Things Australia to close the digital divide.
Badger Creek and District Men’s Shed (BCDMS) will host a Technology4Seniors workshop on a Wednesday during that week to bring a change at the local level.
The workshop is funded by Be Connected, an Australian government initiative committed to building the confidence, digital skills and online safety of elderly Australians.
BCDMS past president Mario Herodotus, currently a coordinator of the Be Connected workshops, said this workshop will be divided into three mini classes.
“The first one will be how to use AI to assist your writing from 10am to 11am,” he said.
“The second one will be how to remain anonymous online between 11am and 12pm, and the third one will be how to use AI to edit photos from 1pm to 2pm.
“People are welcome to bring a device, perhaps a laptop or a phone that they’re having a problem with, and between sessions, we’ll try to assist them.”
The shed will provide free lunch to attendees between 12pm and 1pm.
Mr Herodotus, who is now retired, has an IT background with 45 years of experience in the industry.
He will facilitate this upcoming workshop.
“It’s always been one of those things that people come to me with questions. I was already doing that type of work, helping people set up computers or phones, or sometimes even going to people’s houses because their TVs weren’t working well for them,” he said.
“When I saw Be Connected, I just thought, ‘Wow, this is a really great opportunity to allow us to serve the community, while also being funded to do that.’
“It’s become a bigger thing now. Now I have people that assist me, and it’s not just a one-man show anymore.”
He has run different Technology4Seniors programs sponsored by Be Connected at the shed, including a 17-week scam awareness program and Microsoft sessions where he taught how to use Microsoft Word and the Microsoft operating system Windows.
Technology4Seniors programs run by BCDMS are open to seniors in the community for free, who are 60 years old and older.
Pre-registration is not required, and everyone is welcome to simply turn up on Wednesday 22 October.
“We just want to help our community gain a little more internet or computer literacy and understand what happens online and how to stay safe,” Mr Herodotus said.
BCDMS is located at 360 Badger Creek Road, behind the Badger Creek CFA.
