As part of a Pace University project led by graduate students Kayla DiMuro and Peter Rubeo, Seidenberg Professor Dr. Jean Coppola and Vice President/CIO Tom Hull have sponsored the setup of a Geriatric Computer Lab at New Rochelle’s United Hebrew Center. Pace has been very active through Dr. Coppola’s Intergenerational Computing Program to perform helpful projects and sponsor technology donations in order to help the Center with a high quality of life for their residents. “We are very excited to be able to provide technology from Pace to such an outstanding Institution and we are honored to be helpful towards their mission of improving lives” stated Pace VP/CIO Tom Hull. The Center is a vibrant, not-for-profit, non-sectarian, multiservice senior living campus nestled on 7.4 acres in New Rochelle, New York. Known for its caring and nurturing environment, UHC has been serving the Westchester metropolitan area since 1919, and works with over 600 clients daily through its rich array of skilled and community‐based programs and services.
Kayla and Peter were part of the Intergenerational Service Learning Computing course taught by Dr. Jean Coppola, Seidenberg. The computing skills learned by the senior residents at the United Hebrew included Internet usage and research techniques, e-mail, SKYPE, Google searches, IM, and more which were led by Pace students enrolled in Dr. Coppola’s course. This program’s objectives include improving the quality of life for these residents emotionally, cognitively, and socially. The Pace students in this course receive theory and training specifically geared for teaching technology to the elderly.
The culmination of this course was a graduation ceremony on April 24 to recognize United Hebrew’s senior residents who participated in learning basic computing skills. At this event, Tom Hull and Jean Coppola presented a plaque commemorating this collaboration to Linda Forman, VP for Community Relations, United Hebrew. This has been a great collaboration for both Pace and United Hebrew. Linda has been quoted saying that the students working with these seniors form close friendships “that last beyond the class” and “this program helps residents feel they are not left behind”.
For more information on this program, go to: http://csis.pace.edu/gerontechnology [1]
