Teaching Senior Citizens Technology

TECtogether (Teaching the Elderly Computers Together) is a Phoenix-based certified nonprofit organization founded by two high school students, Simar Wadhwa and Shivam Sadachar. We are bridging the technological gap between the youth and elderly by teaching senior citizens how to use technology to connect with their loved ones, access online information, and enrich their lives.

Senior citizens are daunted by technology and therefore they are not able to connect with loved ones.

This issue is most prevalent in senior homes, where people come to visit the elderly a few times in a year and the seniors feel disconnected or left out. We decided to teach a class at the largest senior home facility in our city (Gilbert, Arizona), hoping to give the residents all the equipment and knowledge necessary
to connect them with their family.

After searching for spare laptops, iPads, and many extension chords, we transformed their library room into a computer lab. In a few classes, the seniors were able to video call their grandchildren, email distant relatives, or view loved ones’ photos on Facebook.

TECtogether guides senior citizens at every step through hands-on learning. We need your help in raising money to buy more equipment, such as laptops and web cameras, to expand our computer lab. Our goal of $2500 will allow us to gift each senior with a personal laptop to work with when we are not available to bring in our spare equipment. 
With your donation, these seniors will have the opportunity to be in touch with their "always-online" younger family members. 

Together, we can change the lives of many senior citizens by promoting healthy, inter-generational community contact. 

TECtogether opens the door to elderly participation in a world that is becoming increasingly digital.

Class time! A few of our senior students learn to use desktops, laptops, and smartphones for emailing, Skype-calling, browsing the web, and more. 

A 78 year old student who had never used a computer wanted to see his great-grandson for the first time. So, we taught him how to video-call and captured this moment when the two first met each other. 


Simar teaching a student how to email and send messages to her sons. 
 
Shivam and his student laugh as they try and type the email without looking at the computer.