Students teach tech literacy to older adults at RSS Tech Expo

Josh Shuster Staff Writer

The Center for Community Values and Action (CCVA) hosted a Tech Expo in partnership with Riverdale Senior Services (RSS) last Friday and Saturday, where older adults could familiarize themselves with technology through workshops. The workshops included how to access e-books, stream video content, avoid scams, use virtual reality and AI, and even play online games.

186 older adults attended the expo over the two days, alongside 23 stu- dent volunteers in grades eight to 11, CCVA head Dr. Kimberly Joyce-Bernard said. Many of the older adults were new to RSS, and learned about the expo through a News 12 segment and Riverdale Press article.

The idea for a Tech Expo with the RSS came from Lucy Peck (11). Peck initially proposed an idea of holding weekly tech literacy sessions for RSS members last year, but, due to the transportation challenge of bringing students to RSS and back, the idea developed into the Tech Expo. “Our goal was still to expose older adults to technology and help them become acclimated with it,” Peck said.

Although the RSS had already been implementing individual technology courses with funding from the city, the Tech Expo reached out to a wider range of older adults. RSS’ Director of Communications and Programming Margie Shustack presented the opportunity to host an event that could reach older adults who have limited technology exposure, Joyce-Bernard said.

At the Expo, older adults had fun playing video games on consoles like the Nintendo Switch and Xbox, Liam Kisling (11) said. “They got really