`GET CURRENT' SENIORS EAGER TO LEARN COMPUTERS.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

MOORPARK - A few months ago, 70-year-old Lilo Kruger didn't know the first thing about using a computer. Now, with the click of mouse, she is able to read online newspapers from her native Hamburg and send e-mails to friends and relatives in Germany.

Kruger, of Thousand Oaks, is one of more than 400 senior citizens who have entered the dot-com age by taking computer classes at the Moorpark Active Adult Center.

The classes, which are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, are an opportunity to keep pace with a society increasingly focused on computers and the Internet.

``You have to get current with all these things,'' Kruger said. ``Otherwise, you're lost.''

Just one or two students attend each class, which are designed to fit the seniors' goals. The environment is less intimidating than in crowded college classes, said Peggy Rothschild, senior center coordinator.

``It takes away a lot of the fear,'' she said. ``Rather than being shoved into a big class, it's one on one. This is a way to get your feet wet.''

Kruger feels much more comfortable in classes that move at her own pace.

``When you go to a college at my age, everyone looks at you kind of strange,'' she said. ``You're afraid to ask questions. Here, I'm not afraid.''

The classes began six years ago with two computers on carts that were wheeled around the senior center.

Classes now take place in a lab with computers, desks and chairs purchased with money from a grant from the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging, Rothschild said.

Many of the seniors now use the center's computers to shop, bank and prepare taxes, Rothschild said. E-mail helps them keep in touch with far-flung children, grandchildren and friends.

Before starting classes, the seniors attend an orientation and fill out a questionnaire that quizzes them about their interests and experience.

``A lot of people have never used (computers) before,'' said Steve Ducharme, one of two volunteers teaching the classes. ``They want to use the Internet. They want to make recipe books. They want to type up their stories.''

Helen Ignacio of Moorpark signed up for the classes after spending seven years writing her memoirs in longhand. Once computer-illiterate, Ignacio, 77, has mastered word processing and hopes to learn how to use e-mail and the Internet.

``Some seniors are afraid,'' Ignacio said. ``They think they're too old to learn. But nobody's too old to do anything.''

To inquire about orientation or for more information, call the center at [phone].

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Lilo Kruger of Thousand Oaks uses a computer at the Active Adult Center in Moorpark, where many are learning.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer