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"Mary
Lou Russell has a passion for learning. Since retiring 10 years ago,
the 79-year-old former grant maker has taken more than a dozen classes
on subjects including classical music and appreciating Andy Warhol. She
has attended most of her classes from her Manhattan living room." continues
New York Times.
New York Times.
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| Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
“I used to go up to Columbia, down to N.Y.U. and over to New School. I was all over the place with my MetroCard,”
Ms. Russell said. “Then I learned about online courses and that has
been so freeing for me. I call it the anti-aging vitamin for those of us
over 60 who want to stay relevant.”
Taking
courses online is well suited for retirees, according to John Blair,
85, a retired engineer in Wayland, Mass. He especially likes the
accessibility to top professors at elite universities. He adds that
online courses have given him a way to dive into subjects unrelated to
engineering, like economics. “By jumping from Yale to Harvard to
Stanford to M.I.T., I was able to sample economics courses in a broad
way,” Mr. Blair said.
Colleges
have been catering to online adult learners for years, often offering
video lectures and courses on their websites and posting popular lecture
series on YouTube and iTunes. Starting around 2011, the latest
iteration of virtual education, massive open online courses or MOOCs,
hit the scene. Often free, many of these classes take online learning a
step further and provide interactive video features like mini quizzes
and student discussion forums.
Online
learning has gained momentum from retirees’ increasing comfort with
technology. In April 2014, the Pew Research Center reported that 59
percent of adults over the age of 65 use the Internet, a six percentage
point increase from a year earlier. In addition, 47 percent say they
have a high-speed broadband connection at home. Of the older adults who
use the Internet, 71 percent say they go online every day or almost
every day.
Source: New York Times
