E-News

Training & Development, Dec, 2000 by Haidee E. Allerton

The online trading and auctioning site EBay and SeniorNet, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that promotes teaching older adults to use computers and the Internet, have announced that they are committed to bridging the Digital Divide by helping train 1 million older U.S. citizens in the next five years to get online.

The September 26th announcement of the joint effort was supported by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Norm Mineta as part of his Digital Inclusion Tour. Funded by $1 million from eBay, there will be 10 new computer-training centers at SeniorNet locations across the United States, at which basic and advanced courses in online commerce will be offered. EBay has also created a "seniors area" at its Website, www.ebay.com, to build awareness and give progress reports on the initiative. To date, SeniorNet--sponsored by corporations, foundations, and public and private donations--has trained more than 100,000 people at its 195 locally run learning centers, staffed by more than 4,000 volunteers.

Organizations can also use the site to host online charities to raise money for senior programs. For example, Sun Microsystems has listed a server valued at more than $100,000, with all proceeds to go towards eBay's Digital Opportunity for Seniors program.