With technology evolving at a rapid pace, it can be difficult for some users to keep up with the new advances and developments. For the older generation, however, it can be difficult to even begin to get an understanding of how any of it works in the first place.

Northeast State University professor Danny Lane will be coming to the Elizabethton/Carter County Library this Friday, March 15, to begin a three-class series on computer basics.

The class is a simplified version of classes he currently teaches at Northeast State.

“We will assume no one knows anything,” Lane said. “We will talk about the mouse and keyboard, how to interface with the computer and how to combine hardware and software.”

He said many of the students in both this class and at Northeast State have barely used a computer at all in their lives.

“In many cases, their only real interaction with a computer is solitaire and maybe the internet or Facebook,” he said.

The class is a three-week series, with each one presenting a different aspect of the computer. One week is about interfacing with the computer, or the basics of how to use it and navigate windows. The second is about how to open and use programs, and the third is about how to open and save files to the computer.

“I had a Sunday School teacher who wanted to learn how to type out a lesson plan,” Lane said. “Now he has a template to make the job easier.”

He said a significant part of the courses he teaches is about reducing or eliminating the fear many older people have when using computers for the first time.

He told a story of a lady at Northeast State who spent the class period staring at her computer instead of working on it. When he asked her if she needed help, he said it was the first time he realized people can be legitimately fearful of making a mistake.

“She said ‘I am afraid of breaking the computer,’” Lane said.

Lane has bene teaching students how to use computers for roughly two decades, and has been offering Computer Basics courses at the library for roughly four to five years.

“I like to point out how we do not have a quota to teach,” he said. “There is no pressure.”

The classes will begin this Friday and will go from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

He said to prepare to not fully understand everything all at once; that is why it is a three-class series.

“You are not going to get a lot of this at first,” Lane said. “Feel free to ask questions.”

After the classes, he said library resources are an excellent way to get further assistance.