Jim Mann firmly clutches a mouse, logging on to Hotmail.com for the first time.
The 69-year-old West Philadelphia resident entered the world of computers just two months ago, guided by Cyber Outreach, a Penn student organization.
"I think everybody should learn to use the computer," says Mann, a jazz musician falling behind in an industry where others are digitally cutting their own CDs. "It's the new way of communicating. I don't want to be left out."
Every Tuesday and Thursday for two months of the semester, undergraduates teach area residents basic computer skills at University City High School. The classes are offered free of charge.
Stemming from a fall 1999 academic-based community service General Honors course, Cyber Outreach was designed to improve the economic and neighborhood development of West Philadelphia by bridging the digital divide.
Penn students ran with the idea after identifying with their own technologically-inept parents.
"I know the opportunities it opened up for [my mom], and I wanted to ensure that others had the same opportunities available," says Cyber Outreach co-founder Matt Asada.
According to Asada, the main objective is to bring the Information Age to West Philadelphia residents and make computers part of the daily routine.
The program founders developed a curriculum that stresses keyboarding, word processing and the Internet.
Many of the janitors, factory workers and office staffers take the class to stay competitive in the job market, while others want to beef up their resumes or start their own small ventures.
Cyber students, some of whom are retired, have little or no PC knowledge when they start.
West Philadelphia residents, as a whole, have limited access to computers and weaker computer skills than most Americans. According to the 1990 Census -- the median household income in West Philadelphia was $20,918 and in households with family incomes below $25,000, 3 in 10 have a computer, while 2 in 10 have Internet access.
After exploring this problem in General Honors 214 and through an independent study course, Asada and four other students founded Cyber Outreach two years ago.
They recruited students from the community at large by targeting churches, posting flyers and going door to door. One student discovered the classes from a flier at Ed's Buffalo Wings.
Now, Penn students, a Wharton Management 100 team of freshmen, Penn staff members and graduates volunteer as tutors. With about 20 infant techies attending each session, Cyber Outreach usually achieves a 1:1 ratio.
At each session, one volunteer leads the class while the others mill around the room, offering personal assistance.
"The instructors were very helpful, especially since this was my first time using the computer," Mann says.
Many prospective volunteers are apprehensive, since they are semi-computer-illiterate themselves. This year's Management 100 team had doubts at first -- but not for long.
"When we looked at the syllabus, we realized it was things that everyone knew," says Jackie Mado, a Management 100 student who plans to continue volunteering even after she is finished taking the class. "It was things we all learned in middle school."
Patience is the key, says Mado, who had to pull the same tricks for her ill-trained father. It took a lot of restraint to keep herself from grabbing the mouse, but she knew that the best way to learn is through experience.
Cyber Outreach graduates come out confident at the end of their terms.
"I have learned how to use e-mail, how to change the fonts when typing and some new keyboard skills," says Mann, who plans to take a more advanced class elsewhere at the end of this session.
While students are learning basics, they complain that they need more instruction. Some say they need more in-depth practice and more exposure to advanced programs that are an integral part of the work force.
"We don't spend too much time on each thing in class, but we gave them a basic knowledge of what's going on," Mado says.
Some participants still gawk at the terms "database" and "PowerPoint."
Cyber Outreach organizers are considering a follow-up curriculum for next semester.
In addition, some participants are anxious about applying the skills they have picked up.
"Giving them an e-mail account is pretty futile if they don't have a computer to use one," Mado says.
A Management 100 group is compiling a list of local computer labs within a one-to-two mile radius of University City High School that the students can use free of charge.
In addition, through collaboration with Penn's Program to Bridge the Digital Divide, an organization that refurbishes the University's old computers, one Cyber Outreach student wins a free PC at the end of each session.
Most of the participants plan to put their skills to the test.
West Philadelphia claims coordinator Shelly Davis, 36, hopes to get a job as a customer service representative when her term is over. Philadelphia nutritionist Sandy Sharp, 59, will start her own business.
"I am going to use it for a refinishing and reupholstering furniture business," Sharp said. "I would like to set the whole thing up on my computer -- my client list, so forth and so on. I need an inventory of the various materials that I'm going to need, and I need names and addresses of contacts."
Cyber Outreach has had far-reaching effects across the University and the community.
Penn's Center for Community Partnerships, which supports campus groups with social aims, is an extension of Cyber Outreach.
As a result of Cyber Outreach's efforts, Penn received a grant to fund the Program to Bridge the Digital Divide, which hires 40 work-study students to help with technology-based projects in the community.
