Senior Tech Time Digital Equity

Welcome to Senior Tech Time from the Gill Montague Senior Center!

Here you’ll find information on our popular Tech Tuesday Drop-in, Tech Tips, Upcoming Events, and a 6-part series designed to help Seniors learn the necessary skills and remain current in our ever-changing tech world. Topics include: Navigating your Chromebook, Staying Safe online, Social Media, Apps, Zoom, AI, and more…

Feel free to use any of the materials and check back regularly for new information.

Colleen Doherty, Coordinator
Digital Equity
Gill Montague Senior Center
Turners Falls, MA

Our Tech Experts who have developed the content of Senior Tech Time include: Cyndi Bussey and Marcus McLaurin. Students from the Franklin County Technical School have also contributed to segments of the website.

For any questions please email:

gmcoaweb@gmail.com

Funding Sources that have contributed to the content of this page include: Franklin Regional Council of Governments; The Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs; The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at the Mass Tech Collaborative under the Municipal Digital Equity Implementation Program, Massachusetts ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds; and the Gill Montague Council on Aging.

• Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet. The Internet is very free and open, which means that misinformation can spread really quickly.
• If a website asks if you want to accept cookies, you should, in most cases, reject all of them. However, in some cases, there are necessary cookies that you should accept, such as ones that are essential for the website to function properly. In these cases, you will most likely be given an option to accept the necessary cookies only.
• If you find yourself locked out of an account or you have tried logging in but can’t, you have most likely been hacked. Another way that you could find out if you have gotten hacked is by a friend or family member telling you that they’ve seen some suspicious activity on your account, such as promoting a scam. If this happens, contact customer support. Often, these kinds of battles cannot be won by yourself.
• Never trust a popup saying you have a virus on your browser or phone. These are fake sites trying to get you to download a “cleaning software” that itself is most likely the virus.
• Try not to use your laptop on your lap. Contrary to its name, they aren’t made for your lap. Using it this way can block the air vents on the bottom of the computer, sometimes the only vents found on your laptop. Blocking these can overheat your computer and cause it to crash, or even break in rare instances.
• Don’t get discouraged if you are struggling or messing around with something such as your phone. Everyone has a different starting point. You can ask a family member or tech assistant to teach you about your phone and get you started. If something bad happens on your phone, know that 99% of the bad things can be undone and your phone can be reverted back to the way it was.
• Write your passwords down and keep them in a safe place. As time passes, everybody can become more forgetful. Writing them down not only helps you remember, but allows you to look back and know which password is for what account.
• Don’t click on shady links. These include shortened, mistyped, or sketchily named websites. Examples: amzon.com, freegames.com, irkg287mfj8.com/23857/285275/sdsf, sup.tme.com, etc.
• Don’t give personal info to anyone on the internet, even your family. This includes passwords, banking information, personal identification, etc.

Tech Tips by Matthew Richards, Dakota Santos, and Theo Shahan – 6/17/25