Gerry McAuley found that part of the problem in the teaching of computer skills was that a lot of computer teachers came from a maths background and they didn't have the necessary language skills to get their ideas across

These encouraging words are from Gerry McAuley, a former English, Drama and Media Studies teacher who now runs his own computer training company, Office Works, in Coleraine, Co Derry. McAuley's clients range in age from their twenties to their seventies and he has made teaching older people his particular speciality. He started with his mother, a retired teacher then in her seventies, who was finding that life lacked a challenge.

"My mother was very interested in family and social history and she felt that a great deal of the knowledge about how rural life in Ireland was in danger of being lost with her generation," McAuley says. "I suggested that she might consider writing things down and that by using a computer she would be able to edit her work, move things around and print it out as she went along. She had never used a keyboard or a computer before but she got to grips with it very well."

Gerry McAuley himself was a "late learner". He left school without qualifications and spent most of his teens as a farm labourer. His early twenties were spent in unskilled jobs in Northern Ireland and Britain. He was in his mid-twenties when he started studying by day and driving a taxi at night. McAuley graduated as a teacher in his late twenties and taught English and drama at a grammar school in Belfast. He then moved to Ballymoney technical college as head of the English department and developed an interest in media studies. As an offshoot he became interested in computers and desktop publishing.

"I was disappointed by the quality of the computer teaching I received and I felt that part of the problem was that a lot of computer teachers came from a maths background and they didn't have the necessary language skills to get their ideas across," McAuley says.

Bitten by the computer bug, McAuley began to gravitate towards teaching computer studies. He took early retirement at 50 and set up his computer training company. Office Works now employs five people and provides tuition to adults of all ages and abilities.

McAuley loves teaching so he still teaches as much as possible himself. He particularly enjoys working with older learners and together with Professor Faith Gibson of the University of Ulster he developed a computer training package for older people called Teaching Old Dogs New tricks.

"We try to give people a sense of achievement from their first lesson," he says. "I firmly believe that everyone, whether they're eight or 80, benefits from having their work recognised and celebrated.

"In my experience older people learn more slowly than younger people but more thoroughly. I don't think this has anything to do with their age. It has more to do with how they learnt when they were young. The learning style today is very different. Older people would have learnt in a far more sequential manner. As a result they tend to be more thorough and the knowledge sticks once they master it. Some people are negative in their approach to computers. But that's more down to personality and past learning experiences, not their age," McAuley says.

Interestingly enough, McAuley says those most likely to feel embarrassed about not being computer literate are people in the 30-50 age group. "They tend to be ashamed about it and to try to cover it up," McAuley says. "But there's no need. A few sessions and they're flying. It's not rocket science, just a question of finding a way of getting them interested."

Contact Point: Gerry McAuley can be contacted at Office Works in Coleraine telephone (0801) 265 329595.