PHILADELPHIA (Sept. 2025) — Generations on Line, a national nonprofit that teaches
older adults to use the internet, is marking its 25th anniversary on National
Grandparents Day, observed this year on Sunday, September 7.
Launched September 7, 2000, with then-Philadelphia Mayor John Street and U.S.
Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta, Generations on Line has provided free internet
training tutorials to over 300,000 older adults nationwide and, through its apps, in other
English-speaking countries.
Its free, easy-to-use tutorials range from the very basics of email and internet searches
to essential skills such as reading digital news, finding jobs online, accessing telehealth,
and staying safe on the internet.
Generations on Line offers its training and support materials to thousands of public
libraries, senior centers, nursing homes, and housing communities nationwide, as well
as to individuals for home use with friends and family. Its self-paced, interactive learning
approach has proven effective: 81% of participants master the skills in under four hours,
and 99% say they would recommend the program to a friend.
In 2000, only 14% of older adults were online. Today, it’s 75%. “We thought this work
might take five years. But 25 years later, Pew Research shows that a quarter of
Americans over age 65 still are not online,” said Founder and CEO Tobey Dichter.
“We’ve seen the joy when people in their 80s and 90s master skills they once thought
were out of reach. We’re proud and grateful to have made a difference over the past 25
years… and more to come.”
Contact: Tobey Dichter – 215 9223244 (0) 215 990 7542 (c ) tobeydichter@gmail.com
