When I got a press release about a seminar teaching seniors how to use a cell phone, my editor thought it might be interesting to cover it. I thought I might be able to pick up a few tips.

I recently turned 50, and people of my generation were relatively young when cellular phones became popular in the 1990s. (Back then, I kept a "bag" phone in my car for emergencies.) But we also are old enough to have problems keeping up with the changes in technology.

The only cell phone I have now is my company-issued Samsung, and if it has any bells and whistles on it, I don't use them. My children, 21 and 15, have an iPhone, and they regularly text, take pictures and download music and applications.

My husband has an iPhone loaded with extras, too, but he got all of those extras because my kids downloaded them for him. His phone is so complicated that when a basic user like me tries to place a call, I sometimes hit the wrong button, and then I can't figure out how to get back to the keypad.

I am not totally helpless. I can check my phone's voice mail, and I know how to adjust the volume.

And I'm not against trying new things. I have a Facebook account, although I use it mainly to monitor my kids. And I am on Twitter, but I rarely tweet.

Let's just say I went to the seminar with lots of empathy for the folks who are in their 70s and 80s.

Many senior adults have mobile phones their children gave them. Their kids told them to carry the phones everywhere so they could check up on them or use them in case of an emergency. Most of the older adults got just a few basic instructions.

But AT&T employees, in conjunction with OASIS, a group that helps seniors stay healthy and active in their communities, tried to remedy that in 20-minute sessions last week at Breeze Park Senior Living Center in St. Charles County. I had to hand it to the seniors for being willing to try.

Viola Boyd, 88, learned how to add names to her address book. She wanted to put in practical numbers, like her doctor's office and the one for her pharmacy. Greg Hemmer, her instructor, helped her to pick out a different ring tone, a classic one, and jacked up the volume because she said she was having trouble hearing it before.

Boyd said she still drives — although she and all the other seniors I spoke with said they never used their cell phones when they were behind the wheel. She still uses a land line for most of her calls, although she did use the cell phone when she experienced an outage a few years ago.

"None of my neighbors could use their phones, but I had my cell; it was really handy," she said.

Dottie Speckert, 85, said she signed up for a session because she realized she was not using her cell phone to its full potential.

"Before, I never could take my phone to church or on the bus because I couldn't turn it off," she said. "But now I know how to set it to silent."

She told me that many seniors would be open to more technology but were intimidated by it.

"There are a lot things we would like to do, but the mind doesn't quite work that way anymore," she said.

I nodded sympathetically. Old ways are hard to break, especially when the new way comes with a 147-page users guide as my phone did. And we're not even talking about the challenge of the tiny print used in the manual.

My attitude changed when I met Sally Heaton, 75. She told me she regularly texts her granddaughter, who attends college in Wisconsin, and she types her kids a line when she wants them to phone her.

"I don't believe in calling them when they're at work," she said. "This way they can call me when they get a free moment."

She also said that one time she used a text message to ask her daughter-in-law to make her a hair appointment.

"Are you on Facebook?" I asked, a tad competitively.

"My granddaughter just signed me up," she said.

I told her I would "friend her" to see she how proficient she was. I'm still waiting for a reply, but I have a feeling she'll figure it out.