A Study in Reciprocity: Minimizing the Digital Divide and the Generation Gap

Edna Aphek

Abstract

This article describes an ongoing project carried out at the Alon Elementary School in Mate Yehuda Council, about 20 kilometers (appx. 13 miles) south of Jerusalem, Israel. The school serves a mixed population of children, aged 6 to 13 years, from three Kibbutzim, two Moshavim (communal settlements), and new urban communities.

The aim of the project was to minimize the generation gap and the digital divide between the old and the young by asking elementary school children to tutor seniors in computer and Internet skills. The vehicle for this tutoring was the writing of a “mini e-book,” based on a chapter from each senior’s personal history. We believed that the interaction that would grow out of the tutoring and the writing of the e-book would start the process of bridging the gap.

Rationale for the Project

Today’s information technology (IT) oriented society places much emphasis on the new and the changing. In such a world, the past tends to lose its importance. Thus, the voices of older generations, their knowledge and their experiences, can seem obsolete to younger generations. This chasm between the old and the young is in danger of becoming insurmountable.

In this hi-tech world, children speak the new language of IT as they would their native tongue. Indeed, it could be argued that new technologies have created a new situation, rare in human history, in which young children have mastered much-needed skills in advance of their parents and grandparents. It would therefore seem fitting to put their mastery to good use by training them to teach their IT skills to senior citizens not acquainted with the language of the computer and the Internet.

While the children have the IT skills and language, our seniors have a rich knowledge of the past that needs to be preserved. Many of our seniors are literally walking treasures of history and culture. Could this precious knowledge be mined and thus preserved by bringing the young and old together to record, through the use of technology, the stories of the past for the children of the future?

The project described here aimed at combining the vast experience and knowledge of senior citizens with the mastery of computer and Internet skills of the young, fostering new social interactions and minimizing the generation gap and the digital divide.

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The Project in Action

The project, which is still ongoing, began in 1998 at the Alon school in Mate Yehuda, Israel. Children aged between 9 and 13 years volunteer in their free time on Fridays (when there is no school) to tutor seniors in computer and Internet skills. Together, a young teacher and older learner write an electronic book describing a chapter in the personal history of the senior citizen. Thus, the children learn about the past from the seniors, and the seniors learn IT skills from the children. This element of reciprocity is a key element in the success of the project.

The project is based on a three-stage model developed and modified from 1998 to 2001. It involves preparatory, activity, and evaluation and assessment stages.

The preparatory stage. At the outset, the children must prepare to become teachers or tutors, and the seniors must prepare to become learners or “tutees.” The young teachers need to learn tutoring skills, including

• Breaking down a topic into subtopics
• Communication techniques
• Acceptance of others and of different points of view
• Distancing oneself from prejudice and stereotypes
• Being patient and tolerant of lack of knowledge and the slow pace that learners may require or prefer
• Encouraging and motivating learners

For the older learners, a preparatory session is organized to provide background about the history of the Internet and its components as well as the way the young teachers will support them.

The activity stage. Tutors and tutees meet once a week for 3 hours over a period of 10 consecutive weeks. During the first 5 weeks the focus in on tutoring the seniors at the computer, teaching them how to use the Internet. In the second 5 weeks the young teachers and their senior students write an e-book, a digital version of a chapter in the personal history of the senior.

This stage includes

• Searching the Internet, encyclopedias, books
• Scanning pictures, documents, artwork, and any other relevant material connected to the seniors’ history
• Recording what went on in the session by both teacher and learner
• Concluding each session with a discussion, in which all participants reflect on their feelings and offer suggestions for improving the process

The evaluation and assessment stage. Throughout the project there is ongoing evaluation of the weekly sessions. The two critical evaluation points are at the end of week 5 and the end of the entire 10-week period. The project is modified and refined as needed as a result of this evaluation.

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The E-Books: Recording History

A key component in the project is the writing of an e-book, a vehicle for learning for both parties: The seniors learn how to use the IT tools and, as the seniors choose stories connected to major events in their lives, the children learn history from living resources and take part in its recording. They become fascinated and quite captivated by the personal element of the stories and learn what it means to be history writers.

The following excerpts demonstrate the power of this writing for both groups.

The Nurse Maid

Jerusalem, 1936. It’s the time of the meoraot -- shootings and acts of terror. We live in a southern neighborhood, not far from Beith Zafafa. My mother went to a hospital in the city to have me delivered. In light of the shooting, getting to Hadassa Hospital on Mount Scopus was impossible. A maternity ward was set up in the center of the city, and there I was born. Mazal tov [congratulations]!

Fifteen minutes after my mother gave birth to me, a red-headed baby girl, a terrorist’s head appeared in the window. My mother panicked. Her hands were paralyzed. My father went looking for a nursing woman in Beith Zafafa.

At this point the young teacher, a sixth-grader who had been working with his 65-year-old tutee, was puzzled. What was a “nursing woman”? The older woman proceeded to give her young teacher a lesson in history, sharing information about things that he took for granted today -- such as infant formula -- but that simply did not exist 65 years ago.

The following excerpt is from a chapter written by a senior born in Argentina in 1930, who was working with another sixth grader.

It’s 1936, my first day in first grade. I am going out of my parents’ home, walking for about 500 meters, and now I am waiting for the tram to take me to school. The distance is 4 km.

My father is taking me to school, on my first day. My father is teaching me how to get on the tram, how to pay, and where to get off. The ride lasts 25 minutes.

On the second day I am doing the same, only this time I am riding alone. I keep looking through the window in great fear, lest I get off at the wrong stop. But then, as I am looking out of the window, I see my father riding his bike just behind the tram. I am relieved. I arrive at my school.

Today, it's very different. My grandchildren don’t have to worry about a thing. A bus comes to pick them up and drives them 20 kms. The ride lasts no longer than 20 minutes.

Life on the whole nowadays is much faster, much more stressful. I wonder whether today’s generation enjoys the beautiful things I used to enjoy when I was young. I used to watch the huge locomotives let out the black smoke into the sky and whistle.... Well, I do think my grandchildren will be successful, as they have better tools than those we had.

A discussion followed, a lesson about what is important in today’s world compared to what was important in the world of this senior citizen’s childhood. Different points of view, in different centuries....

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Participants’ Comments, Midproject

At the sixth meeting, about halfway through the project, we hold a special meeting and record learners’ and teachers’ reflections on what they think they have gained from the sessions. The following comments demonstrate the learning that occurs during the sessions.

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Outcomes of the Project

Countering prejudice. The work of the children with the seniors is helping to debunk unfounded myth and prejudice. Israeli society is torn between religious and nonreligious Jews, Jews and non-Jews, Ashkenazi and Sepharadic Jews, young and old. In such a situation of rift and deep alienation, there is a danger that groups will close themselves to other groups, will become intolerant and prejudiced. Volunteering and giving to others helps mend the rift and prevent the growth of prejudice. Getting to know others through giving and receiving of skills and knowledge, as in this project, helps create a common denominator and real dialogue.

When we asked the young teachers what they thought about the seniors prior to working with them and how their view of the seniors changed in light of their work, they offered the following comments:

• I thought seniors aren’t interested in the same things I am. I found that they are. Both my student and myself are into mysticism and baking.
• We share the same areas of interest: we enjoyed surfing the Internet and reading material we searched. I thought all seniors were interested in is knitting.
• I thought they aren’t interested in computers and the Internet, but it turns out that they are.
• I thought they were terribly boring. But they aren’t. They can work a computer.

The advantages of learning from children. We wanted to learn from the seniors whether there believed there were advantage to learning computer and Internet skills from young children -- or whether the project was just a nice gimmick. They offered the following comments:

• The self confidence of the children and their satisfaction as they succeed in teaching us, the adults.
• It’s easier to open up to children.
• The children are born from the computer...they give themselves totally.
• If we were to be tutored by a trained teacher I would not come. The spontaneity of the children...their flow...these are great things...but it also has its disadvantages: the children aren’t that skilled in clarifying concepts. But this adds interest and fun. Besides, there are always two trained teachers (grown-ups) supervising the whole operation, so if there is a need, we could always ask for their help.
• There is much tenderness in the young child. I feel so relaxed working with a young child, it’s great. I don’t fret when I make a mistake. I tell my young teacher I don’t know, and the child simply accepts it.

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Problems Encountered

Even though, on the whole, the project has been very successful, we encountered several difficulties that we will need to consider in the future.

Tiredness on the part of the young teachers. The 10-week duration of the course seems too long for some of the children -- they begin to tire of working with their learners. For example, in the seventh session of one course of the project, two of the young teachers were absent. One of their learners was particularly upset by this and expressed her disappointment quite loudly.

Over-familiarity. These meetings between the old and the young tend to create an atmosphere of closeness and familiarity. Sometimes the extent of this atmosphere is misconstrued and some of the children forget their manners, using overly familiar language with their senior learners. One learner, for example, had finished one passage in her book using PowerPoint and stated that she would like to start another. In a sort of “just kidding” mood, the young teacher said, “I hope you’ll do it with someone else.” The older learner considered this disrespectful and was unhappy.

Teaching methods and skills. The young teachers have some difficulty explaining and clarifying terms and concepts. Doing, rather than speaking and explaining, seem to be the youngsters’ strong points.

Another problem is the pace at which the youngsters teach. Very often they go over the material too quickly, leading to confusion and frustration for the senior learners.

Homework. There has been so much satisfaction about the way the course proceeds that the two adult teachers, who supervise the entire operation, at times do not realize the need for giving preparatory assignments to the young teachers for the following week’s meeting or for requesting that the older learners practice what was covered in the session.

Lack of consistency of recording. Children and seniors were asked to record their work and impressions on a weekly basis. However, from the sixth session on, the supervising teachers have often become less demanding and, as a result, not all the participants bother to write detailed descriptions of the work or their reflections on the session.

In addition, the young teachers have some difficulty in fully understanding the reflective process and its importance. Very often they resort to summarizing what was taught or learned, instead of describing inner processes they underwent.

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Summary and Discussion

The success of this project stems from several guiding principles.

1. Mindful Use of Technology When a new technology becomes prevalent, it brings about many changes -- in ways of thinking, in methods and tools for thinking, and in social processes and structures. We often hear that new information technologies are increasing the ever-widening generation gap in society. This article describes an opportunity to minimize these gaps by using these very technologies. I maintain that mindful use of the IT, based upon a value-oriented pedagogic approach that focuses on volunteering, cooperation, and the acceptance of others, will give us the tools to bridge social gaps, create new caring communities, and establish innovative models of closeness as opposed to individualism and alienation.