Bridging the Digital Divide for Rural Older Adults by Family Intergenerational Learning: A Classroom Case in a Rural Primary School in China

Abstract

Rural older adults often feel disconnected from the ever-expanding digital world. To bridge the digital divide, researchers have investigated the effectiveness of formal education and training offered by various social institutions. However, existing research highlights a critical shortcoming in these approaches: a lack of attention paid to rural older adults’ individual needs and interests. Based on the theories of post-metaphorical culture, endogenous development, home-school cooperation, and technology adoption and acceptance, this study implements a family intergenerational learning (FIL) project. FIL characterizes learning between grandparents and grandchildren within the household, suggesting a more practical and individualized strategy to help rural older adults gain digital literacy. By conducting a three-month FIL Project in a rural primary school class in China, the study employs a qualitative method to analyze learning records and interviews from 10 sets of participating grandparents and grandchildren. The analysis renders two critical findings on the effectiveness of the FIL Project for rural older adults. First, FIL can help rural older adults adapt into the digital world by (1) gaining knowledge about digital society, (2) improving their digital skills, (3) changing their lifestyles, and (4) understanding the integration between technology and society. Second, among grandchildren, FIL can cultivate an awareness of lifelong learning and their moral obligations to their grandparents. By illustrating this specific case, this study puts forward a new approach to help the older adults overcome the digital divide in rural areas.

TIC para la superación de desigualdades. Lo que señala la evidencia científica

“…El primero de ellos se centra en la creación de historias digitales multimodales, para lo cual es clave la superación de las desigualdades de las que parte el alumnado respecto a la multialfabetización previa, para el aprovechamiento de las posibilidades que las tecnologías ofrecen, obtener el éxito en la creación de textos y favorecer la alfabetización desde la escuela (Dahlström, 2022). En el segundo se analiza la formación desde organizaciones sociales ofrecida a adultos residentes en zonas rurales para la superación de la brecha digital a través del aprendizaje intergeneracional, lo que tiene beneficios para los participantes de los dos grupos de edad, que van mucho más allá de los aprendizajes digitales (Cheng et al, 2022). Precisamente, el trabajo de Gan y Sun (2022) aborda la cuestión de la brecha digital durante el periodo de educación a distancia vivido en tiempos de confinamiento por la covid-19 en estudiantado universitario, concluyendo el peso de variables sociodemográficas y económicas en la falta de equidad en la inclusión digital.…”

Educational Concepts of Digital Competence Development for Older Adults—A Scoping Review

“…Barriers in educational programs are not only ageism [1,3,12,13,25,33], but also the lack of consider- In promoting digital literacy in the age group, access to social support and connectedness is a key success factor [2,3,12,13,[45][46][47]50,52] as well as ensuring the continuity of support provision [2,19,25,44,45]. In this context, social support within the age group itself [2,28,34,47,48] as well as intergenerational approaches [25,27,31,42,54] prove to be beneficial.…”

Behavioral Patterns of Supply and Demand Sides of Health Services for the Elderly in Sustainable Digital Transformation: A Mixed Methods Study

“…Human-centered digital health design enhances the equity of health services. Concurrently, it can enhance the patient's experience and help doctors obtain more data feedback, thereby helping health service providers to transform behaviors according to patients' needs [38,39]. The design of digital health services for the elderly must focus on "designing for experience", rather than simply adding digital technology to improve efficiency.…”