Program bridges generational, digital divide.
By: Shanay Cadette
PLAINSBORO Nora Osman likes the idea of helping older adults get with it and get on the digital bandwagon.
"I like to help older people get on the computer," the Millstone River School student said.
The inquisitive 8-year-old also enjoys the fringe benefits of typing on the computer, sending e-mails and pelting adults with all types of questions through Generations on Line a nonprofit Philadelphia-based program that bridges the generational and digital divide between children like Nora and more than 12,000 older adults across North America by providing free on-site Internet access, e-mail and basic training.
"When we began Generations on Line five years ago, it was devoted and still is to people in digital denial over 65," said the program’s founder and CEO Tobey Gordon Dichter from her Philadelphia office. The aim of the program is to reach out to those older adults who either can’t afford or are wary of computer technology.
One special element of Generations on Line which includes links to key sites on things like new Medicare drugs is the "Memories: Generation to Generation" chat link that allows kids to pose questions to seniors about their past.
"Sharing memories, responding to questions about the past is so interesting not only to older people who have such rich memories to share," said Ms. Dichter, but to the children as well, because they can connect personal real-life stories about the Great Depression or World War II with the historical events they learn about in textbooks and the classroom.
Millstone River School houses one of 32 after-school programs, school classes or clubs across the state that connect children over the Internet with elderly people who live in retirement communities and assisted-living centers or patronize senior centers or public libraries. The school’s pilot program was started about three weeks ago when five students signed up. A maximum of eight students will be in the program when it continues at Millstone this fall.
The school’s pilot program was made possible through a grant funded by IBM and AT&T.
Nora, who along with four other girls is attending the West Windsor-Plainsboro Summer Community Education program at Millstone, spends about an hour each week communicating online with seniors around the country and Canada.
"They’re talking to whoever responds," said Marci Rubin, a director for the community education program. Generations on Line is "fun, but it’s educational. (The students are) learning, not just spelling and punctuation, but history."
The children touch on all kinds of subjects, such as sibling rivalry, dating, war and slavery, just to name a few. They use aliases instead of their real names online and an adult closely monitors the questions and responses.
The Millstone students were trying to figure out what Finn bread was during Wednesday’s chat after one of the seniors said she remembers making it with her siblings. The kids also schooled some adults on the evolution of what was once known as kickball into "matball." Mats instead of bases are used in matball to prevent injuries.
Ten-year-old Caitlin Tom, who joined the program along with her 8-year-old sister, Jacqueline, said she likes "finding out about (the seniors’) past. Finding out what they used to do."
"Everybody’s life is interesting," added Melissa Loo, 9.