Session Information
06 SES 04, Virtual Communities
Paper Session
Contribution
For many European nations drastic demographic changes are to be expected for the coming years and decades. The growing group of older adults increasingly requires the attention of educational institutions and researchers and leads to the question of the potentials of intergenerational forms of learning.
Existing studies on intergenerational learning refer primarily to the need for intergenerational exchange and to the didactic design of intergenerational educational processes (e.g. Franz 2010). The contents of intergenerational transmission of knowledge were mostly neglected. A representative survey in German revealed a great openness towards intergenerational exchange in learning processes on the part of the older members of the population interested in further education. But the results also indicated that – depending on the topics or learning contents – older people are not all to the same degree open towards intergenerational learning scenarios (cf. Schmidt/Tippelt 2009). However, the focus of existing research has so far mostly been on formal processes of learning and education, while the intergenerational exchange of knowledge taking place in the everyday (familial) side-by-side has, as yet, hardly been the topic of studies.
Intergenerational exchange – in both formal and informal contexts (cf. Eraut 2000) – cannot be limited to a unidirectional (hierarchical) transfer of knowledge. The historical-sociological concept of generations developed by Karl Mannheim (1928) emphasizes the historically and biographically determined, shared experiential background as a connecting element within a generation (cf. Schmidt/Tippelt 2009). This concept of generations is also compatible with the analysis of intergenerational learning in thematic contexts strongly determined by generation-typical patterns of experience and action, as is the case with regard to the use of media.
Representative studies reveal a distinct differential for media use and ICT competence with regard to age (e.g., OECD 2005). Empirical findings show the use of media and the media competence (following Baacke 1996) to be also dependent on socio-economic and educational background. With a higher level of education, the entertainment function of media loses importance and their communicative and informative aspects gain in significance (cf. Eimeren/Fress 2009). At the same time, the studies mentioned reveal the importance of social environments, individual living conditions and life styles with regard to the choice of media and media contents; however, these factors lie transversely to the differences in age and partially superimpose these.
So far, studies on media use and media competences among older people, on the one hand, and studies on intergenerational learning and intergenerational exchange, on the other, can be considered two separate, rather isolated strands of research. This strict separation is to be abandoned by a current research project and both strands of research are to be merged in a common approach.
To sum up, the DFG-study on which the present contribution is based investigates the development of media competence among older adults within the context of informal intergenerational processes of interaction. It focuses on examining the significance of encountering and exchanging with younger generations to the development of an interest in and know-how regarding the use of modern media on the part of older adults.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Baacke, D. (1996). Medienkompetenz - Begrifflichkeit und sozialer Wandel. In: Rein, A. v. (Hrsg.): Medienkompetenz als Schlüsselbegriff, S. 112-124. Bad Heilbrunn. Bohnsack, R. (2007): Dokumentarische Methode. In: Buber, R./Holzmüller, H. (Hrsg.): Qualitative Marktforschung, S. 319-330. Wiesbaden. Eimeren, B. van/Frees, B. (2009): Der Internetnutzer 2009 – multimedial und total vernetzt? In: media perspektiven 7/2009, ??? Eraut, M. (2000): Non-formal learning, implicit learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. In: Coffield, Frank (Ed.): The necessity of informal learning, pp. 12-31. Bristol. Franz, J. (2009): Intergenerationelles Lernen ermöglichen. Orientierungen zum Lernen der Generationen in der Erwachsenenbildung. Bielefeld. Lamnek, S. (1995): Qualitative Sozialforschung. Band 2: Methoden und Techniken. 3. korrigierte Auflage. Weinheim. Mannheim, K. (1928): Das Problem der Generationen. In: Kölner Vierteljahreshefte für Soziologie 7, Heft 2: 157-185, Heft 3: 309-330. OECD (2005). Learning a Living. First Results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. Paris. Schmidt, B. (2007): Educational behaviour and interests of older adults. In: Lucio-Villegas, E./Carmen Martrinez, M. del (Eds.): Adult Learning and the Challenges of Social and Cultural Diversity: Diverse Lives, Cultures, Learnings and Literacies 1, pp. 157-166. Sevilla. Schmidt, B. (2009): Weiterbildung und informelles Lernen älterer Arbeitnehmer: Bildungsverhalten, Bildungsinteressen, Bildungsmotive. Wiesbaden. Schmidt, B./Tippelt, R. (2009): Bildung Älterer und intergeneratives Lernen. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 1/55, 74-90. Tippelt, R./Schmidt, B./Schnurr, S./Sinner, S./Theisen, C. (Hrsg.) (2009): Bildung Älterer – Chancen im demografischen Wandel. Bielefeld.
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