The Generations Communications Centers (GCC) project has been selected for presentation at the International Communication Association's 2019 conference in Washington, DC, May 24-28, 2019.
Title: “Media Ecology Within, Across, and Beyond Boundaries”
Chair: Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College
“Crossing the Generational Divide: Digital Technology as a Bridge”
Brecken Chinn, Generations Communication Centers
Pablo Bley, Incubator.org
Zachary Brooks, Generations Communication Centers
LaToya Hinton, University of Arizona
Yuxi Liu, The George Washington University
Yang Liu, University of Arizona
Tucson-based Generations Communication Centers (GCC) have been working for over 20 years bridging disadvantaged youth and senior citizens through technology education partnerships that cross boundaries of generation, culture, race, class, and nation. Youth in Southern Arizona, Mexico, and the Pascua Yaqui Nation work with seniors needing assistance with digital technology and social media. These intergenerational partnerships foster skill-based interaction and work skills, allowing participants to expand horizons and prepare for new frontier careers or hobbies. The project utilizes a qualitative self-report tool, Incubator.org, a web-based learning management platform that captures narrative commentary as the pairs interact and renders the data into meaningful patterning to investigate the “unknown unknowns” of how the partnerships evolve. How does the “medium” (evolving digital communications technology) work as a locus of communication between aging individuals for whom the Internet is “new,” and teens for whom the Internet has been a “given” ever since they were born?
