scholarly journals Intergenerational Service-Learning During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 402-403
Author(s):  
Tamar Shovali
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Technology Training ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Retirement Community ◽  
Continuing Care ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Virtual Technology ◽  
Intergenerational Programs ◽  
Virtual Platform

Abstract Mentor Up is a technology training program designed to reduce loneliness through technology training and intergenerational relationships. The program, which has similarities to Cyber Seniors, has been held at Eckerd College for four years and has traditionally been held in-person at a local Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). During the pandemic we partnered with AARP to re-think the program and offer a modified version of Mentor Up on Zoom. Five one-hour one-on-one virtual technology training sessions led by 16 students were scheduled. Participants joined to ask questions about how to use features on their smartphones or how to navigate the Zoom virtual platform more effectively. The remote nature of programming allows for expanded 2021 participation, including AARP members across Florida and all three Westminster Communities of Florida in the area (CCRC, ALF, SNF). Participation rates, strategies to implement intergenerational programs on a virtual platform, and lessons learned will be highlighted.

scholarly journals Pathways to Sustainable Intergenerational Programs: Lessons Learned from Portugal

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6626
Author(s):  
Cláudia Azevedo ◽  
Mariano Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Program Sustainability ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Aging Society ◽  
Intergenerational Programs ◽  
Intergenerational Program ◽  
Intergenerational Programming

Despite the fundamental role given to the sustainability of intergenerational programming regarding their demonstrated impact on an aging society, only a few studies have undertaken an exploration of the qualitative core dimensions of sustainable intergenerational programs. This article addresses how the sustainability of educational intergenerational programs relates to why and how intergenerational program managers in the Portuguese area of Porto may have developed different attitudes and beliefs around adequate implementation of the programs. Drawing on qualitative interview data of a four-case fieldwork study conducted in Porto, Portugal, the study examines autonomy, empowerment, and intergenerational relationships as dimensions other than time duration behind program sustainability. Attention to the managers’ narratives on how intergenerational programs are implemented can help to explain why some dimensions are more highlighted than others. A qualitative analysis of intergenerational program sustainability, it is argued, offers considerable findings which provide opportunities to its implementation and intersection with managers’ beliefs. Findings suggest a need to de-emphasize both time duration and managers’ persona as the key for sustainability. We recommend intergenerational program sustainability as an area for future theorizing through providing a conceptualizing framework that might go beyond the normative focus on its duration and into the relational nature of these programs.

scholarly journals Intergenerational Programming During the Pandemic: Transformation During (Constantly) Changing Times

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 402-402
Author(s):  
Shannon Jarrott ◽  
Skye Leedahl ◽  
Donna Butts
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Retirement Communities ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Intergenerational Programs ◽  
Changing Times ◽  
Intergenerational Programming ◽  
Shared Site

Abstract Implementing intergenerational programming amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has required creativity, partnership, and dedication to the work. Most intergenerational programs involving in-person meetings or events are accompanied by guidelines to protect participant health and safety. Programming is routinely cancelled or postponed due to poor weather or contagious illness, particularly when a vulnerable population is involved. The needs for safety precautions and continued intergenerational contact were both amplified during the pandemic, leading many to modify or innovate ways to engage generations rather than eliminate contact for extended periods. Technology has afforded new approaches to engage young people and older people with each other; non-technological ways have also proven effective. This symposium will address strategies used to implement intergenerational programs during the pandemic. Authors will highlight lessons learned and strategies they expect to retain in the future. The first paper describes a pivot in nutrition programming designed for a shared site with preschool children and frail older adults. In paper two, authors discuss their partnership-based approach shifting to remote offerings of Cyber-Seniors programming. Paper three addresses how MentorUp Service-Learning expanded its reach by adaptations to virtual programming for older adults in retirement communities. The final paper presents evaluation data comparing arts programming delivered in-person pre-pandemic and again virtually during the pandemic. In each case, researchers and community partners learned techniques to maintain their programmatic foci. Some projects developed strategies they plan to maintain post-pandemic. Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United serves as the symposium discussant.

scholarly journals Experiential Service Learning: Promoting Competency-based Education for Gerontology Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 763-764
Author(s):  
Theresa Abah
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Self Instruction

Abstract Service-learning is an effective pedagogical approach meant to deepen learners understanding of course content by linking scholarship and social action when structurally organized based on attainment of professional core competencies. The recent COVID-19 pandemic caused a rethinking of the way service learning practicum is delivered, especially as it relates to training health professionals who engage collaboratively with older persons (individuals aged 65 years and older). This poster examines the challenges faced by gerontology students as they transitioned to fully virtual learning and practicum format, the lessons learned, and how to close the gap between theory and practice for better programmatic processes. The data used to gather students experiences include; student reflective journals, class discussions and survey questions to students (n=44). The analytic framework utilized is the Social Cognitive Theory, (SCT)- which explains how individuals can master concepts through verbal and physical persuasion, including peer modelling. The goal is to promote leaners self- regulatory skills to achieve the course learning objectives, as obtained from the SCT six strategies for setting achievable goals, through: Feedback, self-instruction, self-monitoring, use of support and goal setting. Some of the lessons learned suggest students benefit more from service learning when they receive continuous feedback about how to develop intergenerational relationships with older adult partners assigned to in the community (68%), than from goal setting strategies (24%). The implication for practice is: there is a need to develop structured service-learning guidelines for undergraduate students in gerontology program to be prepared to better serve older adults.

scholarly journals Experiment Information System Based on an Online Virtual Laboratory

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Chuanyan Hao ◽  
Anqi Zheng ◽  
Yuqi Wang ◽  
Bo Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Digital Circuit ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Virtual Technology ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Virtual Platform

In the information age, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), micro-classes, flipping classroom, and other blended teaching scenes have improved students learning outcomes. However, incorporating technologies into experimental courses, especially electronic and electrical experiments, has its own characteristics and difficulties. The focus of this paper is to introduce virtual technology into an electronic circuit experiment course and to explore its teaching strategy, thereby realizing the informatization of experiment teaching. First, this paper explores the design concepts and implementation details of the digital circuit virtual laboratory, which is then developed based on previous literature and a prequestionnaire to users. Second, the informatization process of the experiment learning model based on traditional custom lab benches is shown through a blended learning scheme that integrates the online virtual laboratory. Finally, the experiment information system is verified and analyzed with a control group experiment and questionnaires. The blended program turned out to be an effective teaching model to complement the deficiencies in existing physical laboratories. The research conclusions show that the virtual experiment system provides students with a rich, efficient, and expansive experimental experience, in particular, the flexibility, repeatability, and visual appeal of a virtual platform could promote the development of students’ abilities in active learning, reflective thinking, and creativity.

scholarly journals ‘We have become prisoners of our own age’: from a continuing care retirement community to a total institution in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Ayalon ◽  
Sharon Avidor
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Retirement Community ◽  
Retirement Communities ◽  
Continuing Care ◽  
Total Institution ◽  
Continuing Care Retirement Communities ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Total Institutions ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Background and objectives during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Israel, people residing in continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) found themselves under strict instructions to self-isolate, imposed by the CCRC managements before, during and after the nationwide lockdown. The present study explored the personal experiences of CCRC residents during the lockdown. Research design and methods in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 CCRC residents from 13 different CCRCs. Authors performed a thematic analysis of interview transcripts, using constant comparisons and contrasts. Results three major themes were identified: (i) ‘Us vs. them: Others are worse off’. Older residents engaged in constant attempts to compare their situation to that of others. The overall message behind these downward comparisons was that the situation is not so bad, as others are in a worse predicament; (ii) ‘Us vs. them: Power imbalance’. This comparison emphasised the unbalanced power-relations between older adults and the staff and management in the setting and (iii) ‘We have become prisoners of our own age’. Interviewees described strong emotions of despair, depression and anger, which were intensified when the rest of society returned back to a new routine, whilst they were still under lockdown. Discussion and implications the measures imposed on residents by managements of CCRCs during the lockdown, and the emotional responses of distress among some of the residents, revealed that CCRCs have components of total institutions, not normally evident. This underscores the hidden emotional costs of the lockdown among those whose autonomy was compromised.

scholarly journals Teaching civic engagement: Evaluating an integrative service-learning program

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Intervention ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Integrative Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Community Environments

The demands on successfully teaching intervention skills in macro (community) environments are numerous and extend beyond the confines of any one academic discipline. In particular, when considering community, the compounding of the multiple factors of social economics, diversity, social policy, history and political agendas requires an integrative approach. This mixed-methods retrospective article analyses the use of service-learning in an advanced Master of Social Work community practice course. Special attention is given to the construction of academic and community experience that facilitates learning integration and understanding of the ways in which factors compound on community wellbeing. Specifically this project involved students in efforts constructed to address violence directed by and against inner-city youth in a mid-sized northeastern city in the United States that is beset with gang violence and has led its state in per capita murders for four of the past five years. Recommendations and lessons learned presented in this article are directed at exploring a construction of service-learning that could address integrative learning in community intervention courses. Keywords: Service-learning, teaching, macro practice, violence

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