Teaching dad or grandpa or great grandpa

Today I sat with my 77-year-old father and showed him how to use the google reader to set up feeds for his favorite blogs. He loves technology and uses his computer to keep up to date on many events of the day and to communicate with his children and grandchildren. I think technology is a way to keep the generations communicating. We could set up blogs and wikis where the collaboration is between students and their grandparents or great-grandparents. I believe we would enrich the lives of both groups. It can be very difficult for a young person to communicate and technology may offer a safe environment for some exchange between family members that would not occur otherwise. It’s a improvement over, “what did you do in school” answered by “nothing.” Of course, there would be educational goals for the students. Elderly grandparents and great grandparents can become isolated and find they are not benefiting from exercising their minds. I know many do not have access to a computer but this is a project that can include community support at libraries and community centers (read: senior centers.)