IPads and paintbrushes: integrating digital media into an intergenerational art class

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis exploratory case study integrated digital media into an intergenerational art class. Its goals were to generate knowledge of how to bring young children and elders together to expand their opportunities for meaning-making and seeing themselves in affirming ways so as to generate transferable understanding of digitally enhanced multimodal curricula across the lifespan. Participants included 15 elders and 9 pre-schoolers. Focusing on how the digital media were used and with what implications for participants' literacy and identity options as well as relationship-building, data were collected through ethnographic methods, and a qualitative thematic analysis with multimodal elements was conducted. The study found that the digital media were used in tangent with non-digital media for the creation of digital portfolios, digital text-making, and teacher- and participant-led referencing for text-making. Findings suggest that the integration of digital media enhanced literacy options by providing new tools for meaning-making and expanded identity options by highlighting achievements and promoting intergenerational relationships. The study contributes to literatures concerning literacy curriculum and practices in early and late life.