Bridging Generations: The Role of Digital Media in Fostering

Intergenerational Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange

Ana Carla Amaro

and Ligia Kallas

DigiMedia - Digital Media and Interaction Research Centre, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Keywords: Grandparents, Grandchildren, ICT, Digital Media, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, Intergenerational

Relationships, Escape Room.

Abstract: This exploratory study investigates the role of digital media and technology in shaping intergenerational

relationships between grandparents and grandchildren, focusing on knowledge exchange and collaborative

interactions. Seventeen participants, consisting of eight grandparents (aged 60–75) and nine grandchildren

(aged 10–18), were involved in a gamified escape room activity designed to foster collaboration. The activity

required participants to solve riddles using digital tools such as smartphones, mobile apps, and social media,

followed by semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences. Results revealed a reciprocal learning

process, where grandchildren often guided grandparents in technology use while grandparents shared cultural

knowledge and traditional skills. The activity highlighted the complementary strengths of both generations,

with grandparents contributing with historical knowledge and grandchildren offering technological expertise.

Despite technological anxiety and generational differences in digital proficiency, the study found that

structured activities like the escape room can enhance collaboration and strengthen intergenerational bonds.

Depending on its use, technology emerged as both a facilitator of connection and a potential barrier. The

findings suggest that digital tools can significantly bridge generational gaps, promote mutual learning, and

foster deeper intergenerational relationships.

1 INTRODUCTION

As in most Western countries, the Portuguese

population is aging, given the increase in life

expectancy. People over 65 have grown by more than

2% annually since 2019. Portugal is the fourth

country in the world with the highest proportion of

older adults, and it ranks 2nd among European Union

countries with the highest rate of population aging,

with 186 older adults for every 100 young people

(PORDATA, 2024).

This phenomenon is creating social challenges

that need to be addressed. One of these challenges is

related to the coexistence between generations,

including between grandparents and grandchildren,

which now happens more frequently and for extended

periods (Fingerman & Birditt, 2020). On the other

hand, changes in family structures and work patterns,

the institutionalization of education and care, as well

as increasingly technological and digitally

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7863-5813

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9295-390X

interconnected societies are impacting both young

and older, resulting in cultural distance, ageism, and

the loss of opportunities to knowledge and values

transfer (Gallagher, 2019).

Promoting intergenerational relationships,

particularly between grandparents and grandchildren,

is paramount in these demographic changes and

social challenges. Studies show that high levels of co-

residence, contact, and care provision between

grandparent-grandchild are linked to more stable

exchanges and interactions over time (Pasqualini et

al., 2021), contributing to the transmission of cultural

heritage and historical knowledge, the sharing of

memories, and the promotion of active aging and

well-being (Ramos, 2013). As observed by Trujillo-

Torres et al. (2023) in a recent systematic literature

review, promoting intergenerational dialogue is one

of the most frequently used strategies to promote

meaningful learning, having a positive impact in

many areas, such as attitudes, well-being, and

Amaro, A. C. and Kallas, L.

Bridging Generations: The Role of Digital Media in Fostering Intergenerational Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange.

DOI: 10.5220/0013488000003938

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE 2025), pages 389-397

ISBN: 978-989-758-743-6; ISSN: 2184-4984

389

happiness, improvement of family relationships,

promotion of social and human values, and

combating the generational digital divide, among

others.

On the other hand, and despite the persistence of

the digital divide, older adults have increasingly

become more willing to use technologies and digital

media in recent years, and digital interactions are

emerging as a significant form of communication,

complementing traditional face-to-face and telephone

communication (Barbosa Neves & Vetere, 2019;

Arpino et al., 2022). Maintaining a connection with

their grandchildren is among the main reasons and

motivations for older adults to use technology and

social media (Wei et al., 2023; Ivan & Fernández-

Ardèvol, 2017), and those can play an important role

in supporting intergenerational communication, play

and learn (Yuan et al., 2024).

As such, this paper describes research focused on

understanding how digital media and technology

interfere with reciprocal learning and

intergenerational solidarity between grandparents and

grandchildren.

2 BACKGROUND

Family relations have always been central to creating

solidarity and identity and transmitting cultural and

moral values. As the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong

Learning (2015) highlights, familial intergenerational

learning practices are rooted in all cultures and

present an opportunity for adults and younger to

become lifelong learners. Grandparents, in particular,

can play an essential role in their grandchildren’s

formal and informal education, facilitating children's

learning through intergenerational play and creating

linguistic and cultural heritage learning spaces (Keary

et al., 2024; Kanyal, M., Mangione, D. and Luff, P.,

2024; Barragán-Medero et al., 2024). Besides, these

interactions and knowledge transfer represent a

reciprocal process for both generations, also

benefitting grandparents (Mendelová & Zelená,

2021; Harwood, 2007). Research has shown that such

interactions can improve cognitive health in older

adults, combat social isolation, and provide a sense of

purpose (Stephan, 2024; Döring et al., 2022; Lai, Li,

& Bai, 2021; Lyu et al., 2020).

Some studies state that adolescence introduces a

unique challenge to intergenerational exchange, as

teenagers, influenced by peers and digital culture,

may sometimes prioritize advice and validation from

friends over guidance from family members

(Jassogne & Zdanowicz, 2020; Strom & Strom,

2015). However, other authors emphasize that the

quality of contact with grandparents, rather than age,

is the key factor influencing children and adolescents'

views about older adults (Soliz & Harwood, 2003;

Harwood, 2007; Strom & Strom, 2015; Flamion et al.,

2019). As highlighted by these researchers, the

exchange of intergenerational knowledge is

influenced by relational proximity, the quality of the

bond, and the context of the interaction. When

relationships between grandparents and

grandchildren lack closeness, knowledge

transmission and interactivity are significantly

hindered (Forghani & Neustaedter, 2014). This

dynamic underscores the importance of fostering

strong intergenerational relationships to facilitate the

sharing of cultural heritage and practical life skills.

Studies also suggest that grandparents, and

especially grandmothers, transmit a wide range of

knowledge, from moral and ethical principles to

practical skills such as cooking, gardening, and even

study habits (Modin, Erikson & Vågerö, 2013;

McConatha, McConatha & DiGregorio, 2021).

Conversely, grandchildren often serve as

generational bridges, sharing insights into

contemporary culture, acting as tutors to their

grandparents regarding social norms, and using new

technologies, thus enhancing digital literacy and

reducing technology-related anxiety among older

adults (Barbosa Neves & Fernandes, 2016).

As far as digital technologies and social media are

concerned, research underlies its potential to foster

intergenerational engagement, namely between

grandparents and grandchildren, in playful and

educational activities (Kaplan et al., 2013; Döring et

al., 2022; Yuan et al., 2024). For example, video chat

has proved effective in ensuring culture-sharing

between grandparents and grandchildren during the

COVID-19 pandemic, namely by supporting

engagement in storytelling and conversations about

traditions, holidays, popular culture, and other themes

(Piper et al., 2023). However, although a few studies

focus on how digital media can facilitate joint media

engagement between grandparents and grandchildren

(Amaro, Oliveira & Veloso, 2017), research is still

limited, focusing primarily on parent-child

relationships. As such, this study is particularly

interested in how grandparents and grandchildren can

collaboratively use technology to solve problems and

how learning and knowledge exchange happen in that

context.

IS4WB_SC 2025 - Special Session on Innovative Strategies to Enhance Older Adults’ Well-being and Social Connections

390

3 METHODS

This qualitative and exploratory study aimed to

understand the role of digital media and technological

devices in intergenerational relationships between

grandparents and grandchildren, particularly in

knowledge exchange and collaborative interactions.

As such, the following main goals were identified: i)

To explore how grandparents and grandchildren

perceive the role of technology in their lives and

relationships; ii) To analyze intergenerational

knowledge exchange mediated by digital media and

technology in the context of a gamified escape-room

type activity. Thus, data was collected through an

escape room activity and individual interviews with

grandparents and grandchildren from the Aveiro

region.

3.1 Participants

The study was conducted with 17 participants,

comprising eight grandparents (aged 60–75) and nine

grandchildren (aged 10–18), selected through

purposive and convenience sampling. These

grandparents and grandchildren cumulatively met the

criteria of having some technological and digital

literacy, having access to or owning up-to-date

technological devices, and expressing a willingness to

participate. This ensured that the participants had the

minimum skills to engage in the challenges proposed

during the gamified escape room activity. However,

the non-inclusion of participants without

technological literacy adds to the limitation of using

a small sample, preventing the generalization of the

results.

The grandparents selected comprised a group of

seven women and one man, with varying academic

qualifications - although the majority had more than

the 4

-grade primary education - and with levels of

digital literacy mostly considered low or medium, as

shown in Table 1.

The group of grandchildren was constituted by

nine participants (with two sisters among them),

seven of whom were girls and two boys with basic

digital literacy and aged between 10 and 17.

However, the majority were between 10 and 12, as

shown in Table 2.

Participants were also characterized by their

home proximity and the weekly regularity of face-to-

face meetings. As shown in Table 3, all the

grandparents and grandchildren lived in proximity

and met face-to-face at least 3 times a week, 6 times

a week being the most frequent situation.

Table 1: Grandparents characterization.

Age

Gen-

der

Academic

Qualifications

Level of

Digital

Literacy

GP01

Primary

education

(4th grade)

Low

GP02

Primary

education

(4th grade)

Low

GP03

Vocational

education

Medium

GP04

Higher

Education

(short cycle)

Medium

GP05

Higher

Education

(1st cycle)

High

GP06

Higher

Education

(short cycle)

Medium

GP07

Higher

Education

(short cycle)

Low

GP08

Primary

education

(4th grade)

Medium

Table 2: Grandchildren characterization.

Age

Gen-

der

Academic

Qualifications

Level of

Digital

Literacy

GC01

Primary

education

grade)

Low

GC02

Primary

education

grade)

Medium

GC03

Primary

education

grade)

High

GC04

Primary

education

grade)

Medium

GC05

Secondary

Education

(12

grade)

High

GC06

Primary

education

grade)

Medium

GC07.

Secondary

Education

(11

grade)

High

GC07.

Primary

education

grade)

Medium

GC08

Primary

education

(4th grade)

High

Bridging Generations: The Role of Digital Media in Fostering Intergenerational Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange

391

Table 3: Participants’ proximity and frequency of weekly

meetings

Pairs of

participants

Home proximity

Weekly frequency

of meetings

GP01/GC01

Neighbors

GP02/GC02

Same neighborhood

GP03/GC03

Same neighborhood

GP04/GC04

Neighbors

GP05/GC05

Same neighborhood

GP06/GC06

Same city

GP07/GC07.1

Same city

GP07/GC07.2

Same city

GP08/GC08

Same house

3.2 Data Collection and Analysis

Data collection occurred in the context of a gamified

escape room activity and following semi-structured

interviews.

Escape room games are team-based physical

games in which teams of players discover clues, solve

riddles, and accomplish tasks to find a way to escape

a closed room. These experiences usually start with

the players meeting their gamemaster, who introduces

the backstory and gives them the game's rules. As

Nicholson (2015) points out, escape rooms require

team members to rely on each other, collaborate, and

communicate, being appealing and inclusive for a

wide age range and appropriate for intergenerational

groups.

For this study, an activity of this type was

conceptualized, tested, and implemented, aiming to

involve teams of grandparents and their

grandchildren in finding clues and solving riddles to

get out of a closed room - called the Scientist's Office.

The participants had digital media and technology

(like mobile devices, mobile apps, QR codes, social

media,...) at their disposal so that, together with

general knowledge, they could complete the tasks and

get out of the room in a certain amount of time.

According to the activity backstory, Portugal had

suffered a biological attack, and some citizens were

infected by a virus that was activated using

technology. The antidote to this virus was hidden in

the office of a renowned Portuguese scientist

(corresponding to the room where the activity

occurred), and to discover it, participants had to

follow the clues and unravel the riddles. However,

just before entering the office, the blood tests carried

out by the Portuguese government revealed that the

grandchildren were infected with the virus and,

therefore, could not handle any technological devices.

The aim was to contextualize that the grandparents

had to handle the smartphone handed to the

participants before they entered the room, which was

prepared to resemble a scientist's abandoned office

(Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Scientist's Office.

The activity was validated through a pilot study

involving different participants: two pairs of young

people aged 17 to 20 to validate the gamified activity

mechanics and access logistic issues, and one other

pair, with a 63-year-old and a 17-year-old participant,

to validate the difficulty level and the potential of

clues, riddles, and tasks to elicit communication,

cooperation and knowledge sharing. The activity's

backstory and rules were presented to participants

before entering the room. After carrying out the

activity, the participants were asked to point out

flaws, the need for changes, or any difficulties they

encountered.

Following this pilot application of the gamified

activity, some adjustments were made, such as

changing the layout of some items in the room and

paying attention to some points of operation, such as

the dynamic of asking the research team for help if

necessary.

During the main study, seven pairs and a trio of

grandparents and grandchildren tried to escape the

room. In its final layout, the room was separated into

three distinct spaces: 'The workbench', in which the

participants could find a microscope, pipettes, water

heater, periodic table, and other items that scientists

use, and where clues 1 and 2 were positioned; 'The

desk', containing a typewriter, lamp, folders,

documents, and a telephone, and where the fourth

clue was located; and finally, 'The locker', that was

initially locked and, once opened, contained the

antidote.

Five clues were provided, the first of which, when

they entered the room, referred to one of the images

placed on the room wall: a photo of the famous

Portuguese Fado singer Amália Rodrigues. This clue

involved reading the QR Code associated with the

image, which would lead them to clue number 2. This

IS4WB_SC 2025 - Special Session on Innovative Strategies to Enhance Older Adults’ Well-being and Social Connections

392

second clue consisted of old photos from the main

avenue of Aveiro city and a related poem, and

participants were asked to identify the location. After

unraveling the avenue's name, the participants were

directed to an envelope containing the next clue. This

third clue asked participants to find an old piece of

technology in the room, referring to the typewriter in

'The Desk.' Participants had to turn the platen knob to

advance the page, revealing clue number 4. The

fourth clue asked participants to identify a Portuguese

volcano, including the year it erupted, and post their

answers on a Facebook page dedicated to the project.

Once the correct answer had been posted, the fifth and

last clue was slipped under the door in an envelope

with the locker key. This last task involved taking a

selfie and opening the locker to find the antidote.

Then, the project team would unlock the door to the

room.

The activities were recorded using cameras and

microphones installed strategically in the room. The

furniture, artifacts, and equipment were arranged so

that all the spaces in the room, especially those with

clues and interactions, were filmed and had space for

circulation. The legal aspects of the European

General Data Protection Regulation have been duly

safeguarded.

The records were analyzed using a set of

categories that included the total duration of the

activity and time spent on each clue, collaboration

dynamics, problem-solving strategies, technological

interactions, behaviors, and feelings during the

resolution of the riddles. All observations were noted

down and tabulated to organize better and facilitate

analysis.

After the gamified activity, semi-structured

interviews were scheduled to collect deeper

demographic and digital literacy-related data and to

characterize the quantity and quality of the

relationship between these grandparents and

grandchildren, their perception of their roles,

particularly regarding the transmission of knowledge

and mutual learning, as well as their use of media and

digital technologies.

The interview script and procedures were

validated through a pilot interview with a

grandmother and her granddaughter, aged 60 and 11,

respectively. The questions and procedures proved to

be generally suitable for collecting the necessary data,

with only a few adjustments to the language.

However, as this pair had not participated in the

gamified activity, some questions could not be

validated, so it was only possible to check and adjust

them during the main study.

The relevant parts of the interviews were

transcribed, and themed content analysis was carried

out.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents and discusses the study’s

results, structured into two subsections: the gamified

escape room activity outcomes and the insights

gathered from the post-activity interviews. The first

subsection analyses participants' performance in the

escape room activity, highlighting collaboration

dynamics, problem-solving strategies, and

technological interactions. The second subsection

explores the qualitative data from interviews, offering

more profound insights into participants' perceptions

of intergenerational learning and the impact of

technology on their relationships.

4.1 Results from the Gamified Activity

Regarding the total duration of the activity, half of the

cases exceeded the maximum duration of 30 minutes,

as shown in Table 4. As can also be seen, the shortest

time to complete the activity does not always

correspond to pairs with higher levels of digital

literacy (see, for example, pairs GP03/GC03 and

GP04/GC4). However, the pair that took the least

time corresponds to a situation in which both had a

high level of digital literacy. The age of the

grandchildren also influenced the duration of the

activity, with the pairs that included older

grandchildren being quicker.

Table 4: Time taken to complete the gamified activity.

Pairs

Time

GP Digital

Literacy

GC Digital

Literacy

GP01/

GC01