Preserving Heritage in a Technological Society

Describe The Approaches Utilized To Measure / Assess This KM Initiative: 

An ongoing programme conducted annually in schools , countrywide

Sector: 

Education

What Do You Think Are The Main Unanswered Questions Or Challenges Related To This Field Of Work?: 

How much interaction really took place between the two parties, the young tutors and their older tutees

What Was The Purpose Or Motivation For Assessing This KM Initiative?: 

The ministry of education

What Were The Most Important Lessons Learned About The Assessment Process?: 

The meeting between the seniors and the young ones mitigates the happiness and franticness of the young, refutes prejudice and encourages and fosters patience and tolerance. As for the older members in our society, it energizes and stimulates their minds and zest for life, opens up new worlds and brings joy to life as well as a feeling of belonging.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time?: 

Train better the teachers of the young tutors create an online reservoir of memories collected

Describe The KM Initiative: 

About 12 years ago I initiated and started: The Intergenerational Program : Preserving Heritage in a Technological Society. In this program young students, grades 5-10, tutor seniors at computer and Internet skills and learn from their older students, a chapter in the latter's personal history. Together they write a digital version of the senior's personal history, scan pictures, albums, and documents, and search for information on the Net as well as in other sources. Hopefully all these stories will be uploaded to a designated site on the Internet. An African proverb says that when an old person dies an entire library is set on fire. In the intergenerational program I set out to preserve whole libraries, treasured in the minds of the elderly, by the means of the new technologies.

What Advice Would You Give To Others Based On Your Experience?: 

To try and secure funding for such a project and to better market the project via the social networks

Country: 

Israel

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This case was submitted as part of the KM Impact Challenge in 2011. The challenge was sponsored by USAID's Knowledge-Driven Microenterprise Development project, as a key part of the project’s Assessing & Learning component, which sought to improve the understanding of how investing in learning can increase and extend the overall impact of USAID's development efforts.