The Digital Age Divide

In the fifth episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Noha Ashraf AbdelBaky and Claire van Zwieten sit down with Kim Ochs, PhD., an educator and researcher specializing in lifelong learning and education technology, and Isaac Carrasco Ortiz, a sociologist and digital literacy advocate, to explore how the Internet connects—and often divides—different generations. This episode, The Digital Age Divide, underscores that the nternet is a shared space across ages—one that thrives when everyone feels empowered to participate with curiosity, confidence, and care.

Isaac shares how his journey into digital literacy work began unexpectedly through community teaching with older adults in Massachusetts. It’s one thing to work with older adults. It’s another thing to teach technology. But it’s a third thing entirely to teach older
adults about technology. Through that work, he discovered the importance of confidence, empathy, and cross-generational understanding in shaping how people connect online.

Kim offers a framework for understanding digital literacy and draws on her experience teaching multigenerational classrooms to challenge the idea that digital literacy is tied to age. We often assume young people are skilled and older adults are not, but both
groups are incredibly diverse. It has more to do with context, confidence, and motivation
than chronology.

The conversation also takes on the urgent issue of trust and safety online, especially for older generations navigating scams, misinformation, and privacy threats. Both guests emphasize that security skills are an essential dimension of digital literacy and agree
that building digital confidence—through mentorship, community programs, and intergenerational collaboration—is key to a safer, more inclusive Internet. The guests call for stakeholders to engage together and work towards a new digital human synchronicity, where learning and adaptation are seen as lifelong processes, not bound by generational stereotypes.

LINKS /RESOURCES
AmeriCorps
Bridging the Grey Digital Divide: Enhancing ICT Learning for Older Adults (UNESCO)
Digitally Empowering Older Adults in Mexico (ISOC Mexico Chapter)
Generation definitions
Geragogy

Laura Breeden, Internet Hall of Fame Inductee 2023
Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging and Independence
National Digital Inclusion Alliance
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

CONSIDER A DONATION
The Internet is no longer optional — it’s vital to lives and livelihoods. Yet 2.6 billion people remain unconnected, and it’s being fragmented along national borders, threatening innovation and global progress. Online security fears are rising fast.

The stakes are high. Help bridge the digital divide and defend a global, open Internet for everyone by donating today: https://donorportal.internetsociety.org/page/2025EOY