Generational Differences between Participating in Face-to-Face and Online Intergenerational Learning

Intergenerational learning has become prominent in the context of an aging population. Does online intergenerational learning also produce beneficial results in the present era of advanced information technology? The purpose of this paper was to explore the differences in satisfaction with basic psychological needs among college students and older adults when they participated in face-to-face versus online intergenerational learning. This study recruited 15 college students (M = 24.07, SD = 1.83, ranging from 21 to 27 years old; 23.08% male) and 33 older adults (M = 64.61, SD = 5.01, ranging from 55 to 92 years old; 33.33% male) in Taiwan. According to the results of the study, when participating in face-to-face learning, college students (M = 6.41, SD = 0.64) and older adults (M = 6.53, SD = 0.62) had similar autonomy needs satisfaction. However, when participating in online learning, older adults’ autonomy needs satisfaction (M = 6.54, SD = 0.75) is significantly greater than that of college students (M = 5.96, SD = 1.04). Besides, when participating in face-to-face learning, college students (M = 6.27, SD = 0.99) and older adults (M = 6.64, SD = 0.49) had similar relatedness needs satisfaction. However, when participating in online learning, older adults’ relatedness needs satisfaction (M = 6.71, SD = 0.47) is significantly greater than that of college students (M = 5.93, SD = 1.13). In general, this study reported that college students’ satisfaction with autonomy and relatedness needs is much lower when learning online than when learning face-to-face.