Growing up in rural Iowa definitely has its advantages. There are wide open skies, beautiful fields and plenty of wild animals. I believe the greatest resource of all, though, is the people who live here. Living in a town of about 400 people—which is smaller than most high schools—gives you the opportunity to know everyone in town. The local cafe is the hang-out for the roundtable of men and women who meet everyday for the latest gossip. Growing up I never realized that some of the people in my town were falling into the Digital Divide. A year ago I didn't even know what the term "Digital Divide" meant. I've since found out, though, that in almost every community the divide exists, even in my small town.

A common misconception about the Digital Divide is that it is simply a gap between those who have access to computers and those who don't. Internet connection in rural America has fallen behind the rest of the world. There are very few Internet service providers available and in some places there are none at all. Cost is an important issue, especially for low-income families. Communities may not have the funds to pay for public computers and resources, for the people that don't have access. So it is true that this is a large part of the divide, but there are also many other areas. Competency is essential. What benefit is a computer if you don't know how to use one? Language barriers and physical limitations also can keep people from using technology. In my community, building competency was our greatest challenge.

Digital Divide Comes Close to Home
After participating in the 4-H Teens Teaching Internet Skills conference at the University of Maryland, I began to see the divide that was in my community. The younger generation was quickly accepting the Internet and computers, while the senior citizens were apprehensive and didn't understand how a computer could be of any benefit to their lives. To the senior citizens, a mouse was nothing more than a four-legged rodent. I decided it was time for that to change!

When senior citizens are comfortable using computers and realize the different things computers can do, they will be much more inclined to explore new technology. Organizing a class just for senior citizens seemed like the first step. I wanted to teach them everything I could, from how to turn on the computer to basic Internet skills. I can't say that as soon as I decided to offer this class, my phone started ringing off the hook. It didn't! I had to do some advertising to get people to come—I placed posters in the local cafe, the post office and the bank. Not surprisingly, though, the majority of the seniors told me they found out about the class through word of mouth at the cafe "gossip table." Sometimes the fact that news spreads so quickly in small towns can really work to your advantage. Soon I had 10 seniors who had signed up to take the class. Since this was my first class, I felt that 10 people were plenty.

Bridging the Generation Gaps
I soon realized that one teacher for 10 students was not a good ratio for a productive class. Since I knew that the seniors were all at different levels of experience, I needed other teens to help, so we would have a one-to-one ratio. I recruited teens from my community, as well as from across the North Central region of Iowa. I worked with these teens before the class, and they, too, began to learn the skills for helping to teach senior citizens. The local elementary-middle school was more than happy to let us use their iMac lab for Saturday morning training.

The morning arrived. Right on time, 10 apprehensive senior citizens and 10 apprehensive teens arrived. We sat down, introduced ourselves and got right to work. I designed the class in a fashion where I could teach the skills and techniques in the front of the room on a computer, while the teens practiced and extended that training one-on-one with the senior citizens. We worked on basics like "rodent management" (how to use your mouse) and page scrolling. As I taught and the teens worked with the seniors, something began to happen. Soon it wasn't just learning—it was seniors and teenagers sharing wisdom and stories, exploring together the technology before them. By the end of the day all the senior citizens seemed very young (in heart at least) as they manipulated that mouse, found old friends online and e-mailed grandchildren.

Seeing Through Someone Else's Eyes
Seniors have had a whole lifetime of experiences. Yet, things that seem second nature to teens have a different set of meanings for them. A disk to me means a place to store information from the computer. To older folks it may mean farm equipment or something slipping in their back. For example, while working with a particular woman, I told her to push a button on the screen. She obediently took her finger and pushed the button on the screen. I had meant to use the mouse to have her click on the button, but from this woman's previous experiences she was used to pushing buttons with her fingers. On another occasion a gentleman called me up after the class. He was sure that his computer was broken; he was seeing all sorts of shapes going across his screen. It turned out that his screen-saver just kicked in.

Even my grandmother didn't understand that you were able to pick up the mouse after it got to the edge of the mouse pad. Instead she worked with it until almost at arms length. It took me a while to understand that I had to learn how to look at the world through their eyes. This was an important lesson for me.

Technology Delivers Possibilities
One of the most rewarding things is hearing the stories from seniors who have learned to use the computer. One woman happily told me that she receives 10 e-mails a day from friends, children and grandchildren. She loves being able to keep in touch with them so easily. A gentleman in our community told me that he now has his coin collection and the coin values all on a database on his computer. He can keep track of each coin very easily now. This was something that previously he had no idea was possible.

The first class generated many phone calls. More and more people wanted the opportunity to attend a class—and not just senior citizens. I was even asked to wait until a retired couple returned from spending the winter in Arizona before teaching my next class so that they would be able to attend.

Extending the Reach
The project was a huge success. Two members from the Iowa Technology Team and I have since worked to expand this program into other communities. We have started expanding the program to include recycling old computers. Currently we are working with a program in the town of Ankeny called Recycle Old Computers Kindly (ROCK). We help them take apart the old computers and put the newly recycled computers in community centers and senior centers where we teach classes. Completing the circle, this past June we taught 27 other teens from across the state of Iowa how to teach senior citizens in their own communities. Our program is quickly spreading.

After I realized that there was a digital divide in my community, I was able to address it; and I continue to do so. It has been personally rewarding in so many ways. I hope that people from across the nation will find out for themselves what sort of digital divide exists in their own communities. No matter where you live, even in the most rural parts of Iowa, the digital divide can be bridged.