Technology Interview

 I interviewed an 11 year old male, he is in sixth grade and attends public school. For privacy purposes I will call him Steve (not his real name).

Before we even began the interview, apparently he was nervous! His mother said he was concerned about what the questions would be, but once I explained that it was on technology, he said, "Oh. I can answer those questions!"

Overall, the answers that Steve gave were about what I expected. He said that he spends an hour or two (on average) on his phone during a typical day, and that most of that time is spent playing games rather than texting or talking on the phone. He has multiple gaming systems including a tablet, a Nintendo Switch, and a Wii. Steve said that "unless I'm grounded," he plays on at least one of these systems just about every day. He said that he watches TV or movies every day (his favorite ones are action, comedy, and drama).

When I asked him what technology he used at school-this is where he surprised me a little! He talked about laptops, the smart boards his teachers use, and then he said, "yeah, and in Home Ec we used, like sewing machines." I LOVED that he said that they were technology-not necessarily digital, but technology!

Steve also told me about the types of games that he played on the systems he has at home. He tends to play more puzzle/educational type games on his phone and tablet, but on the other systems he plays adventure or "last person standing" games like Breath of the Wild and Mario Cart. 

In our discussion I pressed Steve about his game playing-did he think he was learning or gaining anything from the games that he played. He started to talk about how they help him educationally, but then said, "yeah, Mario Cart helps me calm down." He explained further that it helps him practice staying calm as he is racing (and maybe sometimes losing) and not getting all loud and yelling. 

As we got towards the end of our interview I asked Steve if thought there were ways we could use technology to make the world a better place to live. His first response was saying how the government could maybe put into law something about not being on our phones so much, "maybe just like, an hour or two a day." When I tried to guide him towards other ways of thinking, maybe making a connection to video games, he didn't really have an answer, "I can't think of anything really."

One of the best part of the interview was when I asked Steve: "Who is better at using technology, you or your parents?" His answer was serious, but also funny! He said that with his dad, he often has to help him-he mimed his dad holding the phone far away from his face and said,  "hey buddy, can you help me with this picture thing?" He said with his mom it was split, "49% to 51%" on who is better-but didn't elaborate who was the 49%! I asked him if he or his older (in college) brother was better at technology, Steve answered that his brother was, but just cause he's had more time using it. 

I think that Steve's age (11) was a little too young to get answers to my harder questions-ones that I based on the TED talk by Jane McGonigal's and her theory that we should be playing MORE games. I found the interview to be a good experience overall, I got some good answers, and I think some good practice for future research that I have to do.