The real participant's name has been removed to protect anonymity.
The interview process has been related to something I have been working on researching for several semesters. Unfortunately, I have spent much of my discussion time during research talking with other instructional technology academics about the topic of Marc Prensky's Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. The purpose of this interview was to talk with someone who I viewed as borderline between a Digital Immigrant and Digital Native so they could potentially see both sides of the characteristics between the two. Included is an analytic memo and transcript of the interview.
It also served as a pre-pilot to my mini-pilot study for EDF7475a Qualitative Research in Education. The questions were pre-written and approved by the University of Central Florida IRB committee. The informed consent document was read, for the most part, verbatim from the version the IRB approved, with exceptions for the obvious differences. The original informed consent document was designed for an anonymous, web-based questionnaire.
The overall goal of the questionnaire was get other thoughts about the accuracy of the adjectives Digital Native and Digital Immigrant, coined by Marc Prensky. Prensky's descriptions of each type of person are based in a large part on age, which is why Anonymous was a convenient participant, as closely randomly selected as possible. Generally, a Digital Native is named as such because they grew up with video games, mobile phones, the Internet, digital cameras, and so on, whereas Digital Immigrants did not have such technologies as children, so they have had to adapt to incorporate them in their lifestyle.
Before I started the interview, I expected Digital Natives to be more simply defined as a young person and a Digital Immigrant as and old geezer. I was actually concerned the answers to my questions would be so short and matter-of-fact, I wouldn't have much to follow up on. I even got a little adrenaline rush of fear when she asked what a Digital Native was. The interview instantly got a feeling of a difficult exam rather than a casual interview. I've taken plenty of tests where I just have no idea what the answer to a question is, so I was glad with Anonymous picked up and ran along with an answer. It was almost like she was thinking aloud, which was great for extracting information from the interview process. She broke the parts of the terminology down to things she was familiar with.
At times, in the interview, she seemed to stray from the topic to tell some sort of personal story I didn't think at the time had much to do with the interview questions. In reflection, I could have probably asked follow-up questions to tie her personal story back to the question and make her talk even more and faster. For example, Prensky suggests Digital Immigrants won't be as successful as Digital Natives unless they make an effort to become Digital Immigrants, as opposed to being digitally ignorant. When Anonymous started talking about her Mexican neighbor, I might have been able to tie that in to success; for example, something along the lines of, "How do you think not learning English affected your neighbors' success in life?"
I feel like there should be a set of follow-up questions related to Anonymous's line of thinking about resistance to new technology, then saying Digital Immigrants should make multi-dollar business out of it. That might have better helped define the business relationship she was putting on the differences between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants.
As the interview went on, the conversation turned from an awkward series of pauses, to something more like a free-flowing brainstorm. Getting to the brainstorm stage of the interview, and so quickly, made it kind of disappointing for the interview to end, especially since I have so much of this topic riding on my dissertation.
In terms of inferences, she thought Digital Immigrants were hard-working, self made business owners. Digital Natives were more likely to follow a structured, incremental series of promotions through a corporation. She saw how not every culture or country is digitally fluent. She agreed, in part, with Prensky to say older people would prefer to do things in a more face-to-face manner, whereas a younger person would prefer Internet-enabled methods of communication.
Trying to interview in a noisy restaurant, while your participant is trying to eat, with a limited lunch hour may not have been the best environment for me to have done this interview. The time constraint for their lunch period may have kept her answers shorter than they could have been. That was especially evident at the end of the interview when she politely asked if we could wrap up the interview. Also, asking someone I didn't know makes it hard for me to ask follow-up questions later on. However, on the other hand, the questionnaire and IRB approval are all based on a matter of anonymity in the first place, so I have a better understanding for why a researcher might go through all the extra effort to make a study confidential as opposed to anonymous in nature.
I did not take any notes during the interview. I was trying so hard to keep her attention with eye contact; I didn't feel comfortable with recording and writing things. In retrospect, I probably should have just asked her if doing both was alright with her.
1 |
DKN: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed today, so I can practice my interviewing for class. The participant asked to be identified as simply Anonymous. (.) This interview should take 15 or 20 minutes. Our location is the Panera Bread (.) on uh, (.) in Waterford Lakes. (.) [shuffling paper] I'm going to read a document to you that is important for your own protection. |
2 |
Ok. (.) What is it? |
3 |
DKN: The school has a procedure (.) er (.) office or whatever called IRB that's supposed to monitor the studies done at the university to make sure nobody is hurt in any way during research projects. (.) I'm going to read the (.) um (.) disclaimer to you that they had me submit for approval. Ready? |
4 |
Yes. |
5 |
DKN: Ok. Just stop me if at any point you don't understand or agree with something (.) I am a graduate student in Instructional Technology at the University of Central Florida. I am conducting a pilot study this fall, the purpose of which is to determine perceptions of how Instructional Technology students think age affects proficiency with using electronics. (.) This research study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Central Florida (UCF). (.) Your interview will be conducted in via an online survey service. The link is below. The questions will be predetermined. There will be a free response area at the end of the survey where you may suggest topics and opinions in any area you feel is relevant to the topics presented. The survey may be completed at your convenience. (.) In your case, your responses will not be anonymous or confidential. They will she shared with the rest of the students in my class and my professor, and might be used in any papers I publish in the future, even though I'm not quite sure if I would actually include this interview. (.) There are no (.) anticipated risks, compensation or other direct benefits to you as a participant in this interview. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. You are free to withdraw your consent to participate and may discontinue your participation in the interview at any time without consequence. If you have any questions about this research project, please contact my faculty supervisor, Dr. Laura Blasi at: 407/823-1761. Information regarding your rights as a research volunteer may be obtained from: (.) Barbara Ward, Institutional Review Board (IRB) University of Central Florida (UCF) (.) 12202 Research Parkway, Suite 501; Orlando, Florida 32826-3252 Telephone: (407) 823-2901 (.) If you decide to participate in this research study, you must be at least 18 years old and give consent that I can get for archival on this recording. If you agree, go ahead, say you're over 18, say your name, and say you agree. |
6 |
My name is Anonymous, I'm well over 18, and I'm more than happy to take yer survey. |
7 |
DKN: Ok, then. (.) Question 1. (.) Based just on the label "Digital Immigrant", what skills would you imagine such a person having with electronics? |
8 |
Uh (.) A what? |
9 |
DKN: A Digital Immigrant. If I pointed at someone and called them a Digital Immigrant, what skills would you think they had with electronics? |
10 |
I guess (.) since it has the word immigrant in it (.) they wouldn't be very experienced with them (.) but then even immigrants have some sort of exposure to a new land. I guess by that you mean someone who is learning electronics so they can adapt to a new environment. I always think of New York when I hear the word immigrant and pictures I've seen of immigrants getting off boats to see the US for the first time. With that mental picture I see someone who wants to learn how to be a US citizen, or in this case, someone who wants to learn how to use electronics, but has kind of an old accent of their old ways. You know (.) as I think about it more (.) there are also Mexican immigrants who I also have noticed don't necessarily even try to learn English. I had a neighbor once who's wife didn't even know English. We just waved at each other in the driveways and I talked to the husband when he was home since he worked in retail. So with that picture, maybe this Digital Immigrant person is resisting new technologies? Could you clarify it for me? |
11 |
DKN: Well, (.) I already have an idea of my own. (.) I'm more interested in what you think about it. |
12 |
Alright fine. Uhm (.) In that case, (.) I'm going to hope you have a positive outlook on life (.) and I'll go with the New York images. Then a Digital Immigrant is someone who sees all the new electronics out in the world and wants a piece of the action. I bet it doesn't take them long to be that guy who owns Blockbuster and the football team, who started from nothing, worked hard, and made a multi gazillion dollar business out of it. |
13 |
DKN: Alright (.) I think that covers that question. I'm very curious to hear about the next topic. So question 2. Based solely on the label "Digital Native", what skills would you imagine such a person having with electronics? |
14 |
I had a feeling something like that was coming. [chuckle] I don't think a Digital Native would have an appreciation for the things available to them. Cell phones are just a part of their normal, daily life. They just expect email to be there and work. I think of entitlements when I think of natives, but I'm not sure what exactly is an electronic entitlement. I spose the Internet could be an entitlement. It's just always there, it's the basis for a lot of communication and business. They probably get their news off the internet instead of from the TV. Since it's probably just something normal to them, they wouldn't even realize how cool it is to be able to get an old book off the Internet from a library in another continent. They wouldn't have the same attitude to do cool stuff with it like an immigrant would. |
15 |
DKN: Alright (.) now describe how the formal education of a "Digital Immigrant" might differ from a "Digital Native." |
16 |
Why does it have to differ? Can't they have the same background? |
17 |
DKN: Well, like I said before, I already have thoughts on the matter. I'll back up then. Do you think a Digital Immigrant would have different formal education than a Digital Native? |
18 |
I don't know why they would. Someone in their 20's could get a Ph.D. just the same as someone who's had their Ph.D. since 1960 and they could be in different countries from different colleges of learning, like business and biology. (.) I spose they could have different ways of having done their homework. The old guy probably had to use a card catalog on the library whereas the young one searched Google all the time and complained about their professors in a blog somewhere. (.) You know, I complained about a professor online once and they actually found it and confronted me about it. I don't recommend it. At least wait until after you graduate. By then, you probably won't care about complaining anymore. |
19 |
DKN: I guess I may need to revise that question in the future. |
20 |
Yeah, I think so. |
21 |
DKN: Next, describe how you think a 19-year-old college Freshman would prefer to receive their course materials. |
22 |
I bet they want everything by email. They probably just want to talk to their professor over Yahoo Messenger or something. You know, I bet all the new students in college that bring laptops to class don't even listen to the lectures. I can see them surfing the internet, checking their email, blogging if that's what it's still called, downloading the newest and coolest new games. Kids are always talking about how bored they are or how tired they are. They probably want to just sleep in till noon every day, goof off in front of the TV, and get to the school junk whenever it's more convenient. Maybe they open an email in the morning and decide not to work on it till after dinner. |
23 |
DKN: Alright, now describe how you think a 19-year-old college Freshman would prefer to collaborate on a group project versus a 60-year-old retiree. |
24 |
First, I bet the retiree is the one that takes over the group leadership. They probably try to setup a face-to-face meeting somewhere, exchange phone numbers, addresses, email information. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old is probably thinking to themselves that they just want to meet online. You know, I've heard that before, but I've never really quite understood what it means to meet online. Do people really set up cameras and try to have a screen full of other people's cameras? My thinking outloud is probably driving you nuts, huh. |
25 |
DKN: Absolutely not. You're actually being quite helpful. |
26 |
I don't know how, but anyway. The freshman probably wants to write some Office documents and fire them back and forth via email. The old guy probably wants to meet at the library in a study room and draw on the caulk board. |
27 |
DKN: I think that will do for that question. Next, describe how you think a college professor would prefer to generate and present lessons to 19-year-old college freshmen. |
28 |
Powerpoint seems like it would be a popular choice. I bet you can even get slides from the book publishers now so you don't even have to create the content yourself. Even if they can't get them from the publishers, they probably copy a bunch of text from the textbooks that the students don't read anyway then read the Powerpoints to the students during class. I guess if they were a really old professor, they could have some overheads or something. |
29 |
DKN: Can you give an example of when a technology boundary negatively affected your success on a project for work or school? |
30 |
I procrastinated on an assignment once. It was for a web class where we had to use webct and upload the final work to the homework dropbox thingie. I was ready to turn it in at the last minute, but my internet connection went down. By the time I called Bellsouth, got everything working again, the dropbox thing was closed. I ended up having to email the assignment through webct email, which the professor never checked, and I had a bunch of headaches explaining why the assignment was late, the professor complaining about it not being turned in, in a way that made it organized for them to grade papers, and. It was just a bad experience. I ended up getting 20 points knocked off the assignment, which still makes me mad because I had the work done, it was just my connection and the professor didn't believe me. I did learn not to procrastinate quite as much, though. |
31 |
DKN: Can you give an example of when you perceived age was a boundary in the success of a project at work or school? |
32 |
I always like to think I'm smarter than my boss. My boss told me once, though, that I wasn't old enough to have the experience to handle being promoted. I sure didn't like that answer since I thought I was smarter than him in the first place. Who knows, maybe I said something to piss him off. Needless to say, I don't work there anymore or talk to that jerk. I need to go. Can we wrap this up? |
33 |
DKN: Sure, I just have some short questions left. I'm going to read some age categories. Tell me which one yours falls in. Under 25, 25 to 34? |
34 |
That one. |
35 |
DKN: 25 to 34? |
36 |
Yes. |
37 |
DKN: What is your highest educational degree? |
38 |
I have a BA. |
39 |
DKN: Please, could you suggest topics and/or opinions in any area you feel is relevant to the topics presented in this questionnaire. |
40 |
Not really. I need to go. |
41 |
DKN: Alright then. (.) Uh. (.) I appreciate the time you gave me. |
42 |
No problem. (.) Good luck with the rest of your assignment. |