Interview With a Native

The Digital Native I interviewed is a 16 year-old male, Sam, that will be starting his junior year in high school. He is a well adjusted teenager from an upper-middle class family. He started preschool by age 2 in a Montessori like day care, and entered the Connecticut  school system before transferring to the Kentucky school system for 7th grade middle school. Sam is the oldest of three children, a younger brother and the younger sister all of school age and four years apart in age. It would be fair to note that Sam is now slightly above the average height of his peers, but was easily taller than ten through fourteen year-old boys, which caused unknown adults to assign greater "age appropriate" responsibility on him than should have been. A ten year-old that looks 16 is still only ten developmentally and socially. I conducted the interview via Facetime, rather than just a phone call, so I could assess non-verbal cues as well. The interview duration was about 23 minutes.

Do you have a computer / iPod /MP3 player / Wii / Xbox etc....? Yes, I have a Mac Airbook, iPhone, Wii, and access to 3 different iPad s of differing generations

What kinds of things do you use the computer/phone/iPad etc for? Mostly social media and looking up information. I listen to some music, but not constantly. I also like to check out breaking news stories...Do you have a special News app? Not really it's the one already on the iPhone. I also use my iPhone to text and check social media for messages... Do you use speech to text when creating or answering messages? No... Why? it never gets it right and auto correct is hard enough sometimes.

What is your favorite thing to do on the computer? I really just like typing... What do you mean? Well, I like writing stuff like ideas for plays or short stories... Do you actually type or do you just use two fingers? I learned how to type using both hands, but I usually just use a couple of fingers...Like texting? sort of

How did you learn to do that? My dad taught me a lot of the basics, but I really just learned more by doing it.

What are some other things you use the computer for? School work and presentations like power point and stuff... Do you take your computer to school? Yes... Can you access the internet at school? Yes, but it's really slow... Do you log on as a guest or a user? a guest, so when I really need to look something up I use my iPhone as a "hotspot" ... Would you like to use your computer at school more? Yes, I really like the online textbooks and would like to use it more for notes

What is your favorite game? Why? I don't really play too many games... Really? Yes really, sometimes I play a game called "color switch" it used to be popular... So no massive online games like WoW? No...Why? I don't have time because of the other things I do, like Walden theater.

Do you know other people who do this? My friends and I might play sometimes, but not together, it's not that kind of game.

How would you like to use the computer at school? Like I said, I like to use my computer for the online textbooks. I wish all my classes had online textbooks.

Anything else you would like to tell me? No, not really... I guess I think the schools should give us an iPad to use for the year... Would you rather use your own computer if you had better WiFi? Yes, maybe... Do you think the school should ask you to use your computer and if you don't have one they will then give you an iPad? No, I don't think so...Why? because that wouldn't be fair to students that don't have a computer.

Are you allowed to use your phone for class work during class? No... Do you think you should be allowed to use your phone during class? Yes, but only for school work during class unless you can listen to music while you work.

My post interview comments and reflection, as well as follow-up with Sam's father center around the idea of fairness Sam pointed out when asked about being required to bring your own device if you have one. I will likely explore this in greater detail when writing the full case study