Interview

Interviewing my 8-year daughter, Tae, opened my eyes to her world of technology and digital literacies. She was very excited to participate in the interview.With Tae's age, her Internet usage has never really been monitored. I didn't figure she was knowledgeable enough to stumble upon any sites she shouldn't. Much to my surprise, she is very tech savvy and I'm naive.

During the interview, I learned:

• Tae uses the Internet to explore her interests. She often learns websites from TV shows associated with them. However, she current favorite sites are the Eagle cam on Outdoorchannel and Google Earth. She uses Google Earth to look at volcanoes and research places she hears people talk about - A good example of this is her looking up Botswana, Africa because she heard family talking about my nephew's wife being from there.
• Being 8, Tae does not use Facebook (although she informed me that her friends do). Knowing that, I was surprised to learn that she is still exposed to social media. Two sites she mentioned had "chat" features. We had a long discussion about online safety and I now have usernames and passwords for those sites.
• At school, Tae uses both regular and online programs to enhance reading. According to Tae, they "make her brain better." She said that she enjoyed doing TechSteps and anything that had to do with the Smartboard.
• At home, beyond Internet usage, I discovered that Tae uses MS Word to "write songs and stories" and Paint to draw pictures.
• Additionally, she explained that she'd much rather use the laptop instead of her desktop. With the laptop, she can lay on her bed or watch tv too.

Overall the interview was fun and enlightening for both of us.