Excerpt 1
Ch So in 2002, you were word processing, typing papers. But in that math class you didn't want to use that math program
M No
Ch Do you remember why? What were your feelings about it, can you remember that?
M I guess thought that I couldn't do it, I didn't trust myself, I didn't trust the computer, I was afraid.
Ch what was it about your self that you didn't trust?
M That I could do it, I guess I didn't think that I needed to use a computer in that way.
Ch Yeah
M I was willing to use it to type
Ch yeah, and what was it that you didn't trust about the computer?
M I guess that putting all of my information in there, and trusting the computer to, you know, analyze it, the way that I could have done it myself
Ch So you didn't think it would ah,
m represent what I wanted it to represent.
Ch yeah.[ pause] now go back again, so what was it, what was your resistance, if you can remember
M With the computer?
Ch Why didn't you want to learn it? The teacher says we're going to do the course this way, and you rather than learning the program they gave you, that was supposed to make it easier, and that's the course where they were going to teach you and support you to use it, you you did it your own way, and that isn't just you, that's fairly typical, so let's do some reflecting on, what were your motives, I understand the fear thing, but let's think about where the fear came from, what was it, the one you identified, about not thinking that it was going to represent what you really wanted, is a big one, that's big, but can you think of any of the other things, maybe about you, or your past experiences or[J1]
M Maybe I didn't relate the computer to education in the right way, that I didn't think it was necessary
Ch mm hm, and what do you mean, like, didn't relate the computer to education?
M I guess I thought I could go through without - without having to do this.
Ch It seemed like something extra?
M Yeah, and even though I guess I wasn't you know comprehending that this was supposed to make my life easier, it made it more difficult
Ch And also, I think I'm hearing, if I'm understanding you right, you felt that learning that program didn't really have anything to do with what you needed to learn for that course,
M right[J2]
Ch that you'd learn more, or better, or what you wanted, by doing it on your own
M mmhmm
Ch So you didn't see the program as part of what it was important to learn
M Mmhm
[I wish I had asked why at this point]
M I was fighting it[J3]
Excerpt 2
Ch that's very interesting. OK that was your school experience beginning that fall. So then when you took the computer class, how did you feel, it was obviously different.
M It was different, and ah, it was a fun experience because the teacher was very good, very willing to work with use, she asked us where we were all, part of the class it was you know, twice a week, once we would meet in the classroom, and the other time we would meet in the computer lab, so it was the history of computers, so we learned about the history of computers, and then it was the actual hands on, how we would use it, so and we had to do projects, each project, we had to do an excel project, we had to do a word project, we had to do what else, what other programs are there, we did excel we did word, we did (thinking) what's it? slides[J4] ?
Ch Powerpoint?
M yeah powerpoint and ah,
Ch frontpate?
M no, I'm trying to think what else, but they were just projects that we had to turn in. So ahm, some kids knew how to use the computer but they didn't know how to use it in the way she wanted it to be used, they would zip by all their work and not do it the correct way, and maybe I was in a better situation, because I knew nothing. about you know, computers, and this was my fear, entering the information and then you press a button, and I remember , you know, the laughed at me because you would press the button and everything on the screen would disappear and I'd be like "oh what happened" but there was a way to get it back, there was always a way to get it back, so it was a funny experience and it was ah, it was kind of taught me not to be afraid, to you know, to use the computer[J5]
Ch good, so this course was important, in getting you over your fear
M yeah
Ch What do you think it was that got you over it?
M Ahm, I guess what could happen, you know? You know[J6] , what could happen, you put your work in you press a button, and you just - what's going to happen?
Ch So you had some assurance that your work would be there.
M Right
Ch that you knew how, that you knew how to what? What was it that you learned how to do?
M well I learned, well when I was typing on word I didn't know a lot of the different things, to use, I learned how to ah how to format, I learned different fonts, I didn't know how to use any of the pull down bars, I didn't know all of those things the drop down menus I didn't know all those things were there, I didn't know about the undo button, that's my favorite button the undo button (laughing) go back, go forward.
Ch so let's go back to how you learned word when you learned it by yourself,
you had something you needed to do, right? and then you'd ask someone what to do. Did you do very much exploring on your own[J7] ?
M No. No if I had to type, I just went in and I typed I used it like a typewriter.
Ch But you didn't go across the menu at the top and use the hover thing so
M No I was afraid to. I was afraid of breaking the computer. Or afraid of what would, I never explored, I went on, went to word, opened it up, typed what I had to type, and you know.
Ch So your process of learning word was to go in and type, and then when you needed to do something that you didn't know how to do
M Ask somebody
Ch Ask someone, and then, how would they tell you, or what kind of directions did you get?
M Ah, well like where us word. I would type in Notepad, you know, and then maybe somebody showed me, or you turn it on, and I thought that was the only program and then somebody, don't you use word? What do you mean? You know, so , ahm, then I would go into word,
Ch OK so, I guess then maybe that the discussions of the history of the computer and how they were organizred and what they did were important in that class
M probably (but doesn't sound really convinced)
Ch Do you remember
M yeah cause when they, well it talked about, ah fear of computers, ah well and the realization that a computer has really been around for very a long time, and we talked about the internet and we learned how to find things, on the internet, and
Ch What kinds of things - did they tell you how to get help on the internet?
M I think so
Ch Did you use that?
M No
Ch Ok, I'm trying to figure, cause, we've skipped all these other things about friends and growing up in school, so you had this one class and ah, so then, ah you bought a computer - how did things change when you bought a computer
M I guess then I was little, my kids[J8] used it a lot more than I did, and I really didn't explore at first, and then I became more comfortable with it, little by little, then after I took that computer class, I took an internet course for the first time, I said, well let me try this, now that I, well I had to trying to graduate from Middlesex, to fit into my schedule, and then that internet course kind of helped me to build up my confidence, cause we had to do everything on the computer, answer all these questions had the discussion group and we had to answer all the se questions and he the teacher. It was an English course and he set up all these links to different things on the internet that we could go to, so I kind of explored a little bit that way.
Ch So the internet course helped you to learn how to explore?
M I guess[10] so, how to research on how to use the computer for research
Ch did it help you with exploring programs
M not really programs, no
Ch So how would you learn a program now?
M Ask somebody
Ch You still wouldn't go through the menu bar and see what each of the tools did, and you know because you can hover over it, or you wouldn't open them up and just play with it[J9]
M I might, but I would probably ask somebody
Ch Would you read somethihg
M I would read, yeah. I would read the help things
M I would read, yeah. I would read the help things
[J1]Ch is saying “TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO HEAR!!” She is shaping the conversation – she has ALL of the power. M is reluctant to really divulge any information or is perhaps unsure the purpose of this interview. Although, this question is a series of questions really, and is hard to respond to because Ch says so much.
[J2]Was M scared of you, Ch? Ch is absolutely dominating this discussion. Ch knows the answers to these questions, and M knows that Ch knows – is this a conversation that they’d had previously, but are discussing again for the sake of the transcript? Is M just a pushover? Are these answers obvious from something M already said?
[J9]Ch is back to trying to get a particular answer again – she is trying to shape the conversation to go somewhere else – especially in relation to the comment she made earlier, “we’ve skipped all these other things…” – she had a clear outline of where she wanted the interview to go, and it totally didn’t work that way, which is strange considering the control she had in the first part of the transcript. How did Ch lose control and why? M doesn’t seem particularly assertive.
[J10]M says "I guess" quite a lot - why? It's usually when Ch asserst herself and tries to shape the conversation. When M is given an opportunity to discuss things casually, and begins getting into some storytelling or becomes a little comfortable, he doesn't say "I guess". Perhaps he is uncomfortable with Ch's power.
[J10]M says "I guess" quite a lot - why? It's usually when Ch asserst herself and tries to shape the conversation. When M is given an opportunity to discuss things casually, and begins getting into some storytelling or becomes a little comfortable, he doesn't say "I guess". Perhaps he is uncomfortable with Ch's power.
I guess I would explore ideas of computer literacy through an adult learner's perspective based on how M talks about computers/technology. If there was a video of this event, I'd like to see how M responds to Ch, what their facial expressions show, etc. I think it would give more information the actual text, especially in section 1.
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