Have you ever had a conversation with someone much older than you? What would you find out about the societal effects and behaviors of the “advancements” of technology? These talks can be riddled with gems and bits of information that can illuminate answers and connect historical dots. This assignment will allow you to explore the impact of technology on the lives of everyday people.
In this assignment, you will conduct an interview with someone 60 (or older) years old. Below you will find a list of questions to help guide you through the interview, but feel free to ask them any other questions you see fit. You should record their answers so that you can refer to them later.
Using the media literacy skill of grouping, address the following:
How are you and your interviewee alike? How are you different? Identify three ways that you and your interviewee are alike. Identify three ways that you are different. What conclusions can you draw from this?
Do you remember life with early technology like radio, “talkies,” TV, video, CDs?
When did you listen to the radio? With whom? Where? What else did you do? What did you listen to? How did your quality-of-life change with this technology?
When you got a TV, how did things change? When did you watch TV? With whom? Where? What else did you do? What did you watch? How did your quality-of-life change with this technology?
When did you get cable? Multiple TVs? How did that change what and how you watched TV? How did your quality-of-life change with this technology?
When did you used to go to the movies? With whom? Why? How has that experience changed compared to today? How did your quality-of-life change with this technology?
When did you get a VCR, DVD, TiVo? How do you use it? How has your quality of life changed with this technology?
How do you use the computer? How often? Why do you use the computer? How has your quality of life changed with this technology?
How has the quality of media products changed? How has the content of media products changed?
Using the information you collected from the activity outlined above, write a 500 word paper using the Make sure you review the Writing Assignment Organizer to assist you in completing your work.
Use the media literacy skill of grouping (defined above) to help you organize and present your findings.
Don’t forget to provide support from the course resources AND from your interview. Note: you MUST include the interview in your reference page and don’t be afraid to use any of the answers from your interview as in text quotations.
