The year 2020 has brought changes for everyone. The root of all these changes? The Coronavirus. With the pandemic triggering strict social distancing and limited contact, virtually everything we do is centered around technology. If I had conducted this interview with Hannah Hanes, a Junior at the College of Charleston, last year, I would have taken a drastically different approach to understanding her use of technology. However, with a global pandemic bringing about so many changes to daily routines, I thought it was more than appropriate to see how her digital interaction has developed into what it is today.
With every tap of a cellphone or click of a keyboard, our interactions with technology evolve. One of my favorite moments of this interview was when Hannah experienced an interesting personal revolution: 
grasping the extent of her technological habits and reliance on the digital world. Stating that she does “not interact with digital literacy nearly as much on [her] own as [she does] for school,” Hannah paralleled the same pattern seen in many college students current relationship with digital literacy. Before we dive into why the rates of digital literacy drastically increase with age, let’s first decipher what exactly digital literacy is. Defined by the Western Sydney University as, “having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies like internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices,” (Jisc, 2016) digital literacy refers to the majority of technological interactions and communication we have on a daily basis in order to exist in our modern digital world. Many Gen Z’s report that they did not interact with digital literacy until years after their first interaction with technology, much like Hannah.
The divide between personal and professional technology use is prominent within college students, especially during the outbreak of the Coronavirus. This finding may seem strange to some, but the reason why is more simple than it may seem. Hannah explained the cause of this trend on a personal level when asked if she would aspire to make any changes to her digital literacy in the future. She described a lower motivation to spend time interacting with technology now that the majority of her academic duties are dependent on it. An interesting example that Hannah used of this increased technology interaction was when she explained that, “before this semester, even the time that it takes to walk to class is spent outside and not online, but now the time that I would normally be walking to class is spent scrolling on social media. The time on my phone has increased because of the switch to online learning.” Hannah further clarifies that, “I don’t have an aversion to technology but in the future I hope to use it differently. I don’t know what that looks like but I would hope to find something to make a change.” Hannah’s current experience with digital literacy and online learning presents the difficulty of finding balance with technology.
Hannah also develops the idea of a societal obligation that technology brings. Stating that she “relies on technology for everything,” Hannah leads into her point that “it is expected to have a certain amount of digital technology and participate in it a certain amount and there is not really any way to change that.” With approximately eighty percent of Hannah’s technology use related to communication, it becomes increasingly difficult to limit technology use and digital literacy interaction.
Virtually overnight, our world became dominated by technology. Virtual interactions have become a sort of lifeline for both academic and non-academic communication. So, I am starting from the very beginning of her digital interactions in order to fully analyze how different things have become…
C: “What was your first memory of interacting with technology? How old were you?”
H: “My first memory of interacting with technology would probably be the same as what I wrote in my literacy journal. I used my family computer and I remember it was a big deal setting it up in the living room. I was 5 or 6 years old so I would play a lot of computer games, like do you remember the game purple place? And I would play a lot of virtual chess. But I didn’t start using it until 5th or 6th grade for school assignments.”
C: “How has your experience with technology evolved from this first memory?”
H: “It has grown enormously because I am always on my phone and computer all day long for
school and Netflix and communicating with people. Before when I was a kid I would play
outside in the woods a lot so I had to amuse myself with other things. My experience slowly
grew and my papers for school eventually started being typed instead of handwritten.”
C: “Many of your classmates have claimed that they have built a “reliance on technology.” Would
you agree? Do you think that this “reliance” is a negative thing?”
H: “I rely on technology for everything. I wouldn’t necessarily like to be reliant on technology but I
have to have my computer for class and I have to have my phone to communicate with other
people like my work. It is expected to have a certain amount of digital technology and participate
in it a certain amount and there is not really any way to change that.”
C: “Based on your experience with technology and digital literacy, what is a similarity and a
difference that you would wish for future generations to experience? Explain why or why not.”
H: “The first thing that comes to mind is that I would want everything to be more streamlined
because I am having to use so many different mediums of technology. For school especially I am
using so many platforms and it would make it so much easier to future students to not have to
use so many different platforms. I had to spend so much time learning these platforms that I
could have spent doing other things.”
C: “What percentage of your digital footprint would you say is exclusively communicating with
others?”
H: “Probably a lot more than I would think. I’d say 80 percent of my time is communicating with
others and the other 20 percent is completing assignments.”
C: “Explain your personal balance between school related and non-school related technology usage.”
H: “I have a really bad habit of scrolling through Instagram at night and in the mornings, but most
of it is for school because school takes up most of my time. In the summer I watch more
YouTube or Netflix but now my average day is spent for school on my computer. But normally
my phone is personal use for things like looking at recipes.”
C: “Do the majority of your digital literacy practices occur subconsciously or do you make a
conscious effort while interacting with digital literacy?”
H: “I do not interact with digital literacy nearly as much on my own as I do for school. I never
would have learned how to use Zoom or Slack or Google Drive if I didn’t have to do it for
school. I really like handwritten notes and physical books so i don’t go out of my way to interact
with digital literacy.”
C: “Do you aspire to make any changes with your interaction with digital literacy in the future?”
H: “I would like to use it less because I would like for classes to become in person consistently.
When I do use digital technology I want it to be different than now because the platforms don’t
interest me as much right now because I don’t need to learn them more than I have to. I don’t
have an aversion to technology but in the future I hope to use it differently. I don’t know what
that looks like but I would hope to find something to make a change. Before this semester, even
the time that it takes to walk to class is spent outside and not online, but now the time that I
would normally be walking to class is spent scrolling on social media. The time on my phone has
increased because of the switch to online learning.”