I have interviewed both my mother and father to learn more about how they, as knowledge seekers, gained their knowledge in their generation. Both my parents have different experiences when it comes to their knowledge-seeking due to their location during schooling. Compared to me, schooling systems between our generations have drastically changed, not only that but the types of schools we’ve attended are different too. I will be focusing on how my parents and I learned from elementary through college.
My mother flew to America at 15 and began school there, however, it was vastly different from how it was back in mainland China. My mother started elementary school in 1982 and started right off with practice sheets and memorizing facts. Once starting middle school did she then began to study through textbook memorization. There were no projects implemented and extracurriculars were taken over by math and literature classes. Starting high school was a similar process. Though technology such as calculators and stationary monitors were present they were not allowed to use them as a means of gaining knowledge until my mother flew to the US to begin learning there. Once she started high school in America was when she was allowed to use “modern” technology such as calculators and stationary computers. In order to save information from the computer, she was storing information on she would have to upload it onto a floppy disk in order to retain it. This way is much more difficult than the simple iCloud space implemented in MacBooks and USB ports that are accessible to any laptop. The technology was similar in college but now cell phones (flip-phones) would be implemented into their daily lives.
My father’s experience is similar but different due to the fact that he flew to America at 18 in order to attend college there. In elementary school (1978) it was similar to where practice sheets and memorization were present but students were not allowed to use pens until fourth grade. If a pen were to be used the pen would be an ink pen. (one that needs to be dipped into ink or refilled every once in a while) Since my parents both went to the same college the experience in learning through technology was the same.
After hearing stories about the limited use of technology I became a little bit more grateful for the tools that aided in my learning process. Thinking about not being able to use certain tools may make me crazy. I attended a monastery school when I was younger, the learning style in that tradition was through self-learning, where kids would get a mat and indulge in their own creative abilities through toys such as blocks, memory cards, and organizational games. This teaches kids through a more independent route where I did not start off by learning how to memorize idioms and equations but how to instigate my creativity and individuality. As I grew older I continued to register into private Christian schools (due to its high GPA turnout) this is where I began to focus more on literature. I’ve always wondered how I’ve learned to read so quickly when I was younger ( in pre-school I could read charlotte’s web) I believe it’s due to how the technology I’ve been presented with fueled my want for knowledge. TV and children’s programs (such as PBS) were one of my favorite things to watch when I was younger due to all the fun facts that I would hoard inside my brain. I would always indulge in independent learning and, like a stubborn elementary schooler, refused to learn by the teacher’s rules. However, I was never given iPads, or laptops, or calculators in class it was similar to my parents in the sense of worksheets and writing practices. I’ve only ever used those types of technology once I’ve entered ISB. We’ve used laptops for mostly everything, especially in 2020 with the whole world trapped in a pandemic.
