Below is my summary of each participant in a more concise form than previously posted. Each summary aims to answer the following:
What is an expert and what is expertise?
How did you become an expert and how do other people become experts? (pathway)
What is your opinion of your expertise?
Anne and her Computer Expertise
Anne was taught skills in her schooling programme at intermediate. She uses the trial-and-error method and guesswork to learn.
Anne believes one can become an expert through taking lessons, figuring out how to work it, and knowing everything about it.
She stated that as one becomes more experienced, one becomes an expert. She described a technological expert as “One that's good on the computer, [giggles] or good with their technology thing that they do.”
Anne believes she has expertise in certain programmes, and thinks expertise is programme-specific. She said she was not an expert of “the whole computer”.
She thinks there are levels of expertise from the “very advanced or basic”.
Her own rating of expertise is a 3.
Anne thinks she was more of an expert three years ago when she used a computer more often in her classroom. Her schooling currently provides limited opportunities for computer use.
Anne was possibly not sure of what the word ‘expertise’ meant as exemplified in this phrase: “I think it depends on what you'd call an expertise.” English as a subject was not her strongest subject so this may just be a reflection of not knowing about how nouns and verbs should match, etc.
Charli and her Computer Expertise
Charli defined a technological expert as “somebody that is confident with knowing their way around and stuff.” “I think that it's just someone that's confident, and they feel like they know enough about what they do to like maybe show other people, guide other people. You know like, confident with trying new things on the computer and stuff. Me [giggles].” “I used to think that an expert was somebody that knows everything, but it's not really. I just think it is somebody that's confident.”
When I asked her what types of people would create websites, i.e. how she would describe them, she said "people who know their way about computers".
Her own rating of expertise is a 3.
She explained that she became an expert over time from exploring and learning from experience.
Charli explained that one of her friend’s had called her ‘professional’ in reference to her competence at using her computer. She also said “Some of them [her friends] just think I'm just normal cause like this generation is getting up with the computer technology, like with MSN and big things like that. But then others think that I'm kind of a computer whiz, if you like, and stuff.”
Charli had three years of computers in years 7, 8, and 9, but said it was “mindless” as the sole focus was to touch-type.
She agreed with me when I suggested that both positive experiences with computers and the opportunity to do it would help with development of expertise.
Chris and his Computer Expertise
For Chris, his dad had a significant role in teaching him how to use computers, how to play games, providing equipment to use, and giving Chris the opportunity to watch him (his dad) use the computer. He also mentioned the role of teachers at his primary school who had encouraged him to gain expertise.
Chris began his pathway to expertise through playing games and then learning programmes like Word and Excel, and then moving on to graphic programmes (e.g. Flash 5).
Chris’ definition of an expert could be expressed as “one of those people who can work with computers, and can do a wide range of things with them.”
Chris believed a technological expert was made through the following: “you have to pick up the right skills, you have to search for those skills, search for the right people who are going to give you those skills, and sometimes it can just come out of the air by pure luck. But if you try and just try and make yourself shown, different people can recognize you and you will be able to pick up a few of those skills - thanks to them.”
His own rating of expertise is a 2.5.
He agreed that there were levels of expertise: “In any subject, there are many levels of expertise cause I mean, I think I've got expertise, a lot of people above me have more, and more advanced knowledge of how to do things, so they've got better expertise. Even people below me, they've still got a little bit of knowledge, so they've still got expertise in them”.
For Chris, knowing how and why things work is very important, so that has led to depth of understanding in regard to computers.
Chris was probably not sure of what the word ‘expertise’ meant as exemplified in these phrases: “. . . motivation would be one of those expertise. Knowledge of how computers work would be another one of those expertise. And um, hmmm, also a wide range of different programmes and knowledge would be perhaps one of those expertise.”
Jake and his Technological Expertise
Jake said of his expertise that “I'm always learning new stuff off people, learning new things, and about products that are out, etc.” He implied that it was an ongoing process. Jake initially stated that expertise was “knowing everything”, but admitted that there is always new stuff to learn especially as new technologies develop. He then changed his words to “having a fair idea of most stuff”. He also thinks there are levels of expertise.
Jake rates his expertise in computers as 3: his expertise in sound as between 1 and 2, and his expertise in lighting as also between 1 and 2.
While Jake has attended some courses in his three areas, and has also learnt from others, he has spent much of his time learning things by trial-and-error. He says of others: “I knew a couple of people who've learnt by just mucking around and seeing what it sounds like, without any proper training or anything like that.” This would also apply to some of Jake’s instances of learning.
Jake was not entirely comfortable with calling himself an expert, but was happy to call himself an expert ‘for his age’.
Joe and his Computer Expertise
Joe used the dictionary to research answers to the interview questions I had sent him. He had copied out the definitions for ‘expert’ and ‘expertise’ out of the dictionary and read them to me when I asked the questions: “A technological expert. I think it's a person who understands a particular field and is skilful at it.” Expertise = “A great skill or knowledge in a particular field.”
His own rating of expertise is a 2 (“I can't say a one, yeah, because there's still heaps I can potentially learn”), but Joe was not comfortable with calling himself an expert. When I asked, “What about for your age?” He replied, “My age, um, maybe, but compared to other students, well there's a couple who are like really good, so I've got something to aim at, so I don't think I'm an expert yet, no. R - Would you like to be? J - Yeah, I would, yes.” His numerical rating and his verbal rating appear to conflict.
In regard to how to become an expert, Joe said, “Just by fully understanding something, y'know, but um, and who is like really confident at doing particular things and things like that, yeah.” When asked about his level of expertise at the moment, and how he got to that level, he replied, “By probably spending time, by spending time reading things and getting other people to help me, for example, my dad, just spending time on the computer, y'know, just browsing along and trying new things, and yeah, exploring, yep.” “It's just time, yeah, and just dedication, sort of, yeah.”
Lisa and her Computer Expertise
Lisa was not initially sure of what a technological expert was. She said, “Um, an expert in technology? [laughs] Yeah, I don't really know.” However, when she was asked how she would describe her expertise in computers, she replied, “Just like knowing how the computer works really, and knowing what I want to do on the computer, and get it done, yeah.”
She did consider herself to be an expert but only for her age group, however she said, “There are other brainier people in my age group that would be a total whiz on the computer [giggles]. But yeah, but I'm pretty average.”
Her own rating of expertise is a 2 or 3, “cause um with like other technology, I can always end up working it out as well. Yeah, it just happens. It's quite strange [we both laugh]. I always get something working.”
Lisa said she thought there were “heaps of different levels” of expertise.
She believed that her pathway to computer expertise was “just really fiddling around on the computer and just learning from that, yeah”, and that she had spent “heaps” of time, and “a very long time” on the computer: “Yeah, I used to come home every day [from school] and would play on the computer, and listen to some music, mmm, about three years. R - Oh ok. So it's something that basically every week day you've done for a long time, for a couple of hours at least? L - Yeah, 2 hours.”
Tim and his Computer Expertise
Tim described a technological expert as “someone that probably knows more than the average person” and that compared to most people, i.e. the average user, he was a computer expert.
His own rating of expertise is a 3.
Tim believed he became an expert from “using it so much, and having friends that know all about it as well, to ask and get things from, yeah.” He thought that other people could become an expert in this way and elaborated by stating: “Like if they've got friends or parents that can teach them, yeah. Or if they want to find out themselves, there are things on the Internet that you can learn, yeah.”
He defined expertise as “Knowledge, experience, yeah like, oh just, I guess using, if you use something a lot, and you know a lot about it, and then done it for a long time, I guess, that's, you'd probably be an expert at it, yeah”, and he agreed that there were different levels of expertise, exemplified in this sentence: “Yeah like if you own your own business or something, and then you're good at that, whatever it is you want to do, like plumber or whatever, and you have an apprentice or something like that, they'll probably still be an expert, but not as expert as the person that is teaching them, yeah.”
Tom and his Computer Expertise
Tom thought that a technological expert was someone who was competent in something. When asked, “So would you consider yourself to be an expert in your areas of interest?” He replied, “Um, I've gotta a lot to learn still, but yeah, for my age, I'd probably be pretty competent.”
His own rating of expertise is a 2.5 or 3.
Tom said “I dunno” when asked what he thought expertise was.
Tom definitely thought there were different levels of expertise and related this to the following: “Like you could be an expert at what you do but you still do things like the old way, or the new way of coming in comes in you like have to learn how to do that and it's faster and stuff like that.” He acknowledged that part of being an expert was being part of an ongoing process of learning.
He thought that other people could become an expert in the same way he did, and said, “Um yeah, it's not that hard. Just do it on the Net. R - So it's about having time? T - Yeah, having the time and patience to read.”
