For my final reflection I listened to five different audio stories and reviewed each one.

The first person whose audio story i listened to was Emily Burns. Emily interviewed her old house mom whom used to work at a telephone company. One point that stood out to me was when the house mom stated that the transition from one generation of using landlines over to smartphones caused people to view texting as a mainstream form of communication. The interesting part is that she stated that when she talks to someone she feels as if it will tell her more than if she reads it through text. Whereas, if you were to ask the majority of the current generation, they feel more comfortable speaking through text and feel that they can express themselves more freely. I had not thought about how technological advances can change societal norms within our culture. Furthermore, this was story was a good example of oral history because it not only touched on the advances on technology itself, but the cultural shift of norms that came with it.

The second audio story i listened to was Melody Huerta’s, who interviewed her brother on the topic of technology in education. One point i found interesting was that although Melody’s brother had been exposed to technological advances in school for so long, technology was not often a topic of conversation at his school. I figured it was because he grew up in a technologically advanced generation where new advancements were not seen as abrupt, but rather, the norm. I think this is a good example of oral history because it touched on the topic of technological shifts in school and how it affected students of different generations.

The third audio story i listened to was of Milo Larson, who interviewed his father on the different technological advances he has seen throughout his life. What i found most interesting is that Milo’s father mentioned how technology contrasted from when he was in college to Milo’s college experience. When Milo’s father was in college, personal computers were rare and only used as word processors for assignments like essays, whereas now, computers are the norm and used for nearly every aspect of education in college. I definitely think this was a good example of an oral history because it depicted the different technological advancements that occurred throughout several decades, and how they contrast from today.

The fourth audio story i listened to, was from Angela Basinger, her interviewed her grandma on the technological advances surrounding the healthcare field. Angela’s grandmother worked in different positions throughout her life in the healthcare field and had a lot of knowledge on the different technologies that raised throughout different decades. One aspect that was interesting was how she contrasted the different tests (Diabetes, blood pressure tests) which were used when she began her career in the healthcare field, to the tests available now, and how technological advances have helped make healthcare practices more accurate. This is a great example of oral history because it communicated the advancements in medical technology that have been made through several decades and how it has affected the population in a myriad of positive manners.

The firth audio story i listened to was from Chandhni Jayakanth, who recorded ambiance sounds from both Washington State University and New York City. I think the contrast of the two very different environments and the ambiance sounds recorded was most interesting. However, i do not think this depicted my idea of oral history because it combined contemporary sounds from two contrasting locations. I think it would have qualified as an oral history if she found sounds recorded from a different generation in either New York or at Washington State University and contrasted them with her contemporary recordings.