Donny Seymour

California, USA
Age: 06

Global Transport Job:
Transporter/Scooter Documentation


Murphy: Hi, Donny! I know you're really busy playing with your dog, so I'm really glad you could spend some time with
me and answer some questions I have! I've been hearing a lot about your project, Global Transport. Why don't we start
by you giving me some background about your project and your responsibilities?

Nick Hippe, Macromedia

Don: (Computer speaking:)Don is a 1st grader attending Berkeley Hall School in Los Angeles. He can see
and hear the interviewer on his big screen. His mom is explaining some of the big words to him. He talks to the
computer which translates his answers into text. My birthday is next week and I'm having a big party at Chucky Cheese.
I'm going to be six. I go to school at Berkeley Hall near my house. My teacher is really nice.

Oh, we have friends that we talk to on the big screen in our room. One boy, Derrel, lives in Japan. Derrel’s my friend.
He has a dog at his house. Our friends tell us about all the cool new cars and scooters they have over there. We can
see them when they go to their school in their transporters. Our friends are big kids. They don’t have to go to school
everyday. Sometimes they just stay home and talk to us on the screen. We count the different cars and scooters our
friends have. Derrel’s transporter is the fastest. He said I can drive it. I have a dog too. Teresa has 3 scooters and
2 transporters and a hydroplaner.


Murphy: A major project like this takes a considerable amount of time. I find it interesting that some of you only
meet at your Face2Face schools as little as one day per week. Talk to me about how you actually do the collaborating
and communicating.

Dr. Linda Polin, Pepperdine University

Don: Well, when we get to our room we turn on our screen and see if our friends are there. Then we
watch them. Sometimes we take the camera and we can talk to them outside and show them our scooters and transporters.
At my house I have a screen and I can talk to my friends too. I show them my turtle.


Murphy: Because this project is a real-world issue and you have the responsiblity of creating real-world solutions,
tell me how you see your project affecting the local community and even the global community.

Don: Because I can see my friends we can be friends. I can see their house. Some of our friends talk funny when you
don’t know them. Then you know them and they’re your friends. They show you cool stuff that we don’t have here. We’re
making a big transport road that we can all go on with our scooters and transports. We have to make sure that scooters
don’t smash into each other and make a big mess. Some transporters go really fast and you have to watch out. My dog
got hit by a transporter, but he’s ok.

 

Murphy: Wow, I'm glad your dog is okay. That's the great thing about transporters though. They're really strong, but
very flexible! Mine is great like that, too! So tell me, Donny; you've spent a lot of time on this project. Do you
notice anything different about yourself now?

Don: I didn’t have that many friends before. Now I have more friends that I can see and play with sometimes. They
said I can come to their house. My dog has to stay home.

Murphy: That's a bummer. But you could take a holodog with you, I'm sure. So Donny, if you could do something
differently or change something on your next project, what would it be?

Don: It would be good on our next work if we got even more friends. I let my dog see my friends at home on the screen.
He saw another dog on the screen once. They started barking. It was funny.

Murphy: What else would you like to share with the world about your project and the process by which it was
accomplished?

Don: Well, the fastest scooter is the Dyno 6000. But a transporter can go 5 times faster than a scooter. If I had a
transporter I would get the Areowing because it has a built in screen so you can see your friends when you’re in it.
With the transporter your dog can go but its really hard to fit your dog on a scooter even though the scooters are
good too. If you have a lot of people you should have the Maxiwing because then all your friends can go. If you have
to go over the water I like the hydroplaners because you can go over waves and you don’t get wet very much. Do you
have a dog at your house?

Murphy: No. But I have two cats.. does that count? The neighbors have a dog named Ginger. She's a puppy and would
probably like you!

 

Transcription of Dialogue between Interviewer: Amy Murphy and Student: Don Seymour. Dialogue via VoiceTrans.

emc2amy: Hi Don!
DSUS24: Hi!
emc2amy: I really enjoyed our interview appointment about your project...
emc2amy: Can I ask you another question?
DSUS24: I'm going to be six! Okay.
emc2amy: Wow!!! And you're going to have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's! That's so great!
DSUS24: I know.
emc2amy: Can you tell me about your "screens"?
emc2amy: I know you have one at school and at home... right? Tell me what it looks like..
DSUS24: Yeah, we have a really big one at school! They are really wide and take up the whole wall.
emc2amy: Wow!!! Do you know how to work one all by yourself?
DSUS24: We have one at home in the kids room.
emc2amy: We have some here at our studio, too!
DSUS24: You just push the big button and say hello
emc2amy: That's right! I bet you've been using it for a long time! Haven't you? What kinds of things do you use it for?
DSUS24: I like to play with my friends on it
emc2amy: That sounds like fun... I have one more question for you...
DSUS24: show 'em stuff I like and have made.
emc2amy: That sounds great!
DSUS24: I like to build stuff with superlegos.
emc2amy: Do you think you will get to use the transport road that you and your team have been designing?
DSUS24: It's pretty big. It might take them a long time to build it. Like a couple of months or something.
emc2amy: That IS a long time, isn't it. Well maybe you'll get lucky!
emc2amy: Won't it be fun to try Derrel's transporter?
DSUS24: I think we will be using it next year when I'm a 2nd grader.
DSUS24: Derrel has a really fast one he said I could drive.
emc2amy: That's a great prediction. Will you keep working on your project even after you're done with first grade?
DSUS24: In 2nd grade they do even bigger work.
emc2amy: Wow!
emc2amy: Thanks for answering some questions for me!
DSUS24: Do you have any pets?
emc2amy: Be sure to read about your project in our publication, okay?
emc2amy: Yes, I do. I have two cats.
DSUS24: Okay.
emc2amy: One is really mean and one is really nice.
DSUS24: I'd like to see the nice one.
emc2amy: I'll send you a holograph and you can play with him!
DSUS24: Cool!
emc2amy: Bye!
DSUS24: Bye!