Well, well, well... Here I am, only a few short months since I winged my very first children vs technology draft. I’m using the term "winged" because that is exactly what I did. I was speaking from minimal experience, mixed with a high volume of personal belief, and a lot of mommy emotions. I wrote from my knowledge of being a mother, and as someone who has watched their child grow tremendously through learning new technologies.

So maybe I am not the most qualified person to give advice on where technology is heading, and how it’s going to affect our children- educationally. It’s very possible I am not qualified to be writing about technology, period. The funny thing about being qualified, is that it’s not always necessary if your heart is in it. I would take a passionate person, over a qualified person any day.

As Jim Collins said in, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the leap...and Others Don’t

“You can’t manufacture passion or “motivate” people to feel passionate. You can only discover what ignites your passion and the passions of those around you.”

To me this means, there are two different types people in the professional world. There are the ones that flaunt their degree around, like they are hot shit, but no amount of team building, or success will excite these people. They are there for the 9-5, and a pay cheque. Then there are the ones that speak up in the boardroom with excitement, the ones that sleep, breath, and eat their career. They have the fire burning inside them to be the greatest, and have the best time doing it. Now who would you choose?

As I saw with my Digital Kids post, a lot of moms surprisingly agreed with my views. I didn’t need to be an expert to get the basic idea across; that "hey, maybe this technology thing isn’t so bad after all." Sure a lot of them know that I do computer repairs, and that I’ve done a few computer courses. But It’s no secret that I’m no Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates.

Once I shared my ideas with my amazing support system, I thought to myself, "Who else can I share this with?" I got to work seeking out, and searching for someone who would be interested in taking my views, and sharing them.

Just recently I was able to announce the great news, that I came across an opportunity to have my piece published. I stepped far out of my comfort zone, and I submitted my Digital Kids piece to a publisher. It was not only accepted, but it was loved by editors, and readers alike.

I’ve decided to dig back into the ideas of my Digital Kids post, and do a bit of my own research. What is the value of anyone’s opinion if not having any sort of back-up? We are definitely living in a, ’you have to prove it world.’ There is never anything wrong with having a second opinion! Especially if it’s from someone who might just be slightly more qualified to make one.

Just the other day I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing a remarkable man, Christopher Salinger. He is a Virtual Architect for a multinational management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company. His company has been awarded no.1 as Fortune’s Most Admired Company in the IT service category for two consecutive years. That is no small feat considering the competition.

My thoughts going into this interview were, "If this man doesn’t know what he is talking about, what the hell am I doing here?"

My reason for contacting and setting up this interview was not for the purpose of "proving" that I am right, or that someone else is wrong. It was more for validating what I already felt. This also brings me to the point of, never be scared to reach out and ask for help. More often than not, you will be told yes! I didn’t know what to expect when I randomly asked for this interview. All I knew is that this man has a busy life, career, and his own schedule. Really people, you will never know, unless you ask. If you don’t ask, than you’ve already given up on yourself.

What I wanted to know, was

* How does one become a successful person in the IT field?

* How will my child fit into the technology world?

* What can I do, as a parent to help them along the way?

Of course I didn’t think of any of those questions until days later. Typical me to be half prepared, and running full steam ahead. Preparation has never been my strong suit!

So, without further hesitation on my behalf, here it is!

What did you want to be “when you grew up”?

Few people can answer this directly like: "I wanted to be the Dallas Cowboys quarterback and actually realized the dream." For sure I didn’t go through this ultimate question in a straight line. I wanted to be a professional athlete, hence the sport reference. Either as a hockey or soccer player, but lacking the skating ability for hockey and also possessing two left feet, needless to say, that dream didn’t go very far. I am decent in math and science, and have an active mind, making up for the lack of athletic prowess in the lower half. I simply grew into my current career, without a master plan.

What steps did you take to realize your dream?

First some background: I enjoyed math and science in high school and simply followed that path known as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). When the time came to select a program for post-secondary, there were two candidates: engineering and computer science. I picked engineering because it provided the most complete education. Engineering covers both hardware and software, whereas computer science is strictly software without the engineering discipline.

Now answering the question directly, I wouldn’t say what I am doing right now is a dream gig. Short of playing sports professionally, perhaps running a sport franchise would be the second dream job, but that didn’t happen either.

The point is there isn’t a formula nor definitive steps to achieve dreams. It is more like following the passion, doing interesting things, studying hard, and praying that I could make a living, somehow and somewhat, when I grew up.

What did you excel in throughout middle/high school?

STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

What is your educational back ground?

I have a PhD in Computer Systems Engineering. I did it not because I liked school but rather I wasn’t ready to enter the workforce. Of course this is only my formal education, which is the least important. My more important education is reading, mainly nonfiction, playing team sports, and playing video games.

What do you think it means to work in the IT industry?

The IT industry is vast, and has many roles ranging from project management (with minimum technical knowledge) to programmers. In general most people simply fall into it accidentally and are just going through the motion. For simplicity discussion, let’s say that population is 80%. For this first group, IT means nothing to them. The next group is 20%, but within this 20%, there is another sub-group of 20% or 4% of the whole. This 4% group consists of mainly innovative programmers, working for leaders such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Oracle, just to name a few. IT means innovation and the ability to change the world. The third and last group of 16% don’t invent, but instead, build applications or integrate systems. I am in the 16% group.

Do you feel that you have a responsibility to be an inspiration to younger generations?

Absolutely, it is everyone’s responsibility to inspire the next generations. I do push my company and clients to hire co-op students, though I have done nothing comparing to folks creating open source hardware and software.

What are your thoughts on children and technology?

We should have programming curriculums from grade one onwards. Learning to programming and more advanced topics such as data structures and algorithms will enable kids to appreciate how the world works around them.

What do you think when you hear “Children do not belong inside using technology”?

It depends. This is an accurate statement for kids who are in front of the screens from sunrise to sunset. But if this statement is absolute and saying children shouldn’t be using technology, then I completely disagree. My final and cop-out answer is: moderation.

Do you think computer science and programming belong in the elementary school level curriculum?

Sure arts and humanity courses such as geography and history are important subjects, the most important subject being English. No matter how brilliant we are, the idea is almost worthless if we cannot communicate properly and accurately. The second most important is STEM as the world is invented and ran by engineers. Being able to make a living is important if not the most important skill, and it is our job to provide that skills to all our children.

There is currently a movement to remove cursive style writing from school, what are your thoughts on this being replaced with typing classes?

I don’t own a pen. And the next generation is not going to own keyboards. Both hand writing and typing will be obsolete, and since time is limited, let’s teach our children quantum physics instead and inspire them to be “Meet The Robinsons” kids.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Do you plan on taking any further training, or courses?

My goal is to work for a world-changing or dominating company, or possibly going to the other extreme and work for myself as self-employed. I want freedom to apply my knowledge and experiences and make decisions with many obstacles. I don’t really believe in formal education once we obtain at least a bachelor degree, and believe in self-teaching, which coincidentally online learning is becoming popular. Also, I always learn what is interesting without having any purpose except for the fun of it.

How do people stay ahead of the curve in such a last paced profession?

Students – Contribute to the open source community

Workers – Take uncomfortable roles at work

Founders - Never stop inventing

If you could give one solid piece of advice to parents, pertaining to the future job market, and success of their children’s future, what would that be?

Take a bachelor degree in engineering, preferably co-op, get a full-time job after graduation, then take a MBA part-time at the company’s expenses, time, and monetary resources. This is best possible combination: relevant education in both engineering and business, combining with solid work experience and the ability to balance family, work and school (while studying for the MBA) at the same time. Your child will go far and possibly rule planet earth or at least run world dominating company.

Is there anything else you would like to add, perhaps your favorite quote?

Master the fundamentals – Larry Bird

Stay hungry - Steve Jobs

Well that was it! I enjoyed writing this post more than any previous. I got to enjoy a little taste of journalism, and I feel even more intrigued to get out, and share my thoughts and views. Hopefully I can line up another interview or two. I have to admit that after this interview, I had even more questions that I would love to have answered.

I hope that you all enjoyed this post! Please remember to be kind to your neighborhood geek, you’ll never know when you may end up working for him!

Stay hungry my friends.

Jessica Heart