going forth and in the mud....

This computer literacy class has been a wonderful and empowering experience!  I was so tentative about technology when I started...I would only use the basics and not venture beyond that into uncharted territory for fear of sailing off the edge of the earth or some other disastrous unforeseen consequence of pushing the wrong button and vaporizing all the documents and pictures that I had saved.  I have learned that my fears were as unfounded as the fear of a flat world. Now I am unafraid to search for something on the Internet.  I even feel ready to go forth and learn more!  I would highly recommend this class to people with all levels of comfort with the computer!

I don't have any "muddy points"  concerning the material we covered in class, however I am still in the dark about how to do something like "system restore" and external back-up of all my documents.  Also, I have a lack of knowledge about the proper way to set up folders and store documents.  I expect it to be something like the manila folder organization of my file cabinets, but I would enjoy knowing if there is some kind of best practice system to follow.

Pride of Accomplishment....

There are two top things I am most proud of accomplishing in my Computer Literacy class.  Number one is developing a sense of confidence about using the computer....like riding a bicycle, I may not be popping wheelies yet, but I am speeding along and feeling the wind in my hair!!  Before this class, I was afraid to attempt new things for fear of --of, I don't know---of exploding my computer, losing all my information, having the typing evaporate, whatever worst nightmare you might imagine.  Now, attempting something new on the computer is fun, interesting and fairly stress free, not stress free mind you, but the candy bar numbers are definitely down!

The second thing I'm most proud of accomplishing in LAC172A is working with photos to make a story!  I have enjoyed making photo albums (the old fashioned way) for years, and attempt to make them like a storybook, so that anyone who picked one up to look at the pictures could read the story behind the pictures. I have learned that it is possible to do this on the computer!  I still have pictures on camera chips from a trip to Italy three years ago!  Now I finally have the courage to download them, and the knowledge of how to play with them and have some fun.  Ciao!

Week Eight of Computer Literacy Class

The outcome statement for this course is the subject of this week's post.  I don't think I would add or remove anything from the way it is currently written.  It is a good description of the things I learned in LAC172A and of  my overall experience in this class. 

Computer Literacy is so much more than just knowing how to format a document, create a spreadsheet or present information in a power-point!  My eyes were opened to the vastness of the information, both good and bad, on the Internet.  I believe we need to be our own sensors and be aware of the tricks and pitfalls as well as the benefits of having access to this huge cache of information.  Electronic technology is a tool, and like any tool, if it is used without proper instruction, safety precautions and protective gear it can cause injury. 

Electronic technology is a rapidly advancing industry with constant changes in the available equipment and technological possibilities.  The electrical industry, also a rapidly progressive industry due to advances in equipment, requires electricians to take several hours of continuing education every few years to stay up to date on code changes and maintain their licenses.  Users of electronic technology would do well to take a cue from this trade and maintain their efficiency and competency with some hours of continuing education as well.  New software and  improved programs can improve efficiency, open new creative possibilities and keep us up to date in "an ever-changing technological context."  Applied technology seems to be here to stay, and to "identify and appropriately utilize" is to enjoy the benefits of the tool while wearing the appropriate safety gear.

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Technology and the human connection

I think our dependence on technology has improved our world.  Just yesterday my granddaughter was admitted to hospital with severe pain in her back and abdomen.  At first it was suspected to be gall stones or appendicitis, but with the wonderful technology of a cat scan, they were able to determine it was blisters in her intestines caused by a virus. Also, computers guided the doctors several years ago to correct a heart problem for my husband in a procedure called catheter ablation.  Computers are present in many aspects of our life.  For many years I did the billing at my business by hand.  Once the new owners took over, the first thing they did was install a computer system for billing.  I noticed right away that the customers, the very same customers to whom I had always sent hand written invoices, responded with payment in a more timely manner to the computer generated invoices.  Did they seem to have more authority and importance than the hand written ones?  Perhaps it is an unconscious feeling that once something is entered into a computer, it is the same as carved into stone.

Because of technology I am able to maintain contact with my friends and family in a more convenient way than by writing letters and sending them by "snail mail."  However, I do try to keep in mind how much I enjoy receiving a hand written note, so I still write a few a year.  I think that helps to maintain the "human connection" that we worry about loosing with too much dependence on technology.  ~Nadine

Technology and learning

My favorite classroom experience is still face to face, but I am beginning to develop an appreciation for the hybrid classes.  In the classroom, the dynamic experience with the instructor and the other students makes for a more interesting learning experience because I am able to listen to the other student's point of view and thoughts and questions about the subject we are studying.  However, the hybrid classes seem to work well when we have met face to face and then continue the conversation and exploration of material on line. 

Some of my instructors have used technology in the classroom, and oftena lot of time was used trying to get the technology to function correctly.  I am not sure if it was a problem with the equipment or the user, but the waste of time disappointed me.  I would suggest that the instructors practice with the technology independently before they use it in the classroom, so everything works smoothly.

Creativity and education

      As a returning college student, I discovered that somewhere along the path of my life, I had misplaced the confidence I had as a young student about school.  I needed to rediscover the faith and believe, truly believe, that if I applied time and effort to my studies, I could indeed still learn new things.  Sir Ken Robinson comments in a video clip, "In education, creativity is as important now as literacy and numeracy."  He goes on to say that "everyone has immense creative capacity" evident especially in young children who still have a great "confidence in their perceptions."  I have discovered that today, as an adult with multiple years of experience in my wake, I am still most successful in school when I am in touch with my inner child.  When I hold an attitude of excitement and  impatient anticipation about learning something new, I cast away the suspicious and cynical voices that can sometimes greet the innovations in knowledge and technology.  When I trust that my perceptions are valid and are a product of my entire life experience, my authentic creativity has room to be expressed.

Literacy and the computer machine...

So...Just this week I signed up for Face Book and reconnected with some of my old school chums.  It was the biggest triumph so far of this 'computer literacy' class I'm taking at school.  Along with learning that I have been left out of the information loop of friends and family, I realized that the computer is just a machine.  And, I am good with machines.  When I know how they are supposed to work, I can use them and I can fix them.  My expectation is that as I learn more about how computers work, I will soon become much more time efficient with my school projects and essays.  My biggest challenge remains understanding how to fix a problem when one occurs.  When there is a problem now, I push the panic button and speed dial my daughter's phone.

Technology....

And so what happened that day, that infamous day when gleaming technology blinded eyes with its brilliance, you ask?  Well, it happened something like this...

I left the office for a lunch break, so what I am about to tell you was reconstructed from eye witness accounts. All that I know for sure is that when I returned from lunch, there was paper scattered into every corner and upon every surface in the office, the copy machine was out of paper and out of ink.  The fax machine was blinking and the telephone was ringing. 

It seems that one of our electricians, in fact, our top electrician, our guru, our go-to-guy for all things electrical had come into the office to fax a wiring diagram to a local customer. There he confronted the gleaming machine of wonder, just recently programed by the tech-savvy teenager.  The machine was ready to earn its purchase price by its efficiency. 

Well, as the story goes, the diagram was placed on the machine and all was in readiness for one copy.  As his finger hoovered over the 'go' button, the telephone rang, the doorbell buzzed, and in a flash, the finger had come down on the button.  There was no turning back, the rocket had been launched, the diagram was on its way to being copied and becoming two perfect renditions of wiring diagram perfection  -- with one small problem.  The electrician's big finger had hit the 'go' button just slightly off center and instead of making one small copy, the machine, thinking this was its one great chance to really impress its new owners, launched 'GO' and a copy of this wiring diagram was sent to every vendor with a fax number. Every vendor on the list that our tech-savvy teenager had just entered into memory.  And then, with great flourish, the gleaming machine, the state-of-the-art-all-in-one-hulk-of-a-honey-copy-fax-and (well, never mind) machine dutifully made a copy of every transaction.

It was a couple of weeks, before vendors stopped calling to ask for an explanation of the drawing.  It has been some years now, and still, occasionally, someone close to the situation will recall the incident and muse, "I wonder why he didn't just pull the plug?"  I wonder....

Technology meets tradition.

     The day we got the new fax machine was an exciting day!  The old copy machine had finally expired and we replaced the smelly old dinosaur with a gleaming silver copy/fax machine combo.  Bruce, the high school student who helped us out part time after school, programmed in the phone numbers of all the suppliers and vendors on our phone list.  Now, instead of calling on the telephone to order supplies for our electrical contracting and hardware business, or mailing a written order with a stamp, we could fax an order.  Everything had always been hand written, and that tradition would continue in the family owned business until the next generation of owners took over, but the day that state-of-the-art-copy-fax-with-phone-feature-wonder-machine arrived was a big day indeed.  It was the beginning of a technological invasion that would challenge hard held traditions, amaze with its efficiency and frustrate with its quirks. I remember one day.......one day the clash between technology and tradition was an incident heard 'round-the-world -- or at least in every corner of the world programmed into the *#%#* wonder machine...