At the end of any experience, I believe it is very beneficial for a person to reflect on their journey. This particular trek through technological intellectualism demanded a lot of diligence and sacrafice. However, along with the rigors of this class came informational enlightenment. There were specific lessons that I can apply to my everyday life, along with knowledge that is simply interesting to know.
One specific lesson that has helped me in my everyday life would be the classroom discussion and research on virus protection. I always operated under the assumption that good virus protection needed to cost money. It wasn't until last week's class that Dr. Sklar informed me of the opposite. From a personal standpoint I was able to help my parents, who bought a computer last week, realize that a free virus protection system would be just as proficient as an expensive one. Another concept that had an impact on my life was that of the alternate operating system. After playing around with the Linux operating system, I've come to use it periodically to surf the web. Just last weekend I used my pen drive to boot up Linux in order to utilize, what I deem as a quicker OS.
As far as knowledge for knowledge's sake is concerned, there have been several topics that have been of interest to me. One topic in particular was the component research project. As I was assigned the CPU, I was a little worried how things would work out. However, as my research progressed I found myself becoming more and more interested in the topic. A specific personal example of this would be how I learned the utmost importance of the microprocessor, the translator between all of the software and components of a PC. Another fascinating piece of information was the entire "Triumph of the Nerds" series. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, gaining a perspective of who the early players in the PC game were. I'm not sure where I'll use the background knowledge of the origins of the home computer, but it never hurts to learn something new.
Whether it's learning something I can immediately apply, or simply becoming better educated in a previously uncharted territory; this class was effective. I enjoyed the coursework, along with the company of my peers and professor. I am certainly better off for having taken this class.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
How Does This Apply To My World?
Over the past several weeks we have been learning many new "tricks of the trade" regarding the technological world. Some of the lessons have been interesting, and some have been challenging, but they have all been informative, at least for me. As this is an area that I'm not overly well-versed in, every lesson offers a chance for me to improve my technological intellect. The two major areas of application to my world would be a better understanding of computer history, and general background knowledge.
Having watched two episodes of the "Triumph of the Nerds" episodes, I feel as if I'm gaining a firm grasp on the journey that personal computing has taken. Before watching and commenting on this series, I had a few notions of how this industry began its boom, but I was far from correct. Whereas this doesn't have a direct connection to being a classroom teacher, I have been able to use it as a motivational tool. For example, in my Advanced Math class I was able to tell the tale of these young computer entrepreneurs with a sense of relevance. After all, at the this level of mathematics, logic and problem solving (essentially programming and code writing) dominate the curriculum. It was nice to be able to tell them that an appreciation for such ideologies has its rewards.
Along with gaining an understanding of computing history, I feel like this course has helped me gain a better conceptual basis for all of the little intricacies that make a computer run. Researching components, studying boot-up procedures, working with different operating systems, and actually handling the different innards of a computer has drastically increased my knowledge of personal computers. I am well aware of the fact that I nowhere near being knowledgeable enough to be a computer tech or even build my own computer, but my confidence is rising. For example, just last week I was able to help a student in an Introduction to Computer's class correctly identify various parts of a motherboard (CPU, RAM slots, graphics card, etc.).
As this class is still relatively in it's infancy, with several big projects remaining, I'm sure there will be even more for me to learn. I might not be able to pinpoint exactly when I'll be able to utilize all of this information, but having it in my intellectual arsenal isn't a bad thing.
Having watched two episodes of the "Triumph of the Nerds" episodes, I feel as if I'm gaining a firm grasp on the journey that personal computing has taken. Before watching and commenting on this series, I had a few notions of how this industry began its boom, but I was far from correct. Whereas this doesn't have a direct connection to being a classroom teacher, I have been able to use it as a motivational tool. For example, in my Advanced Math class I was able to tell the tale of these young computer entrepreneurs with a sense of relevance. After all, at the this level of mathematics, logic and problem solving (essentially programming and code writing) dominate the curriculum. It was nice to be able to tell them that an appreciation for such ideologies has its rewards.
Along with gaining an understanding of computing history, I feel like this course has helped me gain a better conceptual basis for all of the little intricacies that make a computer run. Researching components, studying boot-up procedures, working with different operating systems, and actually handling the different innards of a computer has drastically increased my knowledge of personal computers. I am well aware of the fact that I nowhere near being knowledgeable enough to be a computer tech or even build my own computer, but my confidence is rising. For example, just last week I was able to help a student in an Introduction to Computer's class correctly identify various parts of a motherboard (CPU, RAM slots, graphics card, etc.).
As this class is still relatively in it's infancy, with several big projects remaining, I'm sure there will be even more for me to learn. I might not be able to pinpoint exactly when I'll be able to utilize all of this information, but having it in my intellectual arsenal isn't a bad thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)