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.
Jared, it's funny how we can learn so much from a movie. I too found the Triumph of the Nerds segments to be very interesting and appealing. I've even thought about showing it to my students, to help them get a better insight on exactly what it is they're dealing with on a daily basis. Dealing with technology on a daily basis really does make life easier, but understanding where it comes from and how it works makes it that more exciting!
ReplyDeleteI agree Jared, we take computers for granted, although there is a lot of history behind the technologies we use every day. I think the same could be said about many of the items we use, and in each case having a deeper understanding of the things we take for granted will help us understand the world better. The real benefit of this class is that then we can take this knowledge and share it with others.
ReplyDelete