* I first learned to use computers when I was around eight years old. My next door neighbor, whose father worked with what were then termed "ibm-compatible computers," had a computer, and I went over there on a regular basis to play computer games with him.
* I had next to no experience with the internet until I returned from my mission in 2000. Then my sisters and my wife helped me get set up with an email account. I got a lot of practice with that email account because my wife (not even my girlfriend then) moved to Florida for the summer, so we emailed each other every couple days.
* I didn't sign up with any social networking sites until a couple of years ago when I signed up on MySpace. I let that one go after a few months and just signed up on Facebook at the beginning of last Summer.
* Online support, I imagine, could be a great help in a class like this. You can find a how to or a blog on just about everything imaginable on the internet. You can also frequently find posts by people who have gone through exactly what you have gone through. One disadvantage is that most of the stuff found online does not have to meet any special requirements to be posted there. It is not peer reviewed, so the accuracy of it may be called into question. One advantage is that it is easy to find new information online. Another advantage has to do with the disadvantage--since anyone can post online, it is easier to find something written from a perspective with which you can easily relate.
To limit the disadvantages, it is best to verify information found online with published or reputable online sources.
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Wow. Eight? Man, I feel even more resistant to technology. Computers did not enter my realm until my twenties! My brother always played (and still does) tons of video games, but we did not have any of it at our house. I, too came late to the social networking party...It's useful, but often very silly and narcissistic. I've wrestled with the notion that, maybe it's not such a good idea to reconnect with people you have out-grown; and come to the conclusion, that human curiosity far outweighs what constitutes a good idea.
ReplyDeletejamie, i hear ya! =)
ReplyDeleteronnie, very interesting post about your early contact with computers and the internet. yes, a lot of information can be accessed on your fingertips in this digital age, although there are also some credible e-sources that researchers just have to learn to sift through. and yes, there are peer-reviewed online journals as well as most print academic journals try to maintain an online presence for some reason or other nowadays; some of these articles are from Computers and Composition Online (i served as peer-reviewer for one of its sections a couple years ago), Journal of Online Learning and Technology and Journal of Literacy and Technology (a couple of my articles are currently under peer-review, one of which is with its forthcoming ish). these must be examples of what you meant in your last claim that verifying the validity of the info is a must.