The computer - to some, frightening and frustrating. To others, a useful source of obtaining valuable information at the touch of a button. It would be adequate to say that the computer has replaced many information sources that are in book form. Such example would be the encyclopedia, dictionary, and possibly even the whole library. A whole years edition of an encyclopedia series could be stored on a single disk compared to 10-12 cumbersome books. The computer is undoubtedly the wave of the future.
Being severely computer illiterate , I suddenly found myself immersed in the world of computers, being that this class assesses behaviors dealing with computers. Previously, computers to me were just a tool for writing and saving, and storing term papers. Suddenly, it became an important source of information that spans the continental U.S. and around the world. With this sudden plunge in computers, I couldn't help but feel "lacunae" and intimidated about this situation, given the unfamiliarity. What gave me confidence in this was the fact that whatever happened, nothing would ever be my fault.
After a lengthy shutdown period because of a false fire alarm, Sinclair library was finally opened and I headed straight to the clic lab. I was assigned computer number one, but it freezing up on me. So I switched to computer number thirteen where I was finally set. Right about this point, the intimidation started to set in. I was about to embark on a highway that I have never been on before.
As the Netscape homepage appeared, my curiosity led me to explore the title "University of Hawaii webserver." Wow! I Discovered another way to find out everything I ever wanted to know about the University of Hawaii. Directories, schedules, addresses, academic information, everything that dealt with the University could be found there.
What first caught my eye was the heading "fun stuff." I like "fun stuff", so I decided to see what it was about. When I got in, I found all sorts of unusual things- who was marrying who, personal home pages, etc.. Just out curiosity, I clicked on to a page called the Sakihara-Lee wedding. On the page was a elaborate picture of the bride and groom. I was shocked to see that such things could be done on the computer! A couple more spaces down showed an interesting array of photographs from what looked like their wedding.
As I headed back on the highway and got back to the main menu, it occurred to me that pressing the stop button cancels the journey to a specific address. Back gets you back to the previous page that you were on, regardless of where you are presently. The feeling of "lacunae" was slowly disappearing; I was becoming more familiar with Netscape.
Back at the UH main menu, I decided to check out the University of Hawaii home personal pages. The first section lists the names of staff, then student names. As my curiosity grew, I decided to peek into one of the home pages. I couldn't help but feel like I was invading someone's personal belongings, yet I went on anyway. I decided to look into Liza Miyamoto's home page. It showed what looked like a picture of her cat, then her. I was amazed at the capabilities that we have as students! I would never have known that such a resource is available to students. Liza stated in her personal page that if we weren't one of her friends, we'd find it boring. With this, I went back to the name list and was surprised to find one of my friend's name on the list. I checked his homepage out and wrote a message at the end of his page. I was having fun!
As I got back to the Netscape homepage, I decided to look into the weather information and surf conditions, still in amazement of what I was discovering was here this whole time, yet had no clue that this directory was here all along. I didn't know what I was missing out on until now.
I got a little more gutsy, and decided to check out the internet search command. I discovered a vast array of options and subjects that I could research by using netsearch. It 's amazing how the simple typing in of a subject into the netsearch could link you to references that you would never know were there. For the sake of experimenting, I typed in "automobiles" and was surprised to find many pages dealing with automobiles.
Once I somewhat got the hang of the controls on Netscape, I felt as if I was giving meaning to the term "surfing the net." I could understand the basic commands on the top of the screen- back equals previous page, home equals the UH home page. The only fossilized errors I had was to keep going to home everytime I wanted a new search. I could have just used back instead. I got over this by just reminding myself to do the right thing and make life easier for myself by using the back button. I also had somewhat of a "primitive" lapse, where I would do things the hard way instead of using the simple Netscape commands. I must have thought that I was still on my commodore 64 or something like that.
Amazement would be the word to describe my emotion. I still can't believe that at the touch of a button and with the correct commands, so much information could be found. As far as my progression and development goes, I feel that I have made a lot of forward progression during this session into the world of Netscape. I have come from "computer illiterate to "semi-knowledgeable user" in one session.
How difficult was this week's task? 3
How much negative emotions did it cost you, all in all? 4
How valuable for later use is this knowledge or skill going to be for you? 10
How likely is it that you'll be getting good at this week's tasks? 8
How satisfied are you with the computer and internet systems? 8
How hard did you try to get through this week's tasks? 8