For this week's task, I started off by using a different route; instead of using any of the computers at school, I was able to access my friend's computer which is the ultimate dream computer! It is a 486, has a 28.8 modem, CD rom, and includes the LUXURY of having Netscape. It was more convient for me, because of the fact that I live in Aiea and didn't want to drive all the way down to the university. The one thing I noticed about his version of Netscape was that it was unusually slower than the ones on campus; sometimes too slow. I guess I was expecting it to be fast, being that it was a 486 with a 28.8 modem. The main thing is, I was able to get my work done! The only thing I couldn't do was to transfer my file to my CSS account.
I began this week's task with the usual route- typing in your address, landing on your home page, and clicking directly to the generation I student directory. Although I had browsed through there previously, I was surprised to find that the first link was a class picture that I hadn't seen previously. Out of curiosity, I clicked on to the picture link (also in Kevin Bogan's home page) and was able to see a nice picture of
the generation I class. Returning back to the name list, I skimmed through all the students' documents and found a lot of interesting things that had many relations to our class.
Many of the students basically talk about the trials and tribulations that they encountered as the first generation of psychology 409, this "new" course. Like me, it seems as if just about all of them were shaky, felt "lacunae", and intimidated in the beginning, but built up confidence and knowledge as the course progressed. Concerning emotions, almost every single student used the word frustration in the beginning weeks, yet that word began to disappear as the weeks progressed. Another word that could be found was confusion. Many generation I students talked about confusion on the internet, and how the air gradually got clearer as time went by.
A lot of students also give advice to future generations concerning this class.
They advise such things as to keep at it and never give up, ask for help if you need to, and not to fret over things that you can't do. Many also advise taking notes as new things are learned, and not limiting yourself to one aspect of the internet such as only using one engine, staying in the same area of search, and so forth. One student even advised to get take a break and eat ice cream when things get stressful. I think if I took this advice, I would weigh about 300 pounds by now!
Out of all the students, the most interesting lab report that I read has got to be the one done by Diane Beauchemin. Well written with a touch of humor, Diane takes the reader on a journey that explores all her emotions and discoveries while taking psychology 409. Like all the others, She talks about being frustrated in the beginning and feeling less incompetent as time went by. She also talks about using unix and lynx, and how she dealt with the frustrations she was experiencing. The best part is the fact that she also includes many helpful hints and tips that she discovered while dealing with the internet. I found a lot of good stuff here!
Basically, this week's task, was child's play. The subtasks were easy to accomplish, and didn't come across any fossilized errors that I know of consciously. Majority of the generation I students' documents were easy to read, and comprehend. Could it be because of the empathy I feel for them? Anyway, I must admit that by reading all the documents, I was able to get a lot of good tips and interesting links that many of the generation students have. That's the only repeated lapse I had, if you could call it that-- to get sidetracked and look into the interesting links that the students had.
Many of the generation I student's home pages were creative, and I was able to get a lot of ideas for my home page also. I couldn't find any pictures that I wanted to "steal" and put on my home page though.
As far as progression goes, I feel that this assignment was a positive experience in the fact that I was able to do it, and get good results from it. It's was also kind of interesting to be able to read documents that I have something in common with, and can understand what they were going through.
How difficult was this week's task? 1
How much negative emotions did it cost you, all in all? 1
How valuable for later use is this knowledge or skill going to be for you? 8
How likely is it that you'll be getting good at this week's task? 9
How satisfied are you with the computer and internet systems? 9
How hard did you try to get through this week's task? 10