Report
#4
MY
INVOLVEMENT WITH INTERNET
By
Darin K. Kawamoto
My Motivations:
The primary thing that has motivated me in getting through
Psychology 409 successfully, was the desire for an A
in the class. Dr. James presented himself as a
tough grader before midterms, which motivated me to
work hard in achieving my A. Even though Dr. James
did not refer to himself as a dictator, sometimes he
came across as a dictator. It seemed that Dr. James
wanted to tap into each students dark-side, through
criticisms, controversial philosophies, or
arguments. Dr. James also produced a competitive
environment for his class by criticizing individual
students on their work ethics and assignments. This
made me want to work harder, so I would not look
like a fool to my fellow peers. For instance, a
week before midterm grading, Dr. James verbally gave
us our midterm grades if he were to grade it at that
point in time. After giving each student their
grade in front of the whole class, he criticized
each student and their homepages. My developing
interest of the internet also played a major
motivational factor. At the beginning of the
semester, I had no idea or foundation of what the
internet was. I did not know what the Internet Cafe
was for or how to send a simple e-mail to my friend.
As I learned the basics of the internet, my
interest grew, and I wanted to acquire more
knowledge about the internet. The time I spent on
the computer during this semester, was more than the
total time I spent on the computer before the
semester. In other words, I spent more time on the
computer in a three month period, than in a
twenty-two year period.
My Conflicts:
The conflicts I experienced were many, and
sometimes I reflect back and wonder how I made it
through. At the beginning of the semester, I was
totally lost, and I literally felt bad. The fact that I was
enrolled in Psychology 409 and 459, made the whole
situation more stressful. I was intending to drop
either Psychology 409 or 459, but I decided to drop
another class after attending the first couple
days. This forced me to stick it out in Psychology
409 and 459, because I needed a full load to
graduate. I felt at ease at the beginning of the
semester, because a majority of the class was in the
same boat I was in. For me to successfully complete
these classes, I was in dire need of extra help.
Lori Morita volunteered to help me outside of class.
After three meetings, each lasting about three
hours, I was on my way and able to work
independently on my homepages. The primary conflict
I faced was not the state of cluelessness or the
state of feeling incompetent, but time. Homepages
are not something one can accomplish in a day, but
it takes a lot of time, and time was something I did
not have much of. In fact, homepages are never
completed, because homepages are always being
revised or added to. Psychology 409 and 459 are
both W/I classes, which required a lot of writing.
However, besides the reports I had to publish, I
also had to put together a homepage and its required
links, which took a lot of time. The publishing of
my reports took less time than the time it took to
put together a homepage. Conflicts involving the
computer was very prevalent. For instance, giving
the computer a command and the computer does not
perform, and having no idea why. I was frustrated when trying to log in
from home, because sometimes the UH pearl server was not in service. If
I couldn't log on, I was unable to do my assignments. I found that in
Netscape 2, I was unable to copy a document source that was too big. I
found that to be very frustrating, because I was forced to copy the whole
document piece by piece.
My Demands And Challenges:
I thought our workload and assignments before midterms were
demanding and challenging. However, the class
became less stressful after midterms. At the start
of the semester, I had no concept of the internet.
Besides publishing two reports, I had to put up my
own home page. It was like double the work of an
average three credit course. The two reports were
the least of my concern, because my home page took a
long time to put up. The week before midterm
grading, I spent about forty hours in the computer
lab. It was as if I had full-time job, besides my
other classes and my two part-time jobs. It was one
of my most stressful and demanding weeks of my
entire school life. What made it more difficult was
the constant change of instructions and requirements
dealing with our home pages. The internet is a
relatively new concept, and we were learning new
things everyday. Like any pioneer, I struggled
through the demands and challenges, but successful
made it through by working hard. Sometimes the
challenge was to figure out what's wrong when the
computer does not function as it suppose to.
Was It Worthwild And Valuable?
I do not regret taking Psychology 409 or 459 at all. I love both
of the classes, and would recommend it to anyone.
I would rate both classes as the most practical and
applicable classes on campus to the real world. A
lot of history, math, and other courses on campus
only teach me text-book knowledge that I
probably wouldn't use in my career. However,
Psychology 409 and 459 opened my eyes to a whole new world. Before this
semester, I was computer illiterate. However, now I am ahead of a lot of
my competition, due to the knowledge I gained from class. In classified
advertisements, I find more ads for people who are knowledgable of the
internet, because more and more businesses are putting up home pages for
marketing, passing information, etc. I find that the internet is
becoming a large part of society, because of all the internet cafes
around town, and more and more people are using e-mail as a means of
communicating. Businesses are always looking for computer literate
people, and I feel as if I just learned a second (computer) language.
This class was beneficial and worthwild, because I am able to teach my
friends some of the things I learned from class. This newfound knowledge
makes me feel good, because I am able to pass it on to my friends.
My On-line Experience:
I became very involved with the online experience. I spend a lot
more time on the computer. I believe I spent more
time on the computer this semester than I did before
the semester. I downloaded the PPP program onto my computer at home, so
I could have access to the internet from home. I enjoy looking for
advertisements from Office Max, Office Depot, and Computer City. When I
visit these stores, I spend a lot more time there and I also have some
idea of the items and products in the store. I love to download things
from ftp sites. Some of the programs I downloaded free were Netscape
Navigator 2.01 and Netscape Chat. I got my mom to bring home Microsoft
Office, so I could download it to my computer. I even keep my Program
Manager Box organized. My next two big investments would be a scanner
and a video editing program. I want to be able to edit videos on my
computer. I visited the Help Desk at Keller Hall so many times, that
they must be sick of seeing my face. My friends and I use the e-mail
function a lot, even though we see each other often. We even talk to
each other on the internet instead of picking up the phone. I believe
the internet will have a big impact on people and society, if it didn't
already. Hopefully the cameras that can be mounted onto computers for
visual capabilities become more proficient, then phones would become
non-existent, and all communication would be via computer. A lot of
businesses are becoming assessible through the internet. This opens up
jobs for people who know how to put up home pages. I don't think the
internet has hit its climax on people and society, because it is
relatively new. However, it will have a big impact soon, because of the
increase in internet cafes, people going online, number of home pages,
etc.
My Image Of The Internet:
I have a whole new idea of the internet now. To tell you the
truth, I did not know what the internet was before this semester. The
internet is huge, and though I know how it basically works, it would take
me an infinite number of years to completely understand it. I have
gained a lot of respect for the internet, because of its capabilities and
what it can do for me. I see the internet as televisions, radios,
newspapers, telephones, etc, all integrated into one system. It's
wonderful that I am able to access so much information in the comfort of
my own home. The first time I used the global chat function, I talked to
a girl who graduated from my highschool and she knew my brother. I also
talked to a guy who was rooming with one of my good friends from high
school, he also graduated from highschool with my best friend. These two
people were talking to me from the mainland. Even though the internet is
huge, it really is a small world.
INSTRUCTOR'S HOME PAGE: CLICK HERE
FOR Dr LEON JAMES' HOME PAGE
MY HOME PAGE: CLICK HERE FOR DARIN'S
HOMEPAGE
PLEASE LEAVE ME A
MESSAGE!
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