Report 1

MY TRAVELS THROUGH G2 & G1

Instructor's Home Page

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Some folks I visited were:

  1. Ragna Borries
  2. Nitsa McCarthy
  3. Christina Kealoha
  4. Noel Nedli
  5. Lori N. Morita
  6. Kevin Bogan

Experiences:

Apprehensive...Reading the previous generations' reports helped me to feel better about the class in general. I was growing very apprehensive at what this class might do to my GPA. As I read the previous generations'reports, however, I began to feel there was hope for me. After all, those people sounded as lost and confused as I am. Take Nitsa for example, in her first paper's first paragraph, she talks about all the negative emotion involved. Ragna's first paper also speaks of her desperation to figure out everything at once. I identify with that and even worse, feel sometimes--am drowning in so much information. Has anyone ever been reported missing after entering the internet, I wonder. I might be the first such case. Ragna also said something which addressed me directly. She spoke of a need to restructure her thinking patterns to be able to communicate within the network. I have the tendency to want to know the why of everything immediately. I am finding out that cyberspace is too vast and complicated to have it figured out in a week, so I'll give it more time. As Professor James says, we will probably never have it completely figured out, so just learn as much as possible, and practice, practice, practice.

Practice...The problem with practicing is that the labs and I don't have a matching schedule. I have a computer at home, but there's no one to help when I get stuck. It will be better when I have a little more experience, but as Nitsa says in her report, it is extremely frustrating not to be able to use a computer anywhere on campus when I have the time. Believe me I have tried. I have been putting in more than ten hours this week trying to figure the system out, but of these hours a great many of them are spent just trying to connect, or solve problems with the connection.

Confused, disoriented and helpless I wander the hallways at UH like a lost soul.

DOOMED!

I see myself haunting the hallways outside the labs after I die, trying to get in. One thing which makes me hopeful is that others have gone through this before me, and have not only managed to remained sane, but have further managed to become, if not experts, at least proficient enough to teach others. (I saw Nitsa at the lab helping other students) I must say Kevin Bogan's Information documents are life-savers. Thank you so much Kevin for all your help!!

Comments:

Appearance

Kevin: colorful, professional looking, report pretty lengthy in standard format.
Nitsa: nice, different, formal, with Hebrew symbols. The report is well presented with bold headings and colored links.
Noel: nice, colorful appearance with many links. Professor James' photograph is not very kind, but quite funny. The report is standard paragraphs and short.
Christina: Nice colors, pictures and the icons were cute. Disney characters obviously her favorites. Report is standard with the bold headings.
Ragna: Nice home page not too elaborate. The report pretty standard format.
Lorie: Nice home page with food picture. Set up so that it is not as visually pleasing as others. Possibly because she has no icons.

Tone

Kevin's tone is casually narrative and tutorial.
Nitsa's is serious--anxious and frustrated--but hopeful and fascinated.
Ragna's is serious but with a sense of humor.
Noel barely says anything at all in this report, and is mostly--blah--bored?
Christina's is also short, but came across determined.
Lori, on the other hand, had a lot to say and said it with humor. Light and open I would call it.

Mood

Kevin sounded in a big brother inquisitive mood.
Nitsa's mood was one of persistence. She would keep trying.
Ragna's mood, while feeling anxious, was one of determination. She intended to do it no matter what.
Noel was fluctuating between bored and upbeat. (After finding the Travel Guide).
Christina sounded apprehensive, but willing to try.
Lori sounded a little intimidated, but taking it in stride while keeping it funny and light.

Style

Kevin's style is tutorial, and very informative. Nitsa's is a business-like systematic, structured narrative with a purpose. Ragna's is similar to Nitsa's in that it is down to business and straight forward. Christina and Noel were short and to the point. Lori's was the most entertaining to read because of her comedic approach.

Summary:

If I were to put these report's content into one phrase, it would be: The frustrations, fears, trials and tribulations of new internet users, and how they cope.
Most of these students discuss their difficulties with the computer communications systems which we are learning in PSY 459. It is a discussion which sometimes ends happily, and other times has no resolution, just a resolve to overcome them. One thing these papers have in common is the apparent determination of the students to conquer their ignorance. Some take it in stride and a sense of humor, others take a more serious approach.

The problems encountered by myself are mostly a function of my expectations. As with many problems I have encountered throughout life, they are due to my--most of the time--too high expectations. I had some expectations for this class as well, expectations which were destroyed, although there are some still remaining. For one, I expected the class to be structured as follows: there would be a lecture on the computer end of it in which the computer systems we are using would be explained and how to function in them. There would later be a lab in which we would be instructed to do exercises to gain hands-on knowledge and experience. As the class progressed, it would naturally shift more towards the actual individual work within the computer systems. As I have come to find out, the class is structured quite differently. In essence, the computer systems are a kind of sink or swim activity. We go in and find out on our own how things work. The lecture is mostly regarding driving than computer.

The two generations differ mostly in that generation two had the ability to refer to generation one, while generation one was a stand alone. The students of generation two and three can benefit other generations, especially papers like Kevin's. I am not sure which is better, though, to have had him there to help like generation one or to be able to pull up his papers to get information.This difference seems to have helped generation two tremendously.

My Contribution:

How I will contribute is a little difficult to foresee right now. Going by the difficulties I am encountering, I am not sure. I have this questioning mind, however, and I am not afraid to ask questions of people. I may have already contributed some in this department. Although I don't like to make a nuisance of myself, I do tend to ask questions when things are not clear to me. There is also,I hate to admit, the smallest bit of obstinacy in me, however. I will sometimes focus my mind in a certain direction and it is difficult getting it to go otherwise, some people say. (My husband for one)I am a very hard worker and extremely curious and anxious to learn new things, so if there is anything that needs to be explored, I will probably lead the way. I hope to be of great contribution to the generation and am willing to work hard at it.

Wish me luck!

Well, here I am weeks into the course, and still feeling pretty lost. Went to see Dr. James today to ask if I might be in the wrong class. It seemed to me I don't know enough about computers, the internet or anything connected with it to be in this class. Dr. James said I wasn't in the wrong class, that I just had to stick with it. My problem is that I am so completely ignorant of all that he is talking about, it sometimes sounds like a foreign language. I will stick with it, however. (at least for a while)

I am finding out new things all the time. For example, I finally feel I have figured out what the difference between the uhnix and the css accounts are. Don't ask me to explain it, however. I think I know, but explaining it is another matter. I also have been working with pine (which was just as much of a mystery to me as the rest of the computer jargon) and I find that although I feel it is temperamental or has some sort of mood disorder, I can actually get information from it and have even managed to use it to send mail as well as to export files. Wow! Talk about advancing!

Back to telling you my innermost secrets...There is so much to discover and learn that it is mind-boggling! There is not enough time to learn all of it during one life-time! Especiallymy life-time. I am learning, though. This week I finally learned how to copy-paste. (Dr. James' favorite words in the world) It may sound like an insignificant achievement to you, but it is more like a milestone for me. What were Armstrong's words "one small step..." It is certainly a great tool once you have mastered its use. Don't get me wrong, I haven't quite mastered it yet, but I'm getting pretty good at it. I have also found out I can actually do my file at home in notepad and `upload' (I hope this is the correct term) it at the clic lab later. There must be a way I can do all this at home, however. I'm still working on that, though.

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