Module 8

The Computer Education Era!!!

For the last 13 years, since I graduated high school, I have notice many trends in which computers have increasingly helped people better educate themselves. There are far too many examples to be fit into a two page essay, especially being that I am an I.T. student. I think a more appropriate question would be, “How doesn't my computer help in my education?” Since there are so many things I could write about, I will discuss what I feel to be the two biggest educational advantages that students of today have over there predecessors. The first one being the search-engine, the second being word-processing software.

Now is the time of the information era. People have so much power in the palms of their hands and most of them have yet to realize the magnitude of it. For example, in high school I had to do this huge research assignment to fulfill the needs of my senior English class. From grades 1-12 I have been taught how to use periodicals, the dewy-decimal system, and of course the infamous card catalog in which you would have to open drawers full of cards that simply referenced the books that you are seeking. The process of getting the info could take hours, especially if you had to eye scan an entire book to extract a small yet important piece of inforamtion. This type of efficiency is no longer the norm, and would not be accepted in today's world as it simply takes too long to compile a project in this manner. So forget everything that I've learned in high school! There is a simpler, quicker process to retrieve information. Of this course is the search engine.

Lets say I wanted to do a research project on the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Before this era, I would have to go to the library and do a bunch a research just find some info. Heck, I couldn't even tell you what date it happened on unless I put 10 -15 minutes into research. But thanks to Google I can simply type “when did the challenger explode?” into the URL bar (assuming I am using Google Chrome),and bam there it is, Jan 28^th 1986! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster)! I found the answer in only the amount of time it took me to type the question!!! That is powerful! And I was excited when the card catalogs when to computers! That is nothing in comparison of today. Of course none of this is possible without the internet, another obvious educational tool.

Second, I would have to say that the word processor is another important computer tool that makes typing projects faster, and easier then ever before. Even as I am now writing, I can say that I have already used the back-space, delete, and copy n' paste options numerous times. Had I been using a typewriter I can guarantee that this essay would have been typed numerous times over before getting the final draft to perfection. Even the slightest mistake while using a type writer will cause havoc and force you to either use white-out, or even worse, you might find yourself typing the whole page over again.

Having said all that, I do find one draw-back to word processing software. It enables us to become stupid spellers as it auto-corrects or checks all your spelling errors. I consider myself to be pretty intelligent, however I am awful at spelling, and the fact that everything I type gets corrected for me does not help my spelling skills. Of course in this day and age is it really important to be a good speller? Or use correct grammar for that matter? Seems that text-lingo is taking over. I also know that English is always evolving and changing. So is this text-lingo the new evolved English? I really hope not. A part of me wants to maintain the integrity of the English language; but at the same time, I am wondering if it really matters that much. We all understand the new text-lingo, and understanding is really the only part that matters. Either way, I am constantly finding myself typing text-lingo into my essays only to have them removed (thanks to word processing software) after I proof read.

I seriously contemplate the whole text-lingo vs English dilemma all the time. So I ask all that read this blog please respond with your thoughts. Do you see the same trend happening? I would love to get a census on it, and thanks to blogs, word processing software, and the internet and am able to do so!