Entering Room 2201 of Pike Hall for my Introduction to Educational Technology 3100 summer course on the beautiful University of Minnesota campus, I don’t know what to expect. A wave of terror sweeps over me as I gaze upon a sea of young computer savvy faces already fiddling with their AppleIIGs in front of them. Some are checking their email; others are surfing the internet before the professor arrives. How is a 43-year-old woman going to survive in this alien world? I grab the one remaining seat in the front row .
The professor arrives and speaks like an enemy race of a Star Trek universe. I tune out as words float out of his mouth into my ear. “RAM, ROM, clipart, source code, thumbnail, toolbar, title bar, snippet, snapshot.” ARGH! The Borgs have landed and are taking over the planet Earth.
Relax. Breathe. It’s a drawing program for goodness sake. I did this in kindergarten with finger paints and a pair of scissors. Cut and paste. Nothing more… only this is ClarisWorks, a simple drawing program for teachers to use in their classrooms. I fumble with my mouse and draw a house and grass. Delete. Erase. Redo. Undo. My lines are crooked; my circle sun is a yellow eye with spiky eyelashes. ClarisWorks does not work for me.
“Time for Show and Tell,” my Borg instructor says. The projector switch clicks on. I am exposed like the wires that connect his projector to MY computer. My failed art jumps on the screen for all to see and chuckle at. It’s okay though because I am here to learn this new way of teaching and reaching my students. ClarisWorks will be my friend and I will soon learn to communicate with the Borgs.
Haha, I enjoyed reading this. I absolutely enjoy your drawing, cute T-Rex. You'll get better at Claris, bet you weren't expecting your professor to post up your picture.
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