Core I
On May 12, 1941 the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computing machine, the Zuse Z3, was unveiled in Berlin, Germany (Wikipedia). This marked a great achievement in technology as it was yesterday. Today, the world knows a plethora of different technologies such as the Internet, cell phones, televisions, artificial intelligence, etc. But the computer was the first, and arguably the central catalyst to the development of what is known as digital literacy. Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology (Wikipedia). Being able to use a computer is quintessential to being digitally literate. For me, this has been true for the majority of my life. The computer has done many things for me. It has helped shape who I am today as a smart, curious college student with a slight addiction to the computer. It has improved my digital literacy with other technologies such as cell phones and the Internet. And it will continue to be an important aspect of my future life in the science field when I’m using advanced technologies such as centrifuges.
I first learned to use a computer when I was around the age of 6 years old. I learned to use the computer the same way Danielle DeVoss did in the article The Future of Literacy. She learned to use the computer by looking over her brother’s shoulder and then quickly jumping onto it when he was gone. I learned to use the computer in a similar manner. The way I learned to use a computer was by watching my brother play video games on our Apple Macintosh. I would watch him move the mouse and type in commands on the keyboard and I would mimic what he did. When I learned how to play games on the computer, the computer became one of my primary forms of entertainment. From then on the computer became a basic element in my life. I can’t remember a time where my house had less than two computers. Being exposed to computers for such a long time has developed my familiarity and ease at which I use computers. It has also developed into something that is central to my life.
To say that I need a computer would be an understatement. One would instead most likely say that I am dependent on the computer. I cannot even think of not having access to a computer. The computer has become more than a machine to me, it has become part of my life. One could even say that I am addicted to the computer. I use it for everything. I use the computer to play video games, do homework assignments, socialize with friends, and many other things in between. Although I do not like to admit it, this is a very bad addiction to have. Just like drugs and alcohol, being addicted to the computer can destroy your social life, mess with your sleeping and eating habits, and damage your health and general well being.
One example of how much time I spend at the computer would be when I spent almost 10 hours on the computer doing homework, then playing Virtua Tennis 2009, and then going on my Facebook to chat with friends. That is why nowadays I try not to go on the computer unless I have a school assignment to complete. But even though the computer is my bad habit, it has also helped shape who I am today.
The computer is a wonderful entity. You have access to so many things such as the Internet, games, social network sites, music, etc. This contact with so many different features has contributed to many distinctive aspects of me. I am a very curious person and ask a lot of questions. Having a computer has shaped me into an even more inquisitive person by allowing me to go on the Internet and have all my questions answered. Because out of all these answered questions just spawns more and more questions. These endless sessions of Q&A also contribute to my mental power and help expand my intelligence. The computer has also helped me become a better tennis player. It allows me to go online and look up videos of how to properly hit certain strokes.
Thus it has let me grow physically and make me a healthier person. The computer has also helped me become more versed in other forms of technology.
In this technological world we live in, one needs a plethora of skills in order to compete in today’s market. Reflecting on my exposure to the computer for so long, I found that being well versed in using a computer has contributed to me being able to use other technologies such as cell phones, calculators, and navigating the Internet. This has also contributed to me being able to use more complicated programs such as playing computer games, Webcourses, Apple products, movie editing, and Microsoft Office. Despite being able to use all of these modern programs and technologies, there are still other products that just having a computer have not been able to help me operate.
Although I have had a computer most of my life, there is still computer knowledge with which I am not very familiar with and would like to learn more about. These include things such as webpage design, how to use a Blackberry, how to use the new iPad, movie making, and blogging. For all my life, the operating I have used the most has been the Mac operating system. Ever since I was old enough to even use a computer, an Apple Macintosh was always in front of me. I have learned how to use Windows operating quite effectively, but there are other operating systems that I feel would greatly heighten my technological knowledge such as Windows Vista, the new Windows 7, and even the seemingly complicated Linux. By adding these technologies to my repertoire, not only will I be more technologically sound, but maybe I will have to use some of these technologies in my future in the science world.
As Charles F. Kettering puts it, “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” In regards to technology in my future, I feel that I should be familiar with as much technology as possible because it is going to be there and ever growing in my future. There’s no denying it, unless there is a massive apocalypse in 2012, technology will continue to advance forever and after. That being said, I haven’t a clue what technologies I’m going to be using in my future. As a Molecular Biology & Microbiology major I will most likely be learning to use various types of technology I didn't even know exist.
Most of the technologies scientists use nowadays are things like gel electrophoresis, centrifuges, and microscopes. But who knows if these things will still be around 20 years from now. This is why I believe technology education is so important in all fields. With new technologies coming out almost daily now, we need to keep people up to date with these advances. But who will teach people like me to use new technologies? In Chapter 1, Reimagining Computer Literacy, of his book, Multiliteracies for a Digital Age, Selber cites how too few teachers are not computer literate. If this is so then whom do we have to teach us more advanced computations? I believe that in educating the student, we first need the make sure that the educator is educated. This ensures that we use new technologies to their full potential, and that technological knowledge keeps growing.
It’s difficult to surmise what the inventors of the very first computer imagined their invention would become in 60 years or how much of an impact it would make on peoples lives. But I know one thing is for certain, the computer has made a significant impact on who I am, what I do, and how I do things. It’s hard to imagine what my life would be like if I never had a computer. But I do know that I would not be as digitally literate, knowledgeable, or as curious as I am today, had the computer been absent from my life.
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