1 post tagged “luddite”

I am sitting in the Ed building in front of my laptop, trying to figure out Google Docs, the lesson plan Wiki, the master teaching schedule for the summer school spreadsheet, the online version of the Mississippi Department of Education curriculum frameworks, and about a million other things that seem to have found their way onto my delightful new computer's hard drive. I am a little overwhelmed.

I'll be honest: I'm much more comfortable thinking and writing with a pad and pencil, storing my important papers in a trusty file folder. I find typewriters romantic, and still use them for my more creative pursuits. I have coils and coils of old computer cords with strange plugs and shapes attached that I have never used but am afraid to throw away. The first time I heard a computer-inclined friends speak of the operating system Unix, I thought they were talking about eunuchs. Clearly, I've reconciled myself to the fact that I will never be cutting edge in this regard.

In some ways, however, I am glad that our training this summer is introducing us to these new technologies- the fact that we can share and edit lesson plans as a community (and have them as a resource in the future) is a collaborative application I know I will come to love. But having everything online- the gradebook, attendance, teacher movement and schedule- and having it all constantly in flux and checked daily for evaluation really frightens me. There is so much information being given to us about how to use all these applications, and each time we move on to a new thing, I forget the instructions for the one we just discussed.

I'll get the hang of it eventually, I'm sure, but I'm a little shocked by how technology has passed me by while I was off studying Latin and Greek. For now, Google Docs makes me yearn for a small, quiet cabin without internet access.