my story with computers

Before I came to the US, I always paid money to surf on the Internet. I did my undergraduate in a language university and at that time I thought it was just so natural for a language university to be lagged behind in tech. resources. Actually during my undergraduate years (1993-1997), I rarely used computer. It was such a luxury then and I could never afford to buy a computer myself and I do not think there were many computers on campus. I remembered clearly I struggled so hard to find a computer since my foreign teacher asked us to type our project. I borrowed a typewriter and since I was so bad at typing, I handwrote the assignment neatly and submitted that. After I went to work, the university I worked in was technologically advanced compared with most universities in China. I was so proud when I could teach in a multi-media classroom where the instructor had a Dell computer. It was the first time for me to use audio-visual tools-PPT to teach. Only a few universities are so well equipped. Even after I came to the US, I was proud that I could create PPT documents. Of course soon I found it was nothing.

After I came to the US, I was so impressed by the easy availability of the computers and Internet services. I had never seen an apple computer before, so I hated it since I could not figure out how to use it. To me, BGSU is so supportive in tech stuff. Students can have free computer classes learning word, excel, dreamweaver, photoshop, flash etc. It gives people so much freedom and chance to develop their skills. I learned how to use library resources, how to use some softwares and did make some family videos. To me, a student with language background, these are really great technology achievements.

My experiences and expectations

I am quite excited about this class since I just love technology. Though it tricked me once or twice (can you imagine the tension that my flash drive just died one day before I was going to present my practicum and my projects were all there). I know technology is not so reliable but I love it.

I like the class in that it combines technology and composition--both are my favorites. It is a great idea to integrate computer in composition pedogagy. I always wonder whether it is possible for any disipline to survive vigorously without paying attention to technology, even computers per se. I feel safe to say that internet is so far the most immediate and effective way for most programs to market themselves. Also composition courses like undergraduate writing courses cannot be taught efficiently without technology. Overheads, blackboard, emails have helped students to collabrate and communicate more easily and effecitively. I cannot really imagine how much extra work a student needs to do if they do not have internet access to the sources in the school library. So integration of technology into classroom is unavoidable.

I hope that I can improve my skills on Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Indesign. Some softwares are quite new to me and I cannot wait to learn them. I know working with these softwares is quite time-consuming and demands lots of patience and perseverance if I want to do well in it, but still I just like working with computers and get that sense of achievement when I see the progress of my projects. My concern is since most softwares are so extensive I wonder whether there are easy ways for me to get it.

Let me do a little bit integration of technology and composition here. I will post my daughter's picture here :-)

hello from Ruijie

Hi, everyone, nice to see you all in this nice computer lab. Believe we will have fun!