Looking into Change

In doing research this week, I ran into the issue that much of the information I was finding was outdated. Dating from the late '90s and early 2000s, it was interesting to read what educators felt the future would look like and what tools we would be using. The scary part was that their vision was not wide enough. They limited their explorations to the web and what could be published there. They did not anticipate the amount of interaction that we are now seeing. Facebook was not even created until 2004.

The amazing progression (when I was in college, hand-held calculators did not exist, when my last child was born PCs were still only used widely in business, when I owned my business downloading a simple 100 meg program took overnight if you were lucky and did not lose connection) from the beginnings to what we now see as normal will only continue, since that is the only way for the computer industry to continue making money. Trying to imagine what will exist in the future is difficult. It is another good reason for us to become more proficient with our computer skills so that the next generation not only has the background knowledge, they have the attitude that change and progression is normal and to be expected.

Ann's Story

I have been in the education field for a long time, and for the most part I am self educated. I have a BA in Secondary Math Ed and taught in a local high school for about 6 months. Short story is I was too young and immature, much like my students.

I spent 10 years in retail, moving into accounting and management, married, had children, helped run the family business, created a couple of new businesses, the economy went bad, the businesses did not survive, more accounting work, came back to UCF to work first in Orientation and now in the Computer Labs on campus where I assist and train students, faculty and staff on a daily basis. Naturally, along the way I have learned a lot of new techniques, gee, when I went to college, we did not even have portable calculators! So, while I am learning all of the catchup stuff, technology keeps on moving. I need to know more.

Our department has received a portion of the technology fund fees and with that we will be expanding our programs. There are so many opportunities that many of the students are not aware of that will help them to achieve their degrees and be of benefit to them in their professional lives. Our goal is to share this information in mini classes that the students will be able to attend either in person or perhaps through websources. Everything is still in the planning stage, which makes this class of so much value to me. My only problem is deciding what route to take!