Back 2 School

Its been 5 weeks now since I've started this journey. My enrolled courses:

• Professional Skills for the Digital Developer
• Programming Fundamentals (hybrid)
• XHTML and CSS
• Intro to the Web: Internet Explorer (online)
• Intro to Web Pages: Dreamweaver (online)
• Javascript (online)

The first week was a disaster. Mainly because somewhere along the way in life, I forgot how to effectively manage my time. Well, let me rephrase that: time management for school is different from time management for work. In the real world, most people have a set schedule, and can expect the same routine for the most part. In school, there are assignments, tests, quizzes, and projects flying at you from all direction. Needless to say, I am getting re-acquainted with "due dates".

The second thing I was struggling with was setting up my computer for the online courses. I bought my MacBook in 2007, and have never updated it...I think I was still on 10.5.8. Well, it was a whirlwind with updating my operating system, upgrading my memory, downloading the required software and plugins. In addition, I had to familiarize myself with the school's online learning database, Angel. Angel and I are getting along better now, but I still find myself clicking tabs and links on the screen 5-10 times before I arrive at my destination. 

It is so amazing how far higher eduction has come along in technology since I was in school. The majority of students have their laptops, tablets, and smartphones (duh) with them in class. The digital tools and resources provide for a completely different learning environment than what I experienced in college first time around. 

My classes have not been too bad. "Intro to the Web" is cake (it is a requirement for my degree). But I can see how others, like non-traditional students, would find it challenging. I was in the computer lab the other day and sat next to a elderly lady and her brother. The lady was cussing up a storm. I went over to help and found they were working on an assignment for the class "Intro to Personal Computers". The part I came in on instructed them to take a screen shot of a document, paste it into a Word document, and save the document onto their flash drive. The computer was like a foreign language to them. It makes me think of the first time I played around on a computer. Now, computers were much simpler back then, and I caught onto Oregon Trail pretty quickly, but it was still a learning curve. It's just so crazy to think about how advanced we are in technology, and what is to come. I am excited to be a part of that.

I have so much more to share, but will post more when I re-gather my thoughts.