Technology: Friend or Foe

Through the years, there have been some great strides in technology.  I think back to being in my first years of college and how much has changed.  Many times, this technology has made things so much easier and nicer.  So I have compiled my list of good and bad experiences with technology for you to make your decision - friend or foe.

• I can type this blog for you all to see.  Share my thoughts with you and you can comment back (again, this is encouraged folks!)
• However, when I have a typo on this blog, it is also out there for all to see (thank heavens I haven't left an s off in the word assess yet!)
• I can chat with my students to help them study for a test.
• Students can email me at the end of the semester to whine about their grade.
• I can play online games with my friends that are not geographically capable of playing a game in person.
• I can plan online games with my friends when I'm avoiding doing something else (that I probably should be doing).
• I can have a video chat with my family who is not close to me.
• I can connect with people on FaceBook that I had lost touch with.
• Students and old frenemies can try to friend me on FaceBook.
• We can have internet access everywhere (to do our job or waste time on FB)  (Note - I don't have a phone with a data plan intentionally!)
• If my car breaks down, I have my cell phone to call AAA.
• Other drivers have their cell phone in their car too, that they talk/text on during rush-hour traffic with construction zones.
• I can use online homework for my students to complete (no more "my dog ate it" excuses).
• The online homework system that the students use may crash or have an "internal error".

Ok, so maybe I might be playing one side more than the other here.  I know that technology has made our lives "easier" in so many ways.  However, it can also cause many headaches for all that use it.  Here is one story of my day at work yesterday:

I had decided that I didn't like the due date I had given my students for an assignment.  So, I edited the homework to change the due date and went to go re-post it to Blackboard.  I go in to edit the homework.  I ask for the current file to be removed and to attach the new file with the new due date.  I hit submit and get the following "$message Error$".  Of course, it had no problem removing the old file but didn't attach the new one.  I try to attach it again and get the following:  "Either you are not logged in or you are not authorized to perform this operation."  WTH?  Now I had to log back in.  I tried, and tried,...and tried - no success.  Now, I had to go down to teach.

(We are in new rooms this year and I just want to assure everyone that I went down to all my rooms last week to make sure I wouldn't have a technology snafu.)

First class of the day.  Computer is already on, monitor is not on.  I try to turn on the monitor mulitple times with no success.  So, I turn on the projector so that I may see what is going on.  I can now see (from the projection in front of the entire class) Windows has encountered an error - would you like to shut down?.  I click ok.  Now when I say I clicked ok keep in mind that I am having to look at the projection to see where the mouse is located to click ok.  Once the computer restarts, the monitor starts to work and the computer says "configuring computer for first use" - what?  It has already been used!  Anyone know how long it takes to do this - I found out it took 22 minutes for this computer.  So, considering I had planned to go over the electronic syllabus and show Blackboard and the Online Homework System, this sort of threw a wrench into things.  Once I finally got on, things worked ok and we were able to do everything I wanted to do.

When I got done teaching, I had emails from students saying that they couldn't get registered for the Online Homework System because they kept getting error messages.  I still couldn't upload my file that I wanted to.  Then to put the cherry on top, my computer appeared to not like me and shut off in the middle of me working on a new set of notes.  Luckily I didn't lose too much (as I learned to save often.)

Hopefully, today will go with minor technology hiccups.