Computer History for Rob Granger

My first computer was a Commadore 64.  I know it was likely bought at some point after my birth, but I don't really remember- it was always just there.  It really functioned only as a word processor.  When I became old enough to write papers for school, that's what I used.  We didn't have any games for it, nor did anyone in the family use it for anything other than typing and printing.  My parents wanted to be sure we could also use a typewriter, so my first few essays were clumsily typed out that way.  The computer was much more convenient for making revisions and correcting mistakes.  However, I remember associating the computer with difficulty rather than convenience.  Any time I was using the computer, it was for an important assignments.  And important assignments meant my father would make me proofread and revise it a few times, rather than just filling out a worksheet or doing simple bookwork.

When I was in about 5th grade, we got a new computer and internet access.  I remember playing games on Prodigy with my sisters and downloading all types of shareware games.  I rocked at Commander Keen, and that's a fact.  We tried a few other service providers, and eventually stuck with AOL for a while when the 1500 free hours disks showed up everywhere you looked.  Through school, I dabbled with computers, but it never really stuck with me as a hobby.  As a result, I never turned into any sort of computer wizard, but I was always fairly comfortable picking up new skills or troubleshooting typical problems.

It wasn't really until I started teaching that I made a concerted effort to start learning how to effectively use technology.  I find the "digital native/digital immigrants" metaphor a little tiresome, but I wanted to find a way to engage my students.  Plus I was sick of them being better at Power Point than I was.  I took a few classes on the basics of some common programs, talked to some co-workers, and eventually got comfortable adding new skills again.  Plus, the tools in Microsoft Excel really sparked my interest when I started trying out different types of record-keeping with my students.

While I can't say that I've ever felt inspired by a computer itself, I do feel that this is a pretty exciting time to educate myself about technology.  I'm always excited to share a new tool with co-workers or show an interesting website to friends.  But I'll still rock out a little Commander Keen every once in a while.