Was I coding in the 80‘s?

     

Old Technology  photo credit

     My first experience with a computer if I really stretch my memory came around the age of 12 or 13.  My grade school obtained computers and once or twice a week I would go to computer class where I could type in a series of numbers such as 10 go to 20 repeat to 30 load and then type the most important word RUN.  After I hit enter I would have words scatter across the screen or some color picture I had created through code would emerge.  Fast forward 30 years and I am signing up my daughter for a coding class when I realize, “ wait that’s how you code? I think I did that in the 80's!”

   After that short introduction to computers in grade school I moved to Europe during my teen years where computers were no where. NO WHERE.

     Returning to the States to attend college I definitely used computers for personal use and considered myself at Stage#2: Adoption.  I was never negative towards technology as some of the bullet points in Stage#1 seem to lean towards, but I would categorize myself as Novice or Entry level.  

My obssesion in 2011  photo credit

     I had to laugh when I read some of the of the bullet points in the different stages and the memories that sprang up. I remember receiving my first computer for the classroom and being warned by administration not to have students touch it (Stage#2).  I also had students write up drafts of assignments and then take them to the lab to type them up-What was I thinking!(Stage#3).  Lastly I remember begging my department for a cool Elmo projector - I used it for about a year(Stage#4).

     Reading through stages# 2-5 I could easily see at least one bullet point I could apply to the way I view or use technology.  I feel I am now between Stages #4 and #5 but I also feel there is a big jump between these the two stages.  I also believe that depending on what new tech tool you are learning or how you use technology you can often be moving to and from various stages.  I definitely enjoy having students use technology to enhance learning and to use it to obtain knowledge on a subject matter that they could not easily reach without it.