Evolution in All Things

As I come to the end of my 3240 class, I look back on the wide array of teachers I had as classmates and what their approaches to their disciplines taught me. They come from all walks of life, from a Cornell grad with a culinary degree to a massage therapist. From a hairstylist to an English teacher with a love of poetry, it was a diverse crowd.

This is where some of us started, metaphorically speaking. Using pen and ink to communicate, reluctant and fearful of new technologies and their implications for the future. I too, love ( as those who know me)… no really love… pen and ink. I do calligraphy and write letters on a consistent basis to my children. I’m such a nerd that I even have wax and a seal with the initial V on it and use it on every letter I write. All these tools are portable and can be used just about anywhere.

I love all forms of communication, especially written. I own a vintage Hermes baby typewriter and have given one to each of my children. They have their advantages over writing with pen and ink but are obviously not terribly portable and require lots of accessories and maintenance to keep working efficiently. A step forward in technology only applies if it works with your needs.

Never had one of these, but something close. Wow this first incarnation of a portable computer was expensive and practically useless, unless you worked in an office or a lab. This is a tool that few of us had …or even needed.

I actually still have this computer in storage, and it still works. This was more like it… fast, small, portable? Sort of, it had a handle built in. Much better to communicate with. This little baby came just as the internet was starting to explode. This was the beginning of mass communication for me and many others.

 This is what my new computer looks like. Fast, loaded with apps and programs. Highly portable and ready for anything school or my photography throws at it. Just finished a Skype conversation with my 2 children in different cities. Working on the last assignment for school and editing photos at the same time. This is a multi-tasking, communication and work tool that is a large part of our lives in the 21st century. It is a wonderful tool that we use without thinking much about where we came from, and how quickly we got here. We have all evolved during this course, whatever our background and experience, to see this as a teaching tool as well.