“Lit and Lit Study in the Digital Age” was my top english class that I wanted to take this semester. Coming into this class I knew it would be different, one that would cover topics I have never covered in any other english class. That is the biggest reason I was so intrigued to take this class. Although I am not very good with computers or technology, I wanted to improve my skills. I feel that I am average in being versatile in technology, but every now and then I need to ask other people for help with tasks.
Before taking this class I didn’t know how to run other programs on my computer. I use the simple apps on my laptop such as Google chrome and Microsoft Word, but other than that I never know that other functions like Atom even existed. As I take this class, I feel I am more open to using other softwares and programs on my computer. They are very useful once you figure out how to navigate them. I have already started using some of the programs that I have been introduced to so far in my other classes.
When I started this course I did not know that there was a link between humanities and computers. In fact I never even knew that humanities and technology were remotely related. When someone says humanities, I think of books such as Discourse on Method by Descarte or Frankenstein. Growing up I thought of my computer as a personal device that helped me write papers and watch Netflix. I never thought of how it all was created, and how through time each letter was given a code so it looked like the letter. For example, like how 01000001 is binary code for A. I feel that growing up I am confident in saying that I was not taught the humanities of computers. By taking this class I am able to learn and appreciate the technology that we have in today’s time.
As previously stated, coming into this course I had a very basic general understanding of computing. In my opinion it could even be a low understanding. I had no idea about coding or having a simple text. As far as I was concerned, Google Docs was a simple text where I could write my papers. I never thought that I could do any other programs, because they seemed so difficult and foreign to me. At the beginning, it seemed like a complete other language to even look at. But now that I am learning through a step by step process, I see that it is not as complicated as it seems. With my own computer I could do something without really understanding what I was doing. I never have typed http:// ,because my computer does it automatically for me. However, through this class I am going to learn why we need to do things like that on the computer. Computers are very useful for so many people, and over time they have evolved to do so many operations for us that I would have never thought of. For example, like a copy and paste option, when you paste it on another document it looks the same, but if you paste it in a plain text program, all the extra commands are not shown.
When going into this course I feet that my relationship was very minimal between me and my computer. Due to my lack of knowledge, I mostly used it to write papers, find information on the internet and any other basic functions. I did not start using a laptop frequently until high school, and I didn’t get my own laptop until senior year of high school. So, when I would use my computer I only used the applications that I learned to use in school. From high school to starting this course I have not gotten much better with my computer skills. I don’t download any programs unless I had to for class, like Lockdown Browser. Due to that, I use the same applications everyday.
Even through these first 3 weeks of class, I feel that I have learned a lot more than I would have ever learned in any other class. It may take me some time but, through the step by step process, and practicing it at home, I feel confident when I go to class to reuse the programs that we used the class before. Professor Schacht is very patent with his students and is always willing to help. I feel through his help and his easy to follow process in class, I was able to pick up some skills fairly quick. Each day I learn something new about computing that I find to be really useful. I am excited to continue learning all these different functions throughout the rest of the semester.