Technology and me - do we go together like a horse and carriage?

It’s my dad’s 60^th birthday today. He had never switched a computer on in his life until 20^th May 2007. I remember the exact date as it was the night before I moved to Sri Lanka for 6 months.  I basically set up an email account for him and showed him step by step how to write and read an email. From that day on, I think I got an email a day!  5 years on he can navigate around the World Wide Web, he still has his moments (asking me about “microwave office”) but he gets by.

I’m using this entry to reflect on my technical skills. I would say technology and I have a similar relationship as my dad has with the internet – I get by. I tend to be a quick learner, and when it comes to technology, I learn my doing. I like to keep it simple and learn what I need to know about it and then as I use it more, I experiment and build upon my skills. I find that if I am first introduced to something technical by listening to what people have to say about it or reading it, then my head converts it into something far more complex, so I prefer to dabble in it myself. The realisation then is either a) its not too bad b) o is that what it is, I’ve used that but never knew it was called that, or c) yes I still don’t understand it, someone talk me through it in very simple terms!

At the moment, Wiki, google apps, eportfolios are all a foreign language to me, however I know as I start to investigate them and use them, we will hopefully develop a great relationship!