The Mystery and Wonder of Technology

I am amazed and gratified by the technology that influences my life today. Two examples right now stand out in my mind. First, my ID card here at college. It does everything! A little piece of plastic with a magnetic strip gives me access to our dorm, all three floors, at any time, with a simple swipe through the reader. (Actually, sometimes it takes several tries, but that's besides the point.) But the students' cards limit their access to the floor they live on. And they are not allowed access after 11 P.M. How does that work? All I can figure is that there's a little tiny clock in each card reader that reads the strip, which is encoded with various time limitations or not. However it works, way cool! But there's more! It also holds our meal plan. With a simple swipe of the card, we're granted access to the cafeteria three times a day. In addition, it can be charged with money to use in snack machines, copiers, laundry, etc. Moreover, it provides access to checking out books at the library (at least it did when I was a student!) How one little magnetic strip can keep track of two separate financial-type accounts (food and cash), dorm access, and library access is quite beyond my knowledge. It almost seems like magic.

A second piece of great technology, one that I put in the life-saving category, is my Palm Pilot. Back in the dark ages, otherwise known as the first semester of my teaching experience, I kept attendance in one book, and kept track of grades in a second book. I calculated grades by hand. But we have to report grades in one form or another eight times a year. And each category--homework, tests, quizzes, etc.--is given a different weight. Then there's the semester exam, which per school policy has to count as 1/7 of the grade. Needless to say, when you start adding up 10-30 different grades with differing weights for over a hundred students, that results in major math issues, much calculator work, and loads of time. Like hours of time. Enter the palm pilot, a hand held computer that fits in my pocket and goes with me everywhere. With a nice piece of teacher-friendly software, it allows me to track attendance and grades. It gives each grade the appropriate weight I tell it to. And it calculates most of the grades automatically. It can even generate reports on attendance, tardies, and grades on each student. Presto! Much time saved and many fewer math errors. (Computers tend to be error free when it comes to calculations.) To top it all off, it gives me gravitas. I give some of my classes a grade based on their in-class performance. They have learned that when I reach for the Palm in my pocket, that means trouble, as I'm usually lowering their grade. Call it fear of Palm. It helps keep control. And of course being the egomaniac that I am, control is what it is all about.

Grade keeping is the best thing about my Palm. But there are peripheral benefits as well. There is all kinds of cool software you can get to go with it. Right now I'm trying the Oxford English Dictionary, which has about 240,000 entries. Contemplate the possibilities. It's awesome word power at your fingertips! (Speaking of word power, one of the high school students here referred to "docents" at Monticello in her online journal entry. Her vocab for one so young puts me to shame.) And it has a word of the day feature, which is way cool, and a great way to educate my students! Today's word? "Sipe." Definition? "A groove or channel in the tread of a tyre." (Yes, it has English spellings in definitions.)

With such technology at my fingertips, I can pretty much die happy.