The Easy Way

The Easy Way

Remember books?

We remember books, the paper kind with pages, hey you’re reading one now.

In the good old days before computers, people read printed books and newspapers to get information.

Students spent hours and hours in the library, looking for information in dusty old books for class assignments.

Essays were handwritten; if students made a mistake, they would toss the paper and start writing all over again, now? Information is instant, Students can find anything on the Internet in minutes and then compose a document on their laptops, all while sitting on the sofa.

If they make a mistake, they can just delete or cut, copy, and paste to move bits of text around.

Maybe the most important computer skill is knowing how to back up your files in case your computer crashes, without a backup file, all that hard work can be lost forever in cyberspace.

We also remember the library in the good old days, it was a place where everyone was quiet.

Hum along to an iPod tune?

Never, Send an e-mail while working?

What’s e-mail?

Watch a movie on the HDTV while you work?

Impossible!

Download MP3s to your hard drive or device?

No!

But now students can watch YouTube videos about their research topic as they write a paper, and as they are writing, they can IM friends in another window on their computer screen, a simple click of the mouse, hit SAVE, and students can take a quick chat break.

Wait, Did you think we were talking about chatting with someone in the same room?

No, We’re talking about online chat rooms, You don’t even need to hook up a webcam; just open an app and it’s party time instead of homework time!

Do we sound like dinosaurs?

Actually, we love new technology, with cable and satellite signals, modern TVs can broadcast important local information instantly.

In areas where severe weather is a problem, TV is an excellent source of warnings.

Your local radio or TV station can give information about where to get help or what to do to keep your family and home safe.

Hurricane updates can help you prepare your house.

If a tornado is coming, you can get to a safe area.

If there’s a snowstorm, people often turn to radio or TV first to hear about school closings.

School is closing?

Yay!

Technology is our friend!

Instant communication is convenient, fun, and easy.

But for those of us who still like to hold a piece of paper with the words of friends, there is always snail mail.

Uh-oh.

That sounds like trouble, what happened?

I was answering an e-mail, and I hit Reply All.

So, what’s the problem?

Well, the problem is that my e-mail reply said, “I don’t want to go to this meeting, I want to go to lunch!”

Aaackkk, were you thinking that the e-mail would just go to your friend?

Yes, I wasn’t reading the other names on the list, so I didn’t see that the boss was also on the list!

Well, you really need to be careful about sending e-mail. Once you hit Send, it’s gone, you can’t get it back.

I know, And even if the e-mail comes from a friend, I have to remember that there are other people on the list, too.

The boss sent me a reply: “Is it your lunchtime, Alan?”

Well, I don’t think you’ll get fired over an e-mail that says you want to go to lunch, but maybe you should explain to your boss that you were only kidding.

It was just a little joke about going to lunch instead of going to the meeting.

Was he wondering why you were so hungry?

No, he wasn’t wondering why I was hungry, I think he was wondering why he hired me in the first place!

pronunciation pointer.

They look exactly the same, they are spelled exactly the same, but the present tense and the past tense of the verb r e a d are pronounce very differently.

The present tense is pronounce read.

The past tense is pronounce read.