My Digital History class

Usually, I only use my computer to do normal things like use Facebook, read the news and random blogs, check my email, do shopping or even “google” myself. For me the idea of web designing, computer programming or online gaming, belonged to the world of the unknown…

But this semester I took, as you may know from my previous posts, a Digital History class that shed some light on this digital world. In the past months I learned more about computers programs, technological stuffs and digital issues than in the last 3 years. In the class I created an HTML page, played with Photoshop, built my dream beach house in SketchUp and started to use an evil thing called Max 6.

Working, or at least trying to work, with this tech stuff was not easy: it was a process of trial and error, where the error and a never-ending headache became my constant companions. Part of the problem was that I get easily frustrated! For me this process was similar to writing in an “exotic” language that I had not yet started to learn how to read. At least, I haven’t cried in the process... but it may happen in the next semester when I’ll try to build an interactive/comparative map about the counterculture of the 1960’ (or something like that).

However, besides this soap opera that I have just narrated, I admit that I had some fun working with these new computer programs. The creative part of my brain started to work again, not as much as some of my classmates’, but enough to create some sparks on the area. Maybe I’m even reducing the probability of getting dementia or early Alzheimer with the new techniques that I learned.

Perhaps I didn’t learn as much as I'm claiming. If someone asks me to start coding in HTML or to create some music in Max 6 at this moment, I’ll need to take some relaxing pills and start my breathing exercises. But, after that, I’ll start to look at some YouTube tutorials or specialized blogs to learn, or relearn, how to make what I was asked to do, and that is the biggest lesson that I got from my Digital History class. Now I know that with a good online tutorial, or with multiple bad ones, I can start to work with many computer programs that some months ago I thought I would needed a BA in Computer Science to understand.

I call that progress! :)