Confessions of a Digital Alien

Here’s what I think I know about digital aliens: they are not “quick studies.” In thinking back on what we have done in our 533 class, what takes shape in my mind is a kind of indistinct blur.
We created – in my case, for the first time – a website, a blog, a podcast, a PowerPoint presentation and a wiki. We also worked with Excel 2007, Word 2007 and other software I knew nothing about three months ago.
Before this class started, I didn’t know hypertext, browsers or URLs from a dairy cow. Yet, as much ground as we had to cover, I can honestly say I know much more about the computer and the possibilities it offers than I ever have, and that feels good.
What troubles me is that I’m not sure I could repeat any of the assignments we’ve completed without the same level of instruction that was offered the first time around. In other words, I fear I won’t learn this stuff in a meaningful way until I can be around it on a regular basis.
Then again, the reason that hasn’t happened before now is that I simply haven’t felt compelled to take the time. And part of that, I’m sure, resulted from feeling intimidated by a technology for which I didn’t feel any natural affinity.
I believe the key shortcoming of the digital alien is a lack of curiosity that is based largely on fear. That leads to a failure to do the one thing that brings understanding of a new technology: exploring. With all that we have been exposed to, I hope I have overcome that barrier, at least to some degree.