The Past:
Bob Williams has
graduated from Clinton Community College with an Associates Degree in Business
and Plattsburgh State University with a Bachelor’s Business Degree and is also has
6 credits in the Masters Program. He has been a computer programmer, but not a
"nerd" for over 12 years; and has sold his own software in 3
countries when he owned his own business. He has developed computer software
for local Clinton County Governmental Agencies and has installed networks for
various businesses and governmental agencies. He has been previously associated
as a founding officer in local computer and CB-Radio clubs in the area. As U.S.
Distribution Manager for a Canadian company, Bob had an accident in 1992 which
required replacing two parts of his heart with plastic replicas disabling him
from his regular activities and bringing him to the classroom. His teaching
philosophy is based on knowing procedures and concepts, rather than memorizing
facts. As a student himself, he recognizes the difficulties students share with
demands from friends, family, work, and life in general. His wife Marilyn is
partially paralyzed from a stroke You can always feel free to call his home (
518-236-6733 ) for extra help and problem solving. He truly wants all his
students to have fun and be successful in opening their minds to the future by
teaching them into keeping their eyes open. His slogan for this year: If your
eyes are open, your minds should be too.
The Present:
We will be exploring
many areas of computer operation, components, the operating system, the word
processor, the spreadsheet, and the database. There are many other categories
of software out there, such as games, (bet you wish we could teach you the
secrets to Myst and Doom!); including communication, presentation, graphic,
virtual reality, simulation, 2D & 3D-Animation, tele-robotics, along with
others now being developed. The Internet has become human-kind’s fastest
growing means of communication across the planet. We now have the capability to
give you a small taste of the Internet in a ‘simulated’ environment here in the
classroom. You will also have live links within this Intranet to actually
browse on your own. As computers become more powerful and pervasive in our
everyday lives, it is also fortunate that they are becoming easier to use. It
is such a tremendous revolution in how we process information that there is a
confusing array of products out there that will all do basically the same
things. How do you choose which products to buy? How do you quickly learn to
use the product you just bought? How can you increase your skills to avoid the
down-sizing and layoffs that are sweeping the country, and the world, as humans
are becoming replace-able in the workplace by smarter and more powerful
machines? Learn how these machines work, how the software is organized, and be
especially aware that learning new things will never be too old a concept for
anyone. Learn to read the screen and the menus given within a program. Take
full advantage of on-line help, wizards, cue-cards, tutorials and other
software tips and tricks for computer success.
The Future:
In the word
processing section we will be using Microsoft Word for Windows; the spreadsheet
section will use Excel for Windows, and the database section will use Access
for Windows. Windows itself is the operating system you see when you first come
into the classroom. It allows you to personally connect with your computer in a
manner that is easier to understand than the old method using DOS based command
line prompts. Huh?? As will be explained in class, an operating system is
software that controls your input (or wishes) with all of the computer’s
hardware, physical things you can actually touch like the keyboard, monitor,
mouse, and disk drives. To run an application software, like Microsoft Word, we
only have to double click the mouse pointer using the left mouse button, on the
little picture (icon) that represents the application we want to use. We could
also click once to highlight the icon, click on the word FILE in the top menu
bar, and then click OPEN from the menu choices that are presented to use. Learning
how to read menus is probably the most important skill you will learn in this
class! As you will see, there are many things about software and
hardware, and computers in general, that will vary from machine to machine and
from person to person. How you use a computer to get something done may not be
the same way that someone else would use the same computer to do the same job.
However, there are many similarities across all computers and across all
software applications, so that what you learn in one area can be applied to
another. As stated previously, learning how to read menus and get help in menu
choices is the most important and transferable skill you can learn in this
class. It will allow you to intuitively be able to run a software application
you have never used before with a minimum of training and searching through
thick text written in technical nerd language.
P.S. It’s fun ! You
merely need to read your screens !