Sakai…Calculators…Math…Education… Technology

Having returned to Rutgers after 18 years to complete my undergrad degree has been an amazing and enlightening experience. Not knowing how much damage I had done to my brain during the previous two decades of substance abuse, I was scared to death. The incorporation of technology into the educational process was the obvious difference from my last time at Rutgers. Technology and the fact that I was actually in a classroom were both big differences. Soon after arriving at my first class in 18 years… 10 minutes late—no notebook---no parking permit...(but obviously with my lingering bad habits) I was introduced to the word “sakai.” I was expecting to be handed a syllabus and was told that it was located, along with other class materials at some mysterious location on the internet called “sakai.” The professor then proceeded to use this peculiar word about a dozen times during the shortened first class period. I was quite sure I would never make it.

For me, the good old days were not so good, so embracing change has become a way of life for me. And, after the fear subsided and I realized that I had not killed all of my brain cells, I was able to figure out this sakai thing. I really love technology, not really because of “APP’s” or new cell phones, but because there is no economic recession on the internet. I am dialed into new ideas and ways of doing things. I think we are in the middle of a revolution economically and folks who embrace change will prosper.

Anyway, to remind me how out of touch I am… or how old? …I took a math class this summer. Actually, I had to take a math class because I got a “D” in calculus sometime in the ‘80’s… the second half of the 80’s and the entire 90’s are a little blurry… and I showed up with a calculator that was a freebie from a bank. All my “peers” has these expensive engineering calculators. These contraptions looked more imposing than the math itself. When I last took a math class, we actually “worked out” equations on paper. Since it was summer session, it met 4 times weekly and moved very quickly. I had not opened a math book in over 20 years and what looked liked pedestrian math, proved to be a bit more because of the speed and my “lay-off.” However, with some help from an 18 year-old classmate who was actually taking his first ever college class, I was able to endure. School and live are so much easier when I show up and ask for help when needed…who knew?

At the end of this semester, I will have only 2 classes remaining… But having overcome Sakai, the “calculator” and several other much larger obstacles, my ability to embrace change is what makes the future look so bright…