Sunday, March 27, 2011

Thoughts on Anti-Virus Software, Alternative OS, and more

So far I have felt a little overwhelmed with this class.  I don't know much about computer OS, RAM, hard drives, anti-virus software, etc.  I use technology in my classroom every day.  I can set it up and keep it running, but I couldn't tell you how it runs.  Talking about our computer tower was an eye opening experience.  I learned a lot about how our computer runs and also realized how much I didn't know.

As far as, Anti-Virus software.... I use it on our computers, but again I don't know much about them.  We use the standard, Norton, due to lack of knowledge.  I didn't realize how many options were out there and at no cost.  I am excited to learn more about them and find something that might better fit our needs.

I am also nervous about experimenting with the alternate OS.  I am scared to put it on my computer and risk the chance of losing everything.  On the other hand, I am excited to learn more about things like Ubuntu and others that I have never tried. 

Overall, even though I am slightly overwhelmed, I am excited about what I am learning.  A lot of people in my family and husband's family know a lot about computers so it is fun to actually be able to join in on the dinner conversations.

2 comments:

  1. Most of my comment is plagiarized from what I wrote in another blog response. But it shows that you are not the only person feeling like this. I always tell my teachers that I would rather see them make a complete failure out of a less that using IT than never try.

    You don't need to be a mechanic to know how to drive a car and you don't have to know the FSB of your CPU to use a computer. I'm sure you will be just fine and soon we will head into the software and education portion of this program that you will be more comfortable with. I have the exact opposite problem. I'm an IT guy that practically lives inside a computer. The challenging part for me will be the online teaching classes like 550.

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  2. I've been like you. Trying these new things can be challenging. The Alternative Operating System worried me. I thought the first step wasn't loading a file, but actually "installing." And everyone fears installing anything that would bring down their computer.

    When I buy a new computer, I don't seem to look at all the available features. I do the same with the security software. I don't look at all the features.

    At the end of this class, I will certainly have looked differently at the computers I use!

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