Postcard from an 'Alien'

Okay, so in the last couple of weeks, my techno-abilities have grown to include being a blogger, having a Facebook, twitter and flickr account, being an internet “tagger” (wasn’t even aware of the term before and still not sure I really get the concept) via Delicious, becoming a regular user in a “wiki-central”, digester of a motherblog, and enthusiastic participant in an online forum on new media. Does anyone else think that our new technological terms sometimes are really on the verge of silly (haven’t experienced a ‘fail whale yet’, but hoping someday soon…)

How do I feel about this sudden immersion into cyberspace? Hmmm. Well on the one hand, one of the reasons I chose to participate in a New Media Seminar this spring is so that I would be forced to experiment with new digital concepts and tools, in a way that I wouldn’t on my own. After all, this is coming from the gal whose hand-me-down phone from her teen son still has his voicemail telling his buddies to leave him a message (and that’s because I haven’t gotten around to getting him to change it for me.) So, I really do need to learn to become more self-sufficient with digital technology. However, that explains why, on the other hand, I am reticent to jump into the digital age with both feet. Because I don’t consider myself “good at it”, I’m hesitant to charge into it headlong lest I stumble and make a fool of myself.

And as a college instructor working with the most technologically advance generation ever, this can be quite intimidating. A quote by one of the researchers in the PBS program “Digital_Nation” said it beautifully with the sentiment that in this new, quickly evolving digital world, we (the ‘older’ generation) are “aliens; whereas they are natives”. Yes!! That sums it up quite nicely. When it comes to digital know-how I often feel awkwardly alienated and out of my comfort zone. But those ‘young-uns’ who don’t remember ‘a time before…’ are extremely adept at adapting and frustratingly confident at their ability! Take my son again: last week I was struggling to upload a video from my iPod Nano. I asked him if he knew how. Rather than answer my question, he walked over, took my laptop and Nano and began a blur of clicking. When his initial attempt didn’t work, he popped open Google, typed his query and began a search for a software fix. It literally took all my will power to request that he turn it back over to me to figure out (rather than leave, go do some laundry and wait for his signal that it was complete)! What he found an invigorating challenge, I found to be one more frustration in this recent stuffing-of-the-mind with new, foreign material.

Even more telling of my view of this “alien” landscape is how my own elders have made my struggles seem frivolous. Example: several months ago my mother emailed me requesting info for downloading ZoneAlarm firewall software (I had made the mistake of recommending it). I very meticulously copied and pasted the starting url, and every button/hyperlink in the step-by-step process to downloading and installing it correctly, along with very detailed instructions on potential pitfalls. She was able to do it – took a couple more emails and a phone call; but yesterday she emailed me that they had “done something to” their computer to necessitate its stay at the tech shop. It was now home again and so would I mind sending those instructions again? Had bad does that generation have it when I am considered an expert in all things digital!?!

So back to my comment about being a college instructor and dealing with ubertechno-savy students. I’m supposed to be the expert in the room. That I have to ask them for help with technology issues; “No, Dr. Duke hit the icon on the upper right hand corner – no upper right!!” seems to undermine my authority in the classroom, showing an incredible weakness from one whose job is to lead them through this journey of scientific discovery. But then again, I’m guessing they probably all have parents, too – and their parents have probably conditioned them to expect that the further the distance in age from them a person is, the more patient instruction should be exercised in dealing with that individual. So maybe this is just the way our techno-driven world works, and maybe I should go ahead and leap - knowing I’m surrounded with young, agile natives who’ve all got my back!