About Computers and Technology

• Technology must be tailored to specific needs in order to be useful.

• The latest and greatest technology isn’t the best for every user or situation.

• Computers are like cars. They are machines. They break, especially with a lot of use, and they can usually be fixed, at least enough to do the basic work they need to do. It isn’t necessary to treat them like precious objects.

• Eventually, computers, like cars, do reach the point where fixing them isn’t worth the money or time that would be required. At that point, they should be replaced.

• The best way to learn about technology is to use it. Touch it, break it, get frustrated with it, read about it, ask questions, fix it. It’s not an easy way to learn and it won’t make you a master quickly, but learn you will.

About Teamwork

• Setting up a community service such as a computer lab requires the skills and cooperation of many, many people.

• Setting up a computer lab requires more than technical skills and hardware. Organizational and PR skills are vital.

• Teams work best when everyone has different skills to offer. Anna was our tech goddess, Mojgan handled all the PR, and Megan kept everything organized and documented.

• PATIENCE REALLY IS A VIRTUE – with computers, people, and one’s self.

• Working in any group on a project generally requires information to be repeated a lot, and this is especially true when working with community organizations that may be less familiar with technology and involve several members in the project.

• Even when people have the access to the same technology as you do, it doesn’t mean they can or will use it (or that they are as fluent with it as you may be), so you can’t rely on any one medium for communication.

• Flexibility is also a virtue. Project needs and plans can change at the last minute, and it is important to be able to adapt and keep moving forward. Our site didn’t want to give us the entire north wall for our computers, so we had to squeeze them all onto just a few tables and could only set up 9 of the 10. It wasn’t what we wanted for our users, but it wasn’t anything to get upset about either.

• Just because people seem to have less that we might (money, opportunities, human or material resources, etc), doesn’t mean that they can accomplish less. Our site did everything we needed them to do – making sure electrical work got done, buying power strips, moving furniture around – eve though they didn’t communicate well. The pastor also found a very tech savvy member of the congregation with a degree in computer engineering to oversee the lab once we finished setting it up.

• With a positive attitude and dedication, goals can be accomplished.

Final Project Presentation-lovejoytemple