What is a technology autobiography?

An autobiography tells the story of your life. A technology autobiography tells the story of your life with technology. Autobiographies are written in the first person, and they are filled with very specific stories that illustrate the points you want to make: the more stories, the better.

Audiences:

This assignment serves several interrelated purposes.

For you and your classmates:

1. It gives you a chance to reflect on your relationship to technology. This process is designed to help you understand how you learn new technologies, and by extension to understand how your technology coping and learning strategies are similar to and different from those of other people.

2. It will give you a chance to play around with and document visual material (mostly off the web).

For me:

1. It gives me a chance to see the class's range of technology habits, desires, and expertise; I will use this knowledge to build or tweak the technology workshops we will have during the semester.

2. It gives me a chance to get to know you.

How to get the assignment done.

1. First of all, relax and have a little fun with the first draft of this assignment. Don't worry too much about making it perfect; you'll have time to revise and tweak it before you send it on to other audiences (classmates, me, parents).

2. Read over the list of questions below, which are intended to spark your memories and give you some idea what others have written about in a TA.

3. Write a first draft, revise once (or twice if you have time), proofread it, and turn in a hard copy and a digital copy.

4. If you would like to look at some examples of TAs, go to this .pdf document (Your web browser should open it automatically.) <http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~rselfe/TAchapter/330ta.pdf>

5. Keep an online copy of your TA handy for later in-class and homework assignments.

Technical specifications for this version of the TA

No more than 3 to 5 pages long, double spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins all around. Save it as a MSWord document and hand in both online and hardcopy versions.

Due dates can be found on the class calendar.

The Questions

You MAY answer any or all of these. (Spend most of your time here.)

• What early experiences with technological devices or artifacts can you recall? What do you remember about your earliest use of technologies? Or what stories do your parents tell about your interactions with technology? What were the popular gadgets in your house while growing up?

• Who do you identify as being most "technologically literate" person in your life? What makes that person's relationship with technology so special; that is, what behaviors or characteristics does he or she exhibit? Give examples. What have you learned from him or her?

• Do you think there are social consequences or potential impacts on your lifestyle that depend on your technological capabilities? What might these social consequences or potential impacts be?

• What will it mean to be technologically literate in the near future?

• How do you learn technologies? Among your friends, are you considered an "early adopter," a "late adopter," or somewhere in the middle?

• What's on your desk at home? What technological devices are you carrying now? What's on your technological "wish list"?

You MUST answer these. (Spend a little of your time here.)

• What technologies do you own or know about that would be of benefit to your classmates?

• How do you learn new technologies? What process do you go through? Is it hard, fun, easy, traumatic, boring, annoying, or some combination?

• What contact information do you have? How can I reach you online, on the phone, or via snail mail? I will NOT include this information is the class copy of the TAs.