There is no room for digital novices
I have always thought I attended the best schools, including one where we had computer lessons (which I dogded), until I joined Makerere University and got a rude awakening; the schools had not been good enough — in the digital world.
By Owen Wagabaza
I have always thought I attended the best schools, including one where we had computer lessons (which I dogded), until I joined Makerere University and got a rude awakening; the schools had not been good enough — in the digital world.
In my first economics class, a lecturer introduced himself, teased us a little and introduced a topic, MDG, without telling us what the initials stood for. “Surf about MDGs on the internet and explain what uganda is doing to achieve the MDGs. It comprises 10% of your final mark. I want it in two days.†he said.
“Lord God,†I said to myself, “what will I do with the internet when I don’t even know how to switch on a computer?â€
Luckily, the next day, many students had surfed the net and got everything about MDGs (millenium development goals). I read the notes, did my assignment and handed in. I got the marks.
Quite proud and not willing to tell anyone about my plight, I continued evading the computer lab. But one of my classmates, a beautiful Munyankole girl whom God blessed with everything a man could want in a woman, challenged me into using the internet.
After collecting enough guts, I approached her and asked for her phone number. “No,I don’t give out my phone number, but we can exchange email addresses,†she said.
I was shocked. My excuse that I am too busy to check my email or send one fell on deaf ears. I took down her email address and assured her that mine was useless to her in the time being.
I swallowed my pride and went to the computer lab immediately. I realised 90% of the computer users were on Facebook, a social utility site.
The speed and ease with which they played with the keyboard and mouse mesmerised me. And many of them were my agemates.
“If you can’t change with change, change will change you,†they say, but change had taken long to change me. I realised I was a digital mufuruki in a digital world.
I am not the only victim. Almost 100% of the students from upcountry schools have issues with the computer. Obed, a first year Bachelor of Arts in Economics student, had his share of surprises.
The cause for the gap between we, the digital bafuruki and the digital natives, I assume, is majorly caused by differing educational backgrounds.
Students from first world schools like Namugongo, who are exposed to computers and a few who can afford other digital devices like ipods, have an advantage over their colleagues from upcountry schools, where computer lesssons are unheard of.
And the hussle of trying to fit in this digital world makes university life a curse, as digital technology is a neccesity.
You are either surfing the net to improve on the notes the lecture gave you, getting notes from the lecture through your emails, or emailing coursework to the lecturer.
Some faculties no longer pin their examination results on the noticeboard; they are posted on the university website.
Are you up-to-date with SMS jargon?
Kate Washburn did not know what to make of the email a friend sent to her office with the abbreviation “NSFW†written at the bottom. Then she clicked through the attached sideshow, titled Awkward Family Photos.
It included shots of a family in furry nude suits and of another family alongside a male walrus in a revealing pose. After looking up NSFW on the Internet, she discovered what it stood for: “Not safe for work.â€
Here is a sample of popular shorthand texting terms.
UG2BK — You got to be kidding
GBTW — Get back to work
LOL — Laugh Out Loud
PIR — Parent in room
GFTD — Gone for the day
FYEO — For your eyes only
BI5 — Back in five minutes
DEGT — Don’t even go there
BIL — Boss is listening
PAW — Parents are watching
99 — Parents are no longer watching
PCM — Please call me
IMS — I am sorry
TOY — Thinking of you
KUTGW — Keep up the good work
CID — Consider it done
FWIW — For what it’s worth
HAND — Have a nice day
IAT — I am tired
NRN — No response necessary
4COL — For crying out loud
WRUD — What are you doing
LMIRL — Let’s meet in real life
High five
As text-messaging shorthand becomes increasingly widespread in emails, text messages and Tweets, people like Washburn are scrambling to decode it.
Taking time to learn the jargon may seem like a WOMBAT (Waste of money, brains and time).
But with over one trillion text messages sent and received in the US last year, according to CTIA, a wireless trade group, you run the risk of feeling out of it if you do not.
Online Sources
I have always thought I attended the best schools, including one where we had computer lessons (which I dogded), until I joined Makerere University and got a rude awakening; the schools had not been good enough — in the digital world.
In my first economics class, a lecturer introduced himself, teased us a little and introduced a topic, MDG, without telling us what the initials stood for. “Surf about MDGs on the internet and explain what uganda is doing to achieve the MDGs. It comprises 10% of your final mark. I want it in two days.†he said.
“Lord God,†I said to myself, “what will I do with the internet when I don’t even know how to switch on a computer?â€
Luckily, the next day, many students had surfed the net and got everything about MDGs (millenium development goals). I read the notes, did my assignment and handed in. I got the marks.
Quite proud and not willing to tell anyone about my plight, I continued evading the computer lab. But one of my classmates, a beautiful Munyankole girl whom God blessed with everything a man could want in a woman, challenged me into using the internet.
After collecting enough guts, I approached her and asked for her phone number. “No,I don’t give out my phone number, but we can exchange email addresses,†she said.
I was shocked. My excuse that I am too busy to check my email or send one fell on deaf ears. I took down her email address and assured her that mine was useless to her in the time being.
I swallowed my pride and went to the computer lab immediately. I realised 90% of the computer users were on Facebook, a social utility site.
The speed and ease with which they played with the keyboard and mouse mesmerised me. And many of them were my agemates.
“If you can’t change with change, change will change you,†they say, but change had taken long to change me. I realised I was a digital mufuruki in a digital world.
I am not the only victim. Almost 100% of the students from upcountry schools have issues with the computer. Obed, a first year Bachelor of Arts in Economics student, had his share of surprises.
The cause for the gap between we, the digital bafuruki and the digital natives, I assume, is majorly caused by differing educational backgrounds.
Students from first world schools like Namugongo, who are exposed to computers and a few who can afford other digital devices like ipods, have an advantage over their colleagues from upcountry schools, where computer lesssons are unheard of.
And the hussle of trying to fit in this digital world makes university life a curse, as digital technology is a neccesity.
You are either surfing the net to improve on the notes the lecture gave you, getting notes from the lecture through your emails, or emailing coursework to the lecturer.
Some faculties no longer pin their examination results on the noticeboard; they are posted on the university website.
Are you up-to-date with SMS jargon?
Kate Washburn did not know what to make of the email a friend sent to her office with the abbreviation “NSFW†written at the bottom. Then she clicked through the attached sideshow, titled Awkward Family Photos.
It included shots of a family in furry nude suits and of another family alongside a male walrus in a revealing pose. After looking up NSFW on the Internet, she discovered what it stood for: “Not safe for work.â€
Here is a sample of popular shorthand texting terms.
UG2BK — You got to be kidding
GBTW — Get back to work
LOL — Laugh Out Loud
PIR — Parent in room
GFTD — Gone for the day
FYEO — For your eyes only
BI5 — Back in five minutes
DEGT — Don’t even go there
BIL — Boss is listening
PAW — Parents are watching
99 — Parents are no longer watching
PCM — Please call me
IMS — I am sorry
TOY — Thinking of you
KUTGW — Keep up the good work
CID — Consider it done
FWIW — For what it’s worth
HAND — Have a nice day
IAT — I am tired
NRN — No response necessary
4COL — For crying out loud
WRUD — What are you doing
LMIRL — Let’s meet in real life
High five
As text-messaging shorthand becomes increasingly widespread in emails, text messages and Tweets, people like Washburn are scrambling to decode it.
Taking time to learn the jargon may seem like a WOMBAT (Waste of money, brains and time).
But with over one trillion text messages sent and received in the US last year, according to CTIA, a wireless trade group, you run the risk of feeling out of it if you do not.
Online Sources