diane writes:
>on computers, turn-taking is contradictory to the hardware - one mouse,
>one keyboard, one user, the tech is hardwired for single-user mastery.
>turn-taking in these contexts is a little peculiar, or that's my take
>anyhow.
>how do any of us manage to share our computers?
as a computer lab teacher in an elementary school, i deal with this on a
daily basis.
if i have two kids using one computer (it happens sometimes because i have
more kids than computers, and sometimes i make it a requirement) then i do
what i call "half time" (gotta love those sports metaphors!) and half way
through the class i make the two kids switch seats so that the one who was
sitting in front of the mouse for the first half has to physically give
way to her/his partner.
kids who are not used to this kind of enforced sharing resist it in a
variety of ways (lots of data for gender studies, to be sure).
sometimes i have a group of three kids who beg me to let them be a team of
three. usually it's girls caught in the double bind of trying to be two
best friends. not always, though . . .
once i saw a group of five boys sharing a computer. they were playing a
game that was basically a video game for the computer. they coordinated
using the mouse, pressing special function keys (to make their character
jump or fly) and giving directions on where to move and how to deal with
the obstacles.
the hardware is not designed for it, but like essential human
characteristics, that does not make something impossible.
kathie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Words are the thunders of the mind.
Words are the refinement of the flesh.
Words are the responses to the thousand curvaceous moments---
we just manage it---
sweet and electric, words flow from the brain
and out the gate of the mouth.
We make books of them, out of hesitations and grammar.
We are slow, and choosy.
This is the world.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary Oliver - The Leaf and the
Cloud
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Katherine_Goff@ceo.cudenver.edu
http://ceo.cudenver.edu/~katherine_goff/index.html
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