School & technology... you've come a long way baby...

Sometimes it amazes me how the Internet has changed things. So many things are easier than the old days... pay bills online, talk to people across the US, look up maps for any address in the world, find store hours without having to call or drive there, etc.

It turns out it's made going to college easier too. I'm not just talking about the "online universities", but the brick-n-mortar schools too.

Keep in mind what things were like when I was in high-school... my "technology" was using an electric typewriter to write my senior thesis. Sure, it was in the computer-age (late 80's-early 90's), however even though my friends had computers I did not. Sort-of like how in the early 1900's there were automobiles and yet a lot of folks still used horses and carriages. I was the horse & carriage type. But I developed computer fever in the mid-90's when AOL became a household word. I haven't left my computer desk since... just ask Hubby, he complains that I spend more time with the computer than with him...

Anyway, back to my point. Now that I'm going back to college, it's so cool how much easier it is to do everything.

Registering for classes-
Then: going to the campus, standing in line after line, trying to juggle arranging class schedules so that they don't overlap, hoping that the classes you want don't get filled before you can get in.
Now: All the class registration was done online... it shows what classes are available for what time and you just click on the ones you want, and everything is handled from the comfort of your home in 5 minutes.

Applying for grants, loans, etc-
Then: Go to campus to pick up forms, fill out forms, buy stamps, postal mail to whatever location, wait... wait... wait... twiddle thumbs and fret about money... call campus financial aid office 80 times to ask about receiving it.
Now: Fill out forms online from the comfort of your own home in 15 minutes... wait 2 days... go to the financial aid website 80 times to see if you received it.

Getting textbooks, supplies-
Then: heck I don't remember what we did... I've slept since then... I think it involved getting a copy of a paper list... somewhere... then drive to student bookstore to see if they still have used books that you need. If not you were up the creek, had to go find a new book... somewhere.
Now: online you just click on the course description and instructor, and it tells you what textbooks you'll be needing. You still have the option of going to the student bookstore, or you can go to Amazon.com and see a plethora of used books at rock-bottom prices... from the comfort of your home...

Notice of closings for inclement weather, etc-
Then: sit around all morning watching the news waiting to see whether the name of your school is listed as being closed... they were always in alphabetical order and murphy's law was that you always turned it on right after your school would have just been shown, meaning you'd have to sit through the whole rest of the alphabet waiting to get around to your school again.
Now: This is really neat- the campus has given each student a "Campus Cruiser" account... your own campus e-mail, school announcements are sent to you including notices of school closings.

Getting assignments-
Then: Instructor hands out assignments, hopefully you didn't skip class that day.
Now: Your class assignments are posted on your Campus Cruiser account. Not only that, but message boards are set up for assignments so that you can discuss the project with other students in the class. How cool is that?

Getting grades, test scores, etc-
Then: Ask the instructor.
Now: Also in the Campus Cruiser, it automatically shows you your grades from assignments, test scores, and GPA.

Other things this Campus Cruiser thing does-
Has links to your instructor's webpages so you can learn about them, class schedule, task scheduler, personal calendar, address book, store your files online, e-mail your assignments to your instructor, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff I haven't seen yet.

So anyway, it's just astounding to me how much things have changed with the Internet.

And yes, I'm starting to get excited about school now that it's getting closer. Of course it'll probably be like in high school... you're excited about the semester starting but then after 2 days you realize you have 5 months of hell to go.

I start classes on Wed, January 17. I'll be taking regular classes on Mondays & Wednesdays- classes are:
Drawing I 11:15-2:05
Intro to Computer Graphics 4:00-5:50
Digital Publishin I 6:00-8:45pm

And then one online course:
Business and Professional Communication

So Mondays & Wednesdays will be long school days, and then I'll work my job on Tuesdays, Fridays & Saturdays. I'll have days off from both on Thursdays & Sundays.

Hubby just started a new sales job... plus he still has his own business he's been doing all this time manufacturing batteries for his customer in Ohio... if it works out alright on money, maybe I can quit my job and just concentrate on school... maybe. Again, we'll see how things work out.