The Star~~~Learning new skills

Learning new skills

The Star

Net surfing is not a panacea for a boring life of retirement. It is, however, a fascinating window to the world.

CERTAIN Information and Communications Technology (ICT) knowledge and skills which I picked up have come in handy after my retirement.

In the early-80s, when I was teaching in Cameron Highlands, I heard of the PC being introduced in Malaysia. However, I did not come across anybody using it in the highland during that time, or at least none of my school colleagues used it although at times they did casually mention it.

So whenever I went back to my hometown, Ipoh, during the holidays and on weekends, I would browse in computer shops to have a closer look at that machine.

As with most laymen, I had a phobia about PCs.

My real contact with computer hardware and software came when the National Union of Teaching Profession arranged for some of its members to attend a one-week computer literacy course at Universiti Sains Malaysia. There I picked up dBase2, BASIC programming, Wordstar and a variety of courseware.

I was particularly interested in Wordstar, a word-processing package, which was of great practical value to me in preparing school documents.

As I was teaching English, I found the word processor a fantastic tool as it could manipulate words easily, instantly and neatly, and print the final output in a professional, nice-looking format.

Compared to this state-of-the-art technological creation, my loyal age-old typewriter looked awfully awkward and backward.

My interest in computing prompted me to go for further studies in this field.

I was lucky enough to have been chosen for a one-year full-time Computer in Education course at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

That led me to my obtaining a Master's degree from Universiti Malaya; my thesis was related to using word processing as a writing tool.

Five years before my retirement, using all the computing knowledge and skills at my disposal, I explored the Internet and enjoyed surfing the Net for sense and nonsense.

I began sending e-mails to friends. These e-mails reached their destinations so quickly that the traditional posts and even express mails appeared slow in comparison.

I also learnt additional computing skills on a DIY-basis and from friends who were more advanced than I in ICT.

Now, six years into my retirement, I have been using the computer continuously for communication, preparing documents, setting examinations and gathering information.

Nowadays, I teach English in private institutions, partly out of pleasure and partly due to “pressure” (for the ringgit and sen).

I have picked up PowerPoint presentation skills, learnt how to save data in a thumb-drive or flash-card and how to burn CDs.

Quite recently, I learnt how to print photos using my ink-jet printer. I have also learnt how to prepare name cards using some ready-made, photo-sensitive template papers.

In addition, I have bought a webcam and started capturing my family members in action.

Next, I will “chat face-to-face“ with my son, who works in Hong Kong, via video-conferencing.

I have created a blog where I can post pictures and messages, and another blog where I post my students' compositions, extra assignments and general information. Hopefully this can serve as a useful platform for e-learning.

The Internet is fascinating. I can sit in front of my PC for hours, searching for information from around the world. Of course, Net surfing is not a panacea for a boring life of retirement. It is merely a window to the world. It is a worthwhile hobby. Few retired people can use the Net for life-long earning, but surely they can use it for life-long learning.


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