Growing up in the 80's...

Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of spending 5 days facilitating 'Designing for Learning' events in Hailsham, East Sussex. One participant from the secondary sector had asked his students to engage in an open-ended problem based task/project as part of their History lessons. The products were impressive and really provoked dialogue between everyone. 

The 'History of Women's Fashion 1900-2000' caught my interest…and I turned immediately to the 1980's - my teenage era. 

"Pirate style…power dressing…shoulder pads…designer labels…look as if you had made it"

I have to admit that my first reaction was to laugh loudly. Images and memories came flooding back! From clothes, we moved onto TV programmes with big shoulder pads - 'Dynasty', 'Dallas' and 'The Colbys'. Much laughter ensued.

A few days later, on a more serious note, I started to reflect on technology in the 80's. The 'space invader' game, my Spectrum 48k computer with rubber keys, our first video recorder (did we opt for VHS or Betamax?), vinyl records, telephones with cords and the dial that you operated by putting your finger in the metal ring and pulling it round. 

On talking to my 14 year old nephew, he was aghast…and I think the comment went something like, 

"Lynne - were you really alive in those olden times?!"

In the 90's, I was at University. My campus had the first of the internet regional servers. I remember attending a seminar, sitting on stools in the library back area. We were about to get our first taste of this thing called 'the world wide web'. 

As they put in a search term chosen by us, I sat waiting. Intrigued. 10 minutes passed by…20 minutes…almost 30 minutes. And then some information popped up. 

My reaction as a 'trainee teacher'…

"This internet thing will never catch on! Can you imagine having to wait 30 minutes for it to work whilst sitting with a class! What a nightmare!"

How little did I know!

(And the search term we asked for…Emma by Jane Austen! We were writing assignments on this and thought we could do with a bit of free research from the 'world wide web'!)

Reflective question for you all: When did you first hear about/use the internet? Where were you? What were your initial thoughts/reactions?