Do I really have a clue about how computers work and how to set them up? Nope. Am I able to get them to work and make a few good guesses about where to plug in cords, etc? Yep.
I just set up my new wireless modem so I can use my new MacBook from home. I really don’t know what I’m doing. Those people that make the pictures on the quick set-up guide are pretty good. I follow the directions on the pictures and presto: it worked. Of course, I did call to find out the code so I could access my wireless from my laptop. Uh… the code is printed on the modem. Yeah, I felt kind of dumb. Oh well…
I think I’m going to tell this story in class. There are a lot of things that you don’t actually know how to do. But if you give them a try, they just might work. I recall many times when I was a student, following the pattern of steps in a math problem, not understanding what I was doing, and somehow magically getting the correct answer. The point is that it doesn’t hurt you to try. And heck- you just might get it right!
