...Final...

I seemed to miss Chapter 10 for some reason. And now that the semester has come to close I would like to end this properly, by covering Ch. 10 as well as giving a final summary of the class and Dr. Tuggle.

Almost all of Chapter 10 was a bit of a blur for me. Paired with Chapter 9, and earning me the lowest test grade in the class, just proved how much knowledge I had actually absorbed from it. One thing I feel like I understood was the system conversion section. Of course like most concepts I understood in this course, I can thank the CLPOA for the knowledge it instilled in me. We had a system which our computer tech created himself, and even though it certainly wasn't perfect, it was almost always functional. One of the main problems, however, was that even though they were not flat files, some of the screens or functions behaved as such. One of the even bigger obstacles was that we had to give handwritten receipts out, instead of being able to enter a payment into the system, and then have a receipt print out. That was one of the new applications that we hired a second computer tech on to work towards, building a new system in which things would run more smoothly, and bring us into the 21st century.

The system conversion that was being implemented seemed to be a cross b/w parallel and pilot, with the pilot locations being the different departments using a mix of the new and old systems, such as the ACC (architectural control committee) and Accounting, while our Member Services Dept. had no access to any of the new system components. Interestingly enough, a year plus after I have worked there, I still do not know if they ever got the new system up and running.

This class was particularly difficult for me in the sense that I learn by doing thing hands on. As me to create a data table after demoing one in class, no problem, as me to set up an Excel spreadsheet w/ cell referencing + addressing, you got it. Test me on concepts...not so much. Even though Dr. Tuggle did a great job at his demonstrations, lecturing over powerpoints, and including news reports and daily little activities, I still feel that this material is difficult for even the most techie minded to grasp. All in all I put everything I could into this class, and I feel that Dr. Tuggle needs to be commended for being so supportive and understanding. For those of you actually reading these blogs for some strange reason unbenownst to me, thank you. But I will no longer be posting new ones, as today was the last day of class, and almost the end of the semester.