Author: Tariq Bitar

Many moons ago when I was a nipper, I had the delight of taking typing lessons.  I was lucky to be able to ‘do’ commercial and secretarial courses at school – but we didn’t have E-education or online learning to speed the learning along.   We had two excellent shorthand and typing teachers and each had their own unique wat of getting us to touch type without cheating and looking at the keys and without resorting to the nasty typing erasers.  Once we had shown some proficiency in the home keys: A,S,D,F,G,F. :,L,K,J.H.J , we were able to speed along to the lower line and then the top row.  How I remember the fits of giggles when we really got up a head of steam and starting typing to music.  Rossinni’s William Tell Overture.  Many years alter I joined another typing class of sorts – but a distincly online version – European computer driving licence, with all the ms packages.  Great fun.

Oh how I remember when offices didn’t have computers – let alone lap tops, palm pdas etc. etc. and the first mobile phone in the building was such a massive great thing – it was pretty hilarious to look at.  When our managers did at last decide that enough was enough, we’d fallen behind quite quickly and thus it was high time we took the bull by the horns and got online – big time!  So the very long winded business of building online operational systems with accounts, orders in, stock movements, delivery notes and invoices out etc. etc. All that took a couple of years to develop, with the help from the international community within the administrative group.  There were no such things as e-learning, online education or VLE software.  We were lucky to be given a mouse and mat with instructions to play Solitaire to get us used to pointing at the screen!

I have been watching many old documentaries on catch up tv on my ipad.  This is a constant pleasure and all the more because I never know what’s going to pop up on screen at any one time.  There is one series based around London, made between 1965 and 1991.  Just odd sequences of black and white film showing all kinds of London areas.  Covent Garden fruit market costa mongers, then it might jump to Borough Market or Petticoat Lane market.  These social history documentaries are a truly inspiration lesson to all generations – take pictures, videos and keep records of how we live now.   Learning how to read the history behind the lens is vital for all kinds of subjects.  When you take up a software training package, knowing how to read properly what you see in front of you is not something we always appreciate at the time.  Learning to learn is the key.