Almost 20 years ago I decided to be an Academic – a Computing Academic. I knew I had the knack to teach another; something about being able to make a machine do what you wanted it to also fascinated me. Together, the effect was electric: I was actually going to be paid for doing something I loved – teach Computing!
I think I had got the beginning right: you’ve got to love what you do, as Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple Computer would say in a Convocation Address at Stanford some 17 years later. A certain passion for what you do is an essential initial ingredient for one to be an effective and fulfilled worker in the area of work that he or she chooses.
Somewhere down the years however I lost it. It wasn’t as if it happened suddenly either. Teaching became less exciting and more of a chore; the rapid advancement of ICT made the sheer effort needed to keep abreast of technology appear almost not worth it. This period was interspersed with short periods of regained splendor as a new technology would fall into my comfort zone or when some particular aspect of my teaching could be made more attractive. These few-and-far-between aspects however, failed to form any kind of cohesive progress towards improved learning in my students.
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