PostsComments

The Mighty Korean School Computer

All you have to do is ask around to teachers in Korea about their computer situation and you’ll likely get the same answer.  They’re BEAT!  I was not left out of this either.  For 4-5 months of my first year I sat in the back of the classroom to use the even older computers to check email and whatnot because the one at my desk was shot.  That meant I couldn’t do anything for lessons other than worksheets.

If you know about teaching English in Korea you’ll know that the sight of more paperwork to a student is like Kryptonite. 

So this was a frustrating time for me in the classroom.  My school finally swapped out the dead PC for another computer and it seemed to be working fine until about the end of last semester – around December 2012.  It started moving at a snail’s pace and I pretty much couldn’t do a dag nabbit thing with it.  A simple task like playing an MP3 was too much for it.

I started pinging my boss about the computer from that point on.  Just to keep the bug alive in her mind.  But with budget constraints and being a typically overloaded Korean teacher, there was little she could do.  That was until one fateful day while the school was preparing for the English listening exams.  This co-teacher I mention is also the department head.  When she needed to use some multimedia in my room she found out first hand the digital hell I’d been living in for months.  I know it’s sadistic to say, but I was nearly brought to cackling tears watching her flounder with the decrepit unit.  It was the moment I’d been waiting for.  That was all she wrote.

Within 2 weeks I had a brand new computer (albeit very base) sitting under my desk.  The CCTV system was separated and the computer is now stand alone and working like a charm.  I’m in another world at the moment since I can now use all the different formats for lesson planning to bring the kids to life again.  Superman has taken care of the Kryptonite!

Squeaky wheel…

Here’s a video tour of my new computer and workstation in my classroom.  I’m nearing the end of my second year and now that I got the new set up, I don’t want to give it up.  Dear EPIK…please re-sign me!


Share Your Thoughts

*

Loading Facebook Comments ...