fandomhigh | Intro to 21st Century American Culture - Monday

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Intro to 21st Century American Culture - Monday - Period 5

When the students arrive, they see a row of tables along each side of the classroom. The row on the left has a number of telephones and the row on the right has a number of computers.

"Afternoon, everyone," Lorelai said once they'd all arrived and taken their seats. "Today we're going to learn about modern technology. Communication is a very important part of our society and, currently, the most efficient and widely used methods of communication are the telephone and the internet."

She went on to give a brief history of the telephone and the internet.

"Now, half of you can play with the phones and the other half can play with the computers. In twenty minutes, we'll switch, so everyone has a chance to try everything. Marty, Jaye and I will be around to help if you need it. And those of you who have already mastered these skills can offer help as well."

[~~wait for~~ ocd up! Class Info Post]

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Lyra smiled back. "I'm Lyra. And just to get it out of the way quickly, I'm from another world, where we don't have things like computers or, uh, A-T-Ms. I know how to make the arrow thingy move with the dome thingy, but that's about it."

Mac is not doing well at hiding her horror, a world without technology? Seriously? "Well, you'll soon be glad you moved here," she said.

"If you're wanting to find your way round a computer, you're in the right place. I can totally help."

Lyra laughed at the horrified look on her face. "It's not all bad. Until I came here, I'd no idea what I was missing. And yes, I need desperately to know how to use one of these things."

She gestured to the chair beside Mac. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Mac nodded and waved at the seat, "go for it."

"Okay, so what I'm doing isn't very educational," she grinned guiltily. "You basically bounce these little piggies off the balloons, and land them one on top of the other. It's kinda weird come to think of it. Might help you get the hang of controlling the mouse though. You want to try?"

Lyra nodded, looking a little perplexed at why anyone would make a game like that. She played for a while, until she was a little better at moving the mouse where it was supposed to go. Then she leaned back and looked at Mac.

"Okay, what's next? E-mail maybe? My professors keep mentioning it, but I don't know what it is."

Mac grinned, "Aren't they cute! I want to make something like that for my site. Except I was thinking turtles."

"I can do an intro to email, sure. You'll probably be needing it round here." She fiddled on the screen for a moment, banishing the little piggies to the taskbar. "Do you have a school email already? It'd probably be Lyra dot whatever your surname is, at fandomhigh dot net."

"Wait, wait. Talk to me like I'm an idiot child." Lyra pointed to the bottom of the screen. "What did you just do to make it go away? Oh, and it's Belacqua: b-e-l-a-c-q-u-a."

Mac smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I tend to get excited, then I ramble, and then I confuse the hell out of people. Slow. Right."

"The little box with the line in it there, means I can make that box you were bouncing pink mammals in go away," she quickly corrected herself, "or at least, not be onscreen squeaking and boinging right now."

"Oh, I see now. I think my orientation packet said something about having an email, uh, address?" Lyra said.

"Yeah, you've probably been allocated one already." Mac pointed at the screen, "You see that little icon with the 'e' on? That gets you internet, and email. Email is basically just a way to keep in touch with people, like regular mail just instantaneous. You need an address so people know where to send stuff to."

Lyra watched over Mac's shoulder, memorizing everything the other girl did. Pan crawled up onto the top of her head to get a better view. "So, email and, what did you call it, the internet? They're connected?" Lyra hoped she didn't sound too pathetic.

Mac nodded, she seems strangely unalarmed by the fact there's an animal crawling over Lyra. It's possible she just hasn't noticed. "Yeah, they are. You generally don't get one without the other. The internet? Also awesome, but that's another lesson for another time."

She clicked the icon, and pointed at the FH homepage. "This should come up first on every computer on this netwo--, uh, in this school. You just click on the text that says 'Email' on it."

"Right, email first, internet later. I don't want to get too confused." Lyra flashed a grateful smile at Mac. "And thank you, I appreciate this a lot."

She tilted her head slightly, causing Pan to nearly slide off. "Why are you taking this course? It seems as if you know it so far."

"I'm happy to help you out. I'm totally in my element here." Mac grinned, and continued to click away.

"I know most of it, but I figure it's good to keep up with everything. Plus, sounded kinda fun."

"And it'll be nice to have a class that one can ace with very little effort, eh?" Lyra asked shrewdly. She grinned.

"Alright. So, say I wanted to send an email to you. What would I do?"

Mac laughed and nodded, "Yeah, that too. It's the same reason I took the internet class. Easy, fun, and I get to be TA in that one. It's great."

"Right, to send me an email, you click 'compose' up at the top there. Then, type Cindy dot Mackenzie at fandomhigh dot net in the address box up here. Your message goes in the box in the middle, and just press 'Send'." Mac nodded towards the computer. "You want to try?"

"Brilliant." After one or two false starts, Lyra managed to type out a simple thank you note for Mac, probably boring her to tears as she hunts and pecks for letters. At least she's used to English, she saw Luke somewhere typing with a dictionary's aid. She hit 'send,' and sat back triumphantly.

"How'd I do?"

[ooc: omg, most addicting game evar.]

Mac grinned, "You did good! Congratulations on an email well sent. I should find that in my inbox when I next check. It'll get easier, I promise."

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Intro to 21st Century American Culture - Monday - Period 5

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