I once had my hand slapped during a computer inservice. The instructor was clearly irritated that I wasn't catching on fast enough and stopped me from pushing any more keys. I was so embarrassed. It always seemed strange to me that teachers are expected to be patient, loving creatures, but they aren't always treated that way. It's kind of like teachers making logical decisions and then being told they have to follow some ridiculous policy instead. Anyway, I used to have a very healthy fear of technology because of some pretty bad computer training sessions.
For example, we had a one hour training and then were expected to know how to import and export our grades. Some teachers caught on and were good to go. Some of the rest of us sweated it out every three weeks when progress reports or report cards were printed. We would try to lean on a few people who knew what they were doing. Occasionally, we were called in because none of our grades exported, and students had blanks for our subjects. Eventually, I got it and loved helping others who were still having trouble.
I am still challenged by technology, but I'm not afraid of it anymore. I saw an ad in the paper last week, and for a mere twenty dollars an hour, an individual is willing to teach me how to use my digital camera. I can do some of the basic stuff, but there are a lot of gizmos on my camera that surely do something spectacular. The interesting thing to me is that my camera didn't even come with a book. It arrived all pink and shiny with a little brochure telling me how to quick start it. The real manual is online and consists of pages and pages that only confuse me.
Hopefully, I won't get my hand slapped. I am looking forward to someone patiently showing me how to use my camera. If I learn how to do something new, I will take some cool pictures for my blog.