Olivet Tour

Olivet Engineering Tour a Success

Members of the Kankakee River Valley Computer User Group and the Kankakee Area Macintosh Users Group along with a large cadre of guests were greatly impressed during last night's (8/8/2016) presentation by Jon Evans, Olivet instructor. 

To all eighteen personal computer power users and pioneers, Evans gave an introduction to product design software; showed the power tools and cnc (computer numerical control) equipment needed for fabrication and discussed the applications and finishing touches appropriate for various products.



 

The evening ended with a flood of questions and answers regarding the evolution from personal computers to personal fabrication.
 
The tour was organized by 
K. L. Mathers, computer user group leader and Makerspace developer.

  






A THANK YOU FOR ALL ATTENDEES

 Thank you to all who were curious enough to investigate a touch of the present/future as seen at Olivet last night.  An especially hearty thanks go to those who asked probing questions and who invited/brought guests with them.

I fervently believe in the evolution of personal computing into personal fabrication. That is why I have been involved creating and promoting Makerspaces for the past 10 years. Since a part of Makerspaces involve cnc equipment, it is natural to find computer users throughout.

I do hope all guests will receive your personal invitations to attend the computer user group of their choice.  The curious how-to get things done nature of user groups is shared with those who believe we in USA need to reclaim our abilities to create and make things here.  But these essential cooperative groups can only continue through further exploration; the financial support and participation of their members.

By participating in activities such as this and by helping your user groups to grow, you are helping others in positive, productive ways.

Thank you.

Kris

August Meeting

There was a presentation by Merrie and Jeanne, two local special ed teachers about on-line education from Olivet and also from Governors state.  There is faculty support and according to the survey in 2012 62% of students were using on-line education.

The disadvantage for on-line education is you need to be self-disciplined to do your own work.  There is no teacher to push you to do your homework.  Not all classes are covered by financial aid.  If there are computer problems or the internet goes down it is still your responsibility to deliver assignments.  There may not be a discussion group or feedback from other students. Tests are usually essay type tests, not multiple choice.  Teachers are not always available if you have a problem.  There is massive reading and writing.

Some of the advantages are that you can make your own hours. You can take more classes and you can save on gas since you don't have to leave your home.  The price of the text is included in the price of the class.  They send you the text when you pay for the class.

KCC offers discounts for seniors over 65.  Some of the classes are free and some are only $3.00. Lifelong learning classes can be an hour to days long for a nominal fee.

Melody gave a demo on apps for the IPAD, IPhone and Android.  The first one demonstrated was "Magnifying Light".  You can aim the camera and zoom up to 500 times.  This comes in handy when trying to read the small print on a prescription bottle or in the phone book.  If you are ever wanting to play a game and can't find the dice you can get the app "Shake'em Dice."  You can choose how many dice and just shake your mobile device for the dice to move.  Another program she showed was "Hello, Hello".  This app is for learning another language.  It has about 10 different languages.  Initially it's free, but costs  $4.99 for the full version for 1 language but you can get all the languages for about $10.00.

Pam and Sarah, mother & daughter, described home schooling environments and curriculum used by members of the Kankakee Christian Home Schoolers.

Openculture.com and major universities were also highlighted by Kris as a resource for free classes on virtually any topic.