“All I know is, I got up, went straight to my laptop and typed in the Learning Curves website address and began searching the archives.”

In this digital age, I’m not ashamed to say, never taken a “selfie”, not on social media. Not tweeted. Nor facebook friend-ed a soul.

The virtual world is not my favorite place. When there, I’m leery of it’s dark side – hacks, scammers, phishing, etc. 

Or just frustrated with “digitalese” and finding my way around the web.

So a few nights ago, when I woke up in the middle of the night. Got up. Walked over to my laptop, clicked it on. I didn’t recognize myself. Was that really me surfing the internet at that ungodly hour?

You see I had gone to bed frustrated. I was looking for something and couldn’t find it. That “something” was an article that I’d read in a copy of Learning Curves. I’d cut it out, to read again later. 

Yes, I still read newspapers and clip articles. 

The article in question was on saving your stuff in virtual files and folders. Specifically, knowing where to save stuff, so you can find them later. 

Incidentally, that day, I’d gone to the library and picked up the latest copy of Learning Curves. 

The layout and graphics were more colourful than I remembered. And 70 year old Lois Kamenitz, was on the front page telling her story. Lois was pursuing a PhD. Learning Curves has been at the forefront of life long learning telling stories like Lois’ since it began publication January 1999. It’s mandate is to inform and encourage an educated workforce, not just a skilled one.

I had met Wendy Terry, LC’s jane of all trades a few years ago, so I decided to call & compliment her on the issue.

I phoned and left her a message.  

A bit later, she called back. I told her the colour on the front page really made the issue stand out. That’s when she explained that a new volunteer was helping to improve the website. We chatted some more, then said our good nights. I went to bed soon after.

I don’t know what happened while I slept. Was it subliminal perception or something else?

All I know is, I got up, went straight to my laptop and typed in the Learning Curves website address and began searching the archives.

Their digital archives began in 2001 but I started my search in March 2009 and was greeted with: Anne McDonagh’s article: What we can learn from the recession.

Next, I clicked December 2011 piece by Deborah Noel “Learning Curves joins the 21st century. In the piece Deborah invites readers to use Facebook, Twitter, email and snail mail to get in touch. Another archived article, “Brock University’s Adult Ed Degree Doing it Online, by Heather Junke appeared in issue May/June 2011. Yes, I was still searching for the files and folder article, And still couldn’t find it. Instead, I got side tracked. Pleasantly. I spent the next three hours devouring a slew of articles. All well written. All informative. Ones like what to do to keep your job, once you’ve got one. Or “Data is the new black gold, by Sal Ahmed, Fall 2017. Others were troubling. Like disappearing jobs. Or what a future without jobs might look like.

As I time traveled the archives, I stumbled on another article. The person in the photo was someone I knew. There he was smiling and showing off his diploma. This young, bright former entrepreneur was according to the article about to begin a new chapter in his work life. Another equally inspiring piece was about Christina. She had obviously just learned to design her own website: www.numericaldictionary.ca. I googled Christina’s digital creation and saw what she’d accomplished. I understood right away why she was so proud of herself. But it was another article that really gave me goose bumps. This article showed a picture of a mature woman (50’s) showing off a dress she’d sown at TDSB, Western Tech sewing classes. The woman in the photo, taken in 1971, is Wendy’s mother, Winnie.

I didn’t find what I was looking for that night surfing Learning Curves’ website. And I don’t regret one minute of the time I spent there. Rather, I learned two things – with over 100+ issues published, Learning Curves is a gem of a publishing endeavor.  

Regards,

Leila