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December 1, 2002
Using A Feminist Computer Analogy to Teach Hardware
By Nan Adams
Generally, teachers no longer fear touching the computer or trying to navigate the various icons and functionalities displayed on the computer screen. Our teacher population has matured in its interaction with technology. But the lack of technical computer support has emerged as a critical limiting factor to technology integration. So the notion that teachers should be able to provide first-line support and troubleshooting for classroom computing equipment has been the motivation for this development of a non-threatening, easy to understand explanation of computing machinery.
For several years it has been my task to help in-service K-12 faculty develop their skills and techniques with integration of technology into teaching practice through graduate level coursework. A Feminist Computer Analogy came to me full blown during one night's discussion in a graduate level teacher education class. My students were struggling to understand my attempts to explain basic computing machinery. I racked my brain for a comparable schema that would be readily understood by everyone in the classroom. Suddenly the following analogy appeared. I have been using this simple and somewhat humorous dialog for over 10 years now and it never ceases to please. In fact, I continue to receive applause at the end of each delivery.
Delivery Suggestions
To begin the discussion I usually pose the question, "Is the computer male or female?" Most participants actually do have an opinion. There are also many humorous lists of evidence for both male and female on the Web and I often use these to set the tone for the discussion. I try to make this discussion fun and participatory as most teachers have already experienced the drier and less interesting explanation of computing machinery. They enjoy the entertainment of this discussion. I withhold my opinion until last. Then I propose my opinion - that computers are definitely feminine -- and begin to provide the analogy.
At some time during the discussion, I assure my teachers that they aren't imagining things and that technologists do develop cryptic terms to make confusing what isn't really confusing at all. Some might call it arrogance, but I call it job security.
I often bring computer advertisements from the newspaper or sale magazines and have my students "shop" for different "mothers" for their classroom or their students. I find this provides the practice and practical application of the information they have just "discovered" and incorporated into their computer hardware schematic framework.
After the theatrical delivery of the analogy (be animated - don't hold back!) I find it very useful to have a computer available with its "guts" showing to point out the things we have discussed. This allows students to underscore their new understanding with a visual schema.
A Feminist Computer Analogy
The debate continues: are computers males or females? For the past 20 years I've been of the opinion that computers are females. I base this opinion on the evidence provided by the name given to the main piece of computing hardware. The MOTHERBOARD and her brain, the CPU (central processing unit), direct all critical processes of a computer. The word mother is defined as one possessing authority or protective care. The logic of this naming convention might be that a mother would possess the authority of organization, attention to detail and logic required to perform the millions of tedious, repetitive tasks required of computers to produce results.
A Review of the Evidence
If we accept the notion that computers are mothers, then peripherals such as printers, mice, CD-Rom drives, hard drives, and diskette drives are children. As with most children, one of Mom's main jobs is to check on them constantly. As a matter of a fact, each time Mom makes a complete round of checking on her "kids," it's called a cycle or a hertz. She has become so efficient in her job that she can manage over 800 million kid checks per second or, in computer terms, 800 megahertz (MHZ)!! I think we all can agree that she is a working mother.
Mom's Brain and Body.
Moms come from two main tribes, the MAC tribe and the IBM or WinTel Tribe. While these two tribes appear to be very different they really aren't. They have the same basic anatomy. Differences occur just as they do with cars. Different parts fit different models. For instance let's discuss Mom's brain, aka the CPU (central processing unit). Her brain has a part number that designates how much mental capacity she possesses. In the WinTel tribe examples of these increasingly more capable part numbers are '80286', '80386' and '80486'. Maybe you've heard of '386' or '486' computers. These terms refer to Mom's brain capacity and have been used as her name. With the introduction of the new brain part number '80586' her name became Pentium for the 5th generation in her brain capacity. MAC computers have followed the same path. MAC Moms use similar progressive part numbers to designate their brains, such as '68020', '68030', '68040' and so on. The type of brain and body Mom has is often referred to as her 'architecture'.
ROM
I have a kid with asthma who needs daily medication. To insure I don't forget his medication, I write a note to myself and stick it (with others) on the bathroom mirror so I will see it every morning before I wake him up. I call these my "MOM notes." Our computer Mom does the same thing with MOM notes. She has this thing called her ROM (Read Only Memory) or ROM-BIOS (bios meaning 'life'), and these are her "MOM notes." Say "MOM notes" and then "ROM notes"; sound similar, don't they? The ROM is where she leaves notes to herself concerning who she is, what children she has and how to communicate with them. When she gets a new kid, say, maybe a new printer, she has to "configure" herself to be able to talk to this new child. Essentially, she writes herself a new "MOM note" with all of this new kid's particulars, like how to talk to this new child. She often reboots herself to make sure her MOM note works and will be effective in the future. Every time we turn Mom on, she reads her MOM notes to remember who she is, who her children are, and what they need from her. Not so very different from us.
RAM
Okay, now how about RAM? Her RAM (Random Access Memory) is where she picks up and leaves the communications she sends to and from her peripherals or her kids. The more RAM she has, the more communication she can carry on. RAM increases her "speak space" so that every time she executes a cycle to speak with each of her kids (a mere 800 million times per second) she has the ability to exchange more dialog (information) on each cycle or visit with her children. Her RAM is also where she keeps much of the information she is working on at that particular time. She has some stuff called MAIN MEMORY, but that's often not enough to do the work she needs to get done, so then she uses her RAM to store the overflow.
Storage
Now let's talk about storage space. If the home filing cabinet is her hard drive or fixed storage, Mom's briefcase is logically her portable storage in the form of diskettes, zip disks and CD-ROMs. All of these storage devices hold "files," either portable or fixed. What changes is the size of her briefcase. CD-Roms hold the most, followed by zip disks and then diskettes holding the least amount of information or files.
The Big Finale
As we all know, many children claim superiority by aggrandizing their parents' abilities. But today the once-classic boast of "My dad can beat up your dad!" has lost popularity. Children now find one of the measuring sticks for being superior is in the amount of RAM and the speed and architecture of the motherboard of their home computers. More and more I hear "I have 128 MB of RAM" or "I have a Pentium IV" rather than "My dad can beat up your dad." Little do they know, all they are only using a variation on a theme. They are boasting "My Mom can do more work than yours!"
Email: Nan B. Adams
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