I.T. Work Experience

I kick started my fantastic work experience by entering the information technology room of A.I.S. to meet my future boss, and to see the room I will be working in for the next five days. Mr. Izule, who was our boss and the head of I.T. in A.I.S. Bali, did not wanted to be called our boss, but as our co-worker. My second co-worker was my friend Ryan. And over the course of five days, Ryan and I both had a deeper understanding of the world of I.T.

DAY 1

          Day one was an introductory day. In this day, we got to know our work place, our new co-worker, computer skills, and each other.

Our first task was to decide what we wanted to work on for the week. We had to choose either hardware or software. Since both Ryan and I thought hardware was a stronger skill point, we went with that. Hardware is simply physical technology that we can hold in our hands. (e.g. CD ROM, hardrive, or USB drive) And software is the technical name for programs and features. (e.g. Adobe, Gamemaker , or Evernote) Since we had chosen hardware to work on, we were given the simple task of writing down the names of all hardware devices we have heard of, and finding out how these things work or affect our computer.

At the end of the day we were told to create our first computer.  We put a new CD ROM, hard-drive, and ram into a computer that only contained a main-board (main running system of all computers) and circuit cables. We then attached our new hardware into the computer with screws and then started her up for the first time. And she ran beautifully!

First Fix

DAY 2

          When we entered our work room for the wonderful crisp morning of day two, we were in for a surprise. Mr. Izule told us to watch a movie! The movie that we were told to watch was called Pirates of Silicon Vally, which was a movie about the birth of Apple Inc. and Microsoft Windows. The movie gave both Ryan and I a deeper understanding of the two technology giants and how different their operating systems became.

After the movie, we were told to install Windows XP for our first time to a computer. First we had to open the setup screen of the computer in the start up, to see if everything was in pristine order to install Windows. Then we ran the CD which contained the windows system, and entered the installation process, which took a total of an hour. While we were waiting, we were learning more about hardware and software on the internet, as Mr. Izule was very busy with his work. Then, as the time slipped slowly through our fingers, the computer was installed with a brand new operating system!

DAY 3

Day three was the biggest and hardest day we had in this experience. We started with the installation of school software for two brand new computers that came straight out of the box and lucky for us, it already had Windows in it!

 Next was testing fifteen old computers, one after the other. It turns out that two of these fifteen can go to the scrap yard, as we found out that they wouldn’t start up at all. That took up a massive chunk of time. Two Hours!

When we had finished testing these computers, we started installing another computer with Windows XP. This machine was a newer model from  the one we did the day before, so our installation time was cut down by fifteen minutes. This installation worked after our first three attempts.

Second Computer

The next task we had to complete was to create our own LAN cables that can connect to the internet. It wasn’t as easy as we thought it was going to be. First we had to line up the small eight cables in a colour order. If these coloured cables are placed in the wrong order, than the cable won’t function at all. I then tested my cable in a cable tester, and thank god that it worked after all the work I put into making it.

Steps for creating LAN Cable

 Our final task for the day was to wait for the I.T. classroom of A.I.S. to become completely empty, so that we can access all of twenty some computers that fill the classroom. Our mission was to install software called Evernote and Aku Shaper before four o’clock. We had a time limit because all the school computers have an automatic shut down time of four o’clock. So we were under the pump for one and a half hours. And it was also the perfect time to add one of our two new computers to the I.T. lab.

We ended up completing the mission just shy of four o’clock, and got to go home ten minutes earlier than expected.

DAY 4

In our penultimate day of work we began with the setup of the second computer we had received the day before. The rest of the day was really waiting for this new computer to install. We couldn’t do much else but help other people because Mr. Izule was very busy with his own work, which was too complicated for us. So we just sat and waited it out until two thirty, which was the time to add the last edition of new computers to the I.T. Lab.

DAY 5

Today was our last day. I was sad that we had to end in one week, because I loved this experienceL. The boss was nice, because he is very patient with us, and we didn’t have the usual stresses of working.

Today we immediately started installing Windows XP onto hard-drives. We only managed to install two only hard-drives, because of the distractions of many people coming in and out of the room seeking help with their computers.

Another job that we were given after the windows process was to test eighteen broken hard-drives. Our mission was to check if they were actually broken, or they just had a sticker with broken on it. It turns out that five of the eighteen were still functioning without any problems.

Our last mission of the day, and job experience was to burn software to nineteen CD discs. This task was told by a teacher to be completed before two thirty. And it was done with only a few minutes left to spare.

All this experience that I have learnt over the course of five days has really been a pleasure. I would like to thank Mr. Izule for being such a fantastic and kind work experience boss/teacher, giving us each a copy of Windows XP on a CD, and for also giving us each this awesome experience.