Comments on: For Ada, with Grace

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:00:34 +0000

Dawn, it was my pleasure. I've worked with technical people for a long time, and at its best, it's not only a meritocracy, it's a potentiality: you can strive for wahtever appeals to you. Just this past year, I came across Head First HTML, a skillful combination of engaging presentation and solid technical details, co-authored by Elisabeth Robson.

By: Dawn Carter

Dawn Carter — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:25:24 +0000

Thank you so much for this post. I didn’t know about this day either, until someone twittered about it. What a treat it was to read some of the blog posts introducing me to some amazing women.

As a woman in the tech field, I am a beneficiary of the headway these scientists, programmers and pioneers made. I stand, gratefully, on their shoulders.

Dawn Carter
@decart

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:50:23 +0000

Ann, I’ve read that Grace Hopper spoke often to students, encouraging them to learn about technology and how to apply it.

She’s also the mother of one of my favorite analogies. Talking about the speed of light, and how it affects the speed of processing in a computer, she explained a nanosecond: it’s the time it takes something traveling at the speed of light to move down an 11-inch sheet of paper.

By: Ann Yakimovicz

Ann Yakimovicz — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:29:59 +0000

Dave…

Thanks for a nice post to celebrate Women’s History Month. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Women’s Museum is in Dallas, Texas and is well worth a side trip if you’re in the area.

I recall getting a D on a paper in 6th grade because I wrote about Harriet Tubman and her amazing work with the underground railroad at the time of the Civil War, not considered a “suitable” topic at the time by my femal teacher. It’s good to think about things like this occasionally and ask yourself how your own blind spots about the value of certain content may influence what’s included in training. Yes, there can be SMEs involved, but a great instructional designer knows how to influence them in the “right” direction .

…Ann