by Beverly Hicks Burch

Created on: January 12, 2008

Learning is a lifetime experience. It doesn't stop once we receive a certain degree or certification or when we reach a certain age. As a result our education can continue far into our adulthood.

Many of us for one reason or the other continue our formal education once we segue into adulthood. For some, further education is a necessity, others a luxury and others it's for the shear joy of learning.

Regardless of your motive, one thing is a given. You will encounter a computer in school. It will be even more frustrating and demoralizing if you're computer illiterate.

If you plan on continuing your formal education, whether in a physical classroom or through online courses, a computer will become a vital tool and to your advantage to learn how to use one. Why?

If you take English, literature, history, economics, sociology or any other class imaginable more than likely you will be required to write a paper. I remember the grueling days of churning out papers by hand and a standard typewriter.

Nowadays thanks to computers, we have wonderful word processing software that makes document formation a breeze. Built within these programs are spelling checkers, grammar checkers, dictionaries, and abilities that make paper writing stupendously easy.

Research for your paper is available thanks to the World Wide Web that is literally at your fingertips. By using a simple search engine like Google you can type in your topic and in a matter of seconds you will have hundreds if not thousands of potential resources to delve into from all over the world.

If you take a more technical or mathematically oriented class, the same applies. Many computers are built to be heavy number crunchers making them right up the alley for tech and math courses.

Computers have replaced slide rules, calculators and even finger counting! You can prepare spreadsheets, balance sheets and presentations on the computer with the proper software. Engineering students now "draw" with CAD programs...a computerized automated 3-D program.

Business students benefit from computers just as much with accounting, bookkeeping, tax prep software and software that helps you write business plans yours for the having...IF you are computer literate.

Are you returning to school for pleasure? Just to take some classes in an "adult continuing education program"? A lot of these "fun" courses will still require you to encounter the computer. You might want to learn to "build a family website" or digitally store you family photos in

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