Today, I completed a two-day stint teaching at KMA in Yeouido. Once again, I peeked at my evals. This time around, I got 100% from all four students, who seem to have appreciated my teaching. But however much they appreciated the teaching, there was one thing they appreciated more: I introduced them to the wonderful world of Swype texting. Swype is a texting system that allows the user to write words on a touch-screen keyboard simply by swiping his or her finger across the screen. Instead of tapping out individual letters, a person can write whole words in a single stroke. In Korean, Swype is even better: entire sentences (like "Annyeonghasaeyo?") can be Swyped without lifting a finger. I showed the students a YouTube video of the hangeul version of Swype; inspired, two of them found and downloaded the app, while another student helped me convert my Roman keyboard—which already has Swype—to a Swype-friendly hangeul configuration. I had never Swyped in Korean before; this was as revolutionary for me as it was for my students who, once armed with new technology, came to view me as a sort of plump messiah—a keyboard demigod. Sadly, even though the two-day seminar was about basic presentation techniques, I suspect the only thing my students will remember will be their introduction to Swype.
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