【In a Grain of Sand】－從潛水到「上網」
STUDENT IN VENEZUELA, LATIN AMERICA
委內瑞拉學生，拉丁美洲
From diving to 'surfing'
從潛水到「上網」
Rogelio Morales, Central University of Venezuela（委內瑞拉中央大學）
A metallurgical engineering graduate of the University of Venezuela, Rogelio Morales has some unusual entries on his resume. For one thing, he is a licensed commercial diver, and once worked as a professional diver for eight months in Seattle, Washington.
身為委內瑞拉中央大學冶金工程學研究生，Rogelio Morales的履歷表上有著一些不尋常的項目。其中之一是，他是一位有執照的商業潛水員，曾經在華盛頓州西雅圖市擔任八個月的職業潛水員。
Morales loved his underwater work, but quickly decided that he was more interested in underwater inspection than in commercial diving. This led him back home, to a master’s program at Central University of Venezuela in non-destructive testing. “It’s a less-invasive method of testing,” Morales explains. “You don’t have to destroy something to see if it is warped. You can use different methods, like X-rays, testing magnetic particles, and ultrasonic. It fits in well with my background in metallurgical engineering.”
Morales喜愛他的水下工作，但是不久便確定他對水下檢查的興趣多過於商業潛水。這引導他回到家鄉加入委內瑞拉中央大學的非破壞性測試碩士班。Morales解釋:「它是一個較不具侵入性的測試方法，你不須為了檢視某個東西是否反常而毀壞它。你可以用一些不同的方法，像是X光、測試磁性粒子和超音波。它完全契合我的冶金工程學背景。」
Morales first encountered MIT’s OpenCourseWare when he was looking on the Internet for information on stereoscopic vision, which has enormous potential for divers encountering turbid water conditions. Morales was able to find helpful information on MIT OCW, especially in Course 9.537 – Special Topics in Vision Science. The projects for Course 13.017 – Design of Ocean Systems I, also provided Morales with a wealth of new and useful concepts.
Morales第一次遇到麻省理工學院的「開放式課程計畫」（MIT’s OpenCourseWare，MIT OCW）是當他在網際網路上尋找實體鏡的視覺資料之時，該資料說明在遭遇混濁水域狀況時對潛水員有許多可能性。Morales能夠從MIT OCW找到有幫助的資料，尤其是在9.357－2001課程－視覺科學特論課程中（Course 9.537 – Special Topics in Vision Science）。13.017－課程海洋系統設計I （Course 13.017 – Design of Ocean Systems I）專案，也提供Morales豐富的新的和有用的概念。
Morales acknowledges that some of the same ideas he has found on MIT OCW are probably also available in the Central University library, in books or journals. “But with books,” he argues, “it’s much harder to find this information in a timely fashion. And with OCW, you also know that it’s new information.”
Morales承認他在MIT OCW所找到的，可能也能從委內瑞拉中央大學圖書館（書籍或期刊中）找到一些相同的概念。他辯解:「但是用書籍，很難適時地找到這類資訊。而用OCW你會知道它是新資訊。」
Morales has been quick to share information about MIT OCW with other students—and professors—in his program. “I often download information from the Web site in different topics,” he explains, “and give it to a professor in my faculty. Sometimes we discuss the information, other times they use the slides from the site in class. It’s a great resource.”
Morales立即和在他的計劃中的其他學生以及教授們分享有關MIT OCW的資訊。他解釋:「我時常從網路下載不同主題的資訊，並且交給我的學院的一位教授。有時候我們討論這些資訊，其他時候他們在課堂上用來自網站的投影片。它是很好的資源。」
Morales also feels that MIT OCW has a broader potential in Venezuela. “Not everybody in Venezuela has the opportunity to go to college,” he points out. “It’s really hard to get in to university. So OCW is a great option. For example, there’s a program here called New Neighborhood. They use OCW to download information for poor people on technology, or humanities, or other areas. This has allowed a lot of people to access this information who might otherwise have been unable to do so. OCW has enormous potential for our country.”
Morales也覺得MIT OCW在委內瑞拉有寬廣的可能性。他指出:「在委內瑞拉不是每個人都能上大學。進入大學真的很難。因此OCW是很棒的選擇。譬如，這裡有一個計劃稱為<新鄰居>。他們用OCW為窮人下載科技、人文或其他領域的資訊。這讓很多以別的方式無法做到的人得以接觸這類資訊。OCW對我們的國家來說有無數的可能性。」
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