Reflecting on Digital Technology for the School Librarian
Information, information, and more information.
This course enabled me to utilize this boon. It facilitated the change of perspective to something tangible, malleable, and something that can be tailored to favor particular student groups. It gave me direction, ideas, and provided a forum to share these ideas with others. Along with that, this course created a controlled environment to truly immerse myself in the methodology, philosophy, and practicality of simple things like images (Instagram, Snapchat, Comics, Cartoons), sound (Soundcloud) and videos (Vine, Snapchat, Screencast-O-Matic, Jing, Animoto), and social media (Twitter and Facebook). There are others, but now I have the opportunity to create lessons with intent.
Yes, students have these technologies at their fingertips already. Most would say, "Why have the library? It's useless... I have my phone. I don't need the library." It's a damaging statement that lacks validity and a realistic mindset. A librarian is the missing link between the user and the phone, tablet, or computer. Managing the immense information deluge needs a human finessing to lessen the blow and allow the users to decipher and discover what they can truly do with these technologies. It's the horrid recording one gets when they're calling a company for service. No one wants to hear, "Press 1 for..." People crave the service aspect of technology. This course has taken technology from the entertainment realm and facilitated an educational application. I'm excited to know the different perspectives, ideas, and lessons surrounding them.
Without a human diffuser, technology will always be this unharnessed power that causes frustration, time mismanagment with the finality of mere entertainment. Entertainment is well and good, but technology offers so much more than that. If manipulated and wielded with the appropriate expertise, technology can do so much more for the student body, faculty, and staff, than each individual in these groups could ever accomplish on his or her own.
I can truly say I have direction, ideas, engagement, - transcendence.
One feels overwhelmed.
The times demand librarians to devise, create, implement, engage, magnify, - transcend!
It's a lot to take in.
This course enabled me to utilize this boon. It facilitated the change of perspective to something tangible, malleable, and something that can be tailored to favor particular student groups. It gave me direction, ideas, and provided a forum to share these ideas with others. Along with that, this course created a controlled environment to truly immerse myself in the methodology, philosophy, and practicality of simple things like images (Instagram, Snapchat, Comics, Cartoons), sound (Soundcloud) and videos (Vine, Snapchat, Screencast-O-Matic, Jing, Animoto), and social media (Twitter and Facebook). There are others, but now I have the opportunity to create lessons with intent.
Yes, students have these technologies at their fingertips already. Most would say, "Why have the library? It's useless... I have my phone. I don't need the library." It's a damaging statement that lacks validity and a realistic mindset. A librarian is the missing link between the user and the phone, tablet, or computer. Managing the immense information deluge needs a human finessing to lessen the blow and allow the users to decipher and discover what they can truly do with these technologies. It's the horrid recording one gets when they're calling a company for service. No one wants to hear, "Press 1 for..." People crave the service aspect of technology. This course has taken technology from the entertainment realm and facilitated an educational application. I'm excited to know the different perspectives, ideas, and lessons surrounding them.
Without a human diffuser, technology will always be this unharnessed power that causes frustration, time mismanagment with the finality of mere entertainment. Entertainment is well and good, but technology offers so much more than that. If manipulated and wielded with the appropriate expertise, technology can do so much more for the student body, faculty, and staff, than each individual in these groups could ever accomplish on his or her own.
A few of my favorite technologies were Screencast-O-Matic or Jing. I can see myself using these constantly, not only for student, but also for adults. I can offer faculty trainings at my school and provide support at home for those who need to take it slow. These recordings offer that. I like the thought of integrating these into lessons for all classes, not just English Language Arts classes. I also enjoyed Animoto. I feel that student will gravitate more to this one for engagement and creation. For ongoing class involvement I like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Vine. I can also see myself integrating a podcast for book review in the library. There are so many possibilities to what I learned in this course! I'm beyond excited to add these to my lessons and benefit my students and teachers. I feel like this class gave me an excellent start.
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