Final Reflection

The end of the spring semester has arrived!  Reflecting back, it seems as though it flew by!  I have to say that when I first took a look at the syllabus for this technology class, I felt like I could bottle up my anxiety.  I'm not totally behind when it comes to technology, but I've been out of the classroom and loop for a bit, and I just haven't kept up-to-date with what all is available.  I was also concerned about having to basically figure things out for myself.  But once I dove in, I realized, that having the opportunity to explore and HAVING to dive into different technologies was really a great thing!  I explored things that I probably wouldn't have explored on my own (podcasts) and I learned a valuable lesson: as a librarian/media specialist, I am going to have to step out of my comfort zone and try the new things, even if they make me sweaty!  If I'm going to keep the pace with the "natives" and successfully reach the generations I'll encounter as a librarian, I'm going to have to let loose and get in there.  This class really helped me do that.  I'm glad that I had to explore even the technologies that I didn't just love.  I appreciated that the assignments had us jump in.  All that being said, there are technologies that we explored that I can absolutely say I can't wait to use, as a librarian and technologies that I don't see myself using as much.

My absolute favorite technology that we explored was probably the screencasts.  I just think this is such an invaluable tool for librarians for many reasons.  It's beneficial for students and faculty, alike.  A librarian wouldn't have to spend precious time explaining things over and over to students, they could simply direct them to the screencast.  And if a new teacher was hired after a training had already taken place (like in the middle of the year) they could use screencasts to get caught up.  In addition, it's helpful for parents who might need some assistance of their own when they are trying to support their kids.  Ultimately, I also think screencasts help patrons (whether students/faculty/or parents) realize what all the library has to offer.  

Another technology that I really like was the Infographics.  I actually had a harder time with this assignment because I was working on an old computer that couldn't update to a system that it needed to, in order to access the sites appropriately.  This made me realize how important is is to keep your technology updated!  I can see myself using infographics in the the future, to help get information out quickly to students and staff.  I also think that infographics are appealing to students, for their own use for projects.  

I wouldn't say that any of the technologies we explored were difficult, per say.  I do think there are technologies that we explored that would be difficult to implement with students in a library, more so than in a classroom.  For instance, I feel like Cartoons and comics would be very appealing to students, but I'm not sure how much time a librarian might have, to help students navigate those different sites, without the help of the classroom teacher.  I could definitely see the benefit of teaching teachers about this  technology, though, so that they could use it in their classrooms.  Also, the social media technologies have the potential to be great assets for librarians, but I think as far as use by students, they are better suited for older secondary students, more so than elementary.  I aspire to be an elementary librarian, therefore, I can't see myself using too much social media with students (since they are too young to legally have many of those accounts), but I could absolutely see myself using facebook/twitter/instagram to keep parents, faculty and the community updated on what's happening in the library.  

All in all, I think all the of the technologies that we explored have some sort of benefit in the library.  Whether the benefit is for adults or students differs among the technologies.  I've realized that there is so much out there that can be helpful, useful, and motivating and that I will absolutely need to make it a priority to keep myself up to date about available technologies (probably by using many of the blogs I explored!)