Blog #5: Conclusion

My assessment has definitely changed. I am becoming more comfortable and familar wth new technology. I plan on implenmenting new technolgoy into my classroom using tools such as prezi.com, glogster, wikis, etc. just to name a few. I plan on having my students use glogster to create an online poster on one of the first seven presidents. I have already introduced them to prezi, as an alternate to powerpoint. Several of the students created their own prezis and presented them to class. They enjoyed using it and remarked how easy it was to create their prezi, once they became familiar with the program. I have also made my colleagues aware of prezi. I have learned so much this semester; I am already planning for next school year.

Blog #4 The Job of Organizing

I think the trend is that librarians are really going to have to make an effort ot stay on top of things and keep up with innovations in technology, even more so than before. It also means that the job of organizing is getting easier for everyone, especially librarians and future librarians. I am lucky enough to have a mentor that works at my school and she has already showed me how easy it is to order and catalog books. I am learning so much in the way of technology from both classes I am taking this semester. I never realized there were so many helpful tools out there and a lot of them are free.
After going back and looking at the tags on my Delicious site, I was thinking it might be more helpful to be more specific, rather than just tagging them as web2.0, maybe 'searchengine' for libworm and 'slideshows' for ImageChef.

Blog #3 "The Machine is Us/ing Us"

I think the message Professor Wesch is trying to get across is that the use of technology works both ways. We use technology to make our lives easier and most of the time it does, but technology also forces us to adapt to technological changes in our environment. We cannot get away from technology, even if we wanted to. Technology is supposed to help us, but sometimes it hinders our ability to function. I, for one love technology WHEN it works. There have been many times when I have planned to take my students to the computer lab, only to find that the server was down and students could not access the internet, so they could not complete their web activity. I, of course, being ever so resourceful had them work on something else. There is nothing more frustrating than having a whole class of students complaining about how their computer doesn't work. Other times the website itself was down, so students could not complete their web activity and had to use google to find the answers, which took them twice as long to complete.
So, I can see why Professor Wesch titled the video what he did. Technology is the machine that we as a society use, but the machine (technology) uses us and we let it, becuase there is no way to stop it.

Blog #2 Handheld devices

After reading Chapters 5 in Smaldino and Courtney, talking to my mentor and doing my , own research, I realized in a perfect world with a limitless budget, I would purchase a PDA for every single student. There are so many benefits to using them; they can be used at site of instruction (desks), assist in data collection, help students keep track of grades and assignments, etc. The website I went to gave some great examples on how they could be used in all areas of study. It also gave suggestions for funding, such as offering payment plans for students, affordable leasing programs, education grants, and acquiring corporate sponsors. It is something that I plan on looking into when I become a librarian. But, alas, back to reality, since I do have a limited budget and cannot afford to purchase a PDA for every student , I decided that I could purchase play-aways (audio books) for students to check out, perhaps some kindles for teachers to check out and use in their classroom. There are several uses for kindles, such as previewing books, literature groups, family literacy groups, current events, etc. Kindles allow librarians to quickly preview new books so that they can make new purchases quickly. I would also look into purchasing several flip cameras and have students use them to record themselves giving a book talk; then playing their book talk on the computer for other students to listen to. These are just some things I would look into purchasing for my library.

Re-do Individual Technology Assessment

Okay, let's try this again. I think I got it. In regards to technology, I consider myself to be a bit "behind". I always feel like I'm the last to know when new technology comes out. I remember the first time I was introduced to a "flash drive" just four years ago. I thought it was the coolest thing and I had no idea that it existed. I have not been living in a cave for the last 20 years; I do know the basics. I feel comfortable using a computer, laptop, overhead project, and an in-focus projector. I don't know much about blogging (this is my first blog) or podcasting (heard of it , never done it) or videoconferencing (sounds great though). I know there is probably a lot more out there that I am not aware of, these are just a few that I have heard about. Technology is a wonderful tool, I just don't have the time to learn it all. I do feel good about the technology I use in my classroom (in-focus, laptop, computer lab), but I know there is a lot out there that I could be using and incorporating into my lessons. I admit that I use power point quite a bit, it is an easy and effective tool to use especially for notes. I would like to use other tools, but time constraints prevent me from researching and looking for other options. Now, that I am back in school, I am going to try real hard to use other forms of technology in my classroom and I know that this 5720 class will help me to do that. Until next time, wish me luck on Project 1.

Individual Technology Assessment

I hope I am doing this right. This is my first post on my first blog. I just completed about 15 APA exercises on the Writer's Reference website. I am wiped out. I will now look over Chapter 1 in the  Smaldino book and review for the quiz tomorrow  for (5720). I just want to mention that I really enjoyed the Hazel Harvey Peace Conference on Saturday. Marcia Mardis' lecture was very informative, as well as entertaining. I was also glad to meet Professor Zannier and Professor Crafton. The advising session was very helpful. I also learned how to use Refworks, which I think will be a big help later when completing research papers. It was great to meet other "classmates" and be able to put a face to people's names. I am excited about being back in school and look forward to working with everyone in the program. Until next time. Signing out, Mary.