Blog Post 4

In just a few short months, technology and I have come a long way and have begun to build a love-love relationship! Looking back on my first blog post, I am excited to see how far I have come. Just yesterday, I presented a session to my faculty! Entitled “Technology Tools,” the session featured several of the tools I have learned about in SLIS 5720. The most exciting part of the presentation was the three teachers who shared about their experiences collaborating with me on bringing more technology into their classroom. I never would have guessed that one class could change my outlook and daily life so much- I am enjoying being called a “techie” by my work friends and spending hours with our district technology specialist emailing back and forth about HTML codes.

Despite a complete mindset shift about using technology and how useful it is in education, I am, admittedly, still underexposed to Web 2.0 tools and have a long road of learning ahead. Fear is no longer a weakness, yet time has replaced it. Reading about, researching, and trying out new Web 2.0 tools is a timely process. I am worried that I just don’t have enough time in my day to keep up with all of the new and exciting tools available to my students, my teachers, and I. Now that I have begun to get ahead of the curve, I am worried about falling behind.

My biggest strength continues to be my love of learning. Every morning, I look forward to checking my email and reading “Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero,” David Kapuler’s daily blog on educational websites.  I love checking out the new suggested sites and have fun exploring all of suggested resources. Now, I can add a basic knowledge base of technology skills to my list of strengths. (I am not ready to consider myself one with “strong” technology skills, yet….) I have confidence when navigating the web, troubleshooting with my colleagues, and submitting assignments. Yesterday, I told a good friend how in love I am with Diigo, the online bookmarking site, and they replied with a blank stare… I can’t explain how awesome it was to get online and show them just how easy it was to use Diigo!

As SLIS 5720 comes to a close, I am sad to see it end. I have learned so much and have some apprehension about how I will continue the momentum of learning without the class. I am grateful that I will continue to attend classes at UNT and I am confident that I will continue learning about technology in other classes. I am very fortunate to have a mentor that is tech-savvy, always introducing me to new tools and answers all my questions without hesitation, no matter how silly they may seem to me.  In addition, I now subscribe to several blogs that will help keep me up-to-date on new technologies. Most importantly, collaborating with my colleagues is the key lever that will keep me learning about technology. As I continue to work with them on class projects, we will continue to learn together so that we can serve our students in the best way we know how.