Reflections on Technology

After a full semester of looking into how social media can play a role in the school library and as a future librarian how you can best use it to advocate for your library and get the word out, I have a whole new group of tools to use. 

There are so many different ways that you can use social media to reach the students and parents as well as the community in which your school is located.  I really liked the ease of use for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine.  I would have to say that Vine was the most difficult for me and the one that I was not already using.  After my initial fear of trying it out and figuring out what it was, I dove right in.  They are a quick way to get information out and doesn’t require a lot of time to post, a bonus in the busy days of a librarian.

I also got to play around with making Animoto videos, QR Codes, Podcasts, Cartoons, and Screencasts.  These assignments really forced me to go out of my comfort zone and I realized that they really are not that difficult and once you get started they are super quick and really fun.  They are great ways to get students involved and to really see what they are learning in a fun way.  I can’t wait to get my students started. 

I was a fan of reading infographics but not creating them.  Easel.ly was one that I had not used before and after watching the Youtube video, I was able to create my own.  So I learned that they are not that difficult and can really help get your point across in a fast way. 

I enjoyed getting to see the different types of online book communities.  I was very stuck in my own personal choice of Goodreads which I will stay with for my personal use but I am so glad to be introduced to Biblionasium to use with my students at school.  I have already mentioned it to other teachers at my school and hope that they check it out and utilize it as a source for their students.

So not only do we as librarian need to know about books and what’s hot and upcoming.  We also need to be up on social media and how to reach our students and parents as well as learning from other librarians.  We also need to be up on the latest technology and ways to use that technology to showcase student learning.  Many of the things I have created this semester have helped me immensely  in becoming more tech savvy and I thought I had a pretty good grasp on it with all the technology I use daily in my classroom.  So break out of your box check out something new and if fear has you stalling – look on Youtube for videos to show you how.  It’s okay to make mistakes and blunders.  Just keep trying because it’s all about learning.