Final Reflection

Final Reflection

I can honestly say that this class was one of the most engaging and fun classes that I have taken in my MLS degree.  I enjoyed learning how to use new digital tools to incorporate in the library and classroom.  When I started this class and looked at all the assignments, I did not know what most of them were.  I felt overwhelmed, but decided I needed to just take the assignments one at a time.  I was familiar with most the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but had not realized that using these tools in the classroom would be a valuable tool. 

       

   I really acquired some valuable information in this class. The technology tools that excited me the most and I enjoyed using are infographics, Animoto, screencasts, and the Tellagami.  The infographics were very fun to create.  I always wondered how people created short digital presentations on information.  Once I started looking at the different sites I could use for making infographics, I quickly got engaged and started messing around with all the tools they had to offer.  This is definitely one technology tool that I will incorporate into my library.  The screencasts is another tool that I found easy and really important to learn how to use.  I would always search on YouTube on how to navigate and use certain sites or programs and wondered how people created these videos.  Now I know how each video was created and how to create one myself.  A lot of students and teachers are visual learners and creating screencasts for them can be a vital tool that they may use.  The Animoto and Tellagami were also very exciting to learn.  These digital tools can be manipulated in many ways to share brief information with others.  You can use them to give the gist of story or information on a topic.  As an educator, I know I will be using them in the library for book trailors, book talk, or to give short important information on a topic.  I think students enjoy working with these programs as well.  Instead of just writing about a topic, they can present it in a more engaging, collaborative format. 

           I really did not have many difficulties using any of these technology tools, but if I had to pick one I would say that comics and cartoons were the ones that took me more time to create.  I think it I was doubting myself too much in what I was creating and kept starting over.  Placing the characters, choosing the background, choosing the right wording for each one was a bit of a challenge for me because I was over-thinking it.  However, I think students will find making comics enjoyable and plan to have them create some this upcoming school year.

I feel that having taken this course I have become more knowledgeable in using technology tools in the library/classroom.  I know I am not an expert, but as I continue to use these tools and explore them I will become more familiar and comfortable integrating them in the classroom and sharing these ideas with my co-workers.  As our world continues to evolve around technology and children at a very young age are acquiring these skills, as educators, we must continue to enhance our knowledge in technology.  We are the foundation for the rest of their lives, so we must create 21^st century learners to prepare them for their future workplace.