Reflection Time

Going over all the different technologies that I have learned about, I can honestly say that I am gobsmacked. I thought I knew about most things that are out there but again wow, there is more then I could have ever realised.

Although I am not studying teaching, I can see many of these technologies being used in the library, and indeed in my own personal studies. Already I am thinking of how I can use VoiceThread for an upcoming assessment piece where I am supposed to create an oral presentation through flex learning.

I can definatley see the benefits of implementing these technologies in classrooms today. Students today are far more tech aware and tech savvy then ever before. By introducing technology into the classroom you are engaging the students simply by using resources that they are familar with.

Naturally, there are going to be parents that will object to the use of so much technology, to the point where the feel students are going to rely to heavily on these technologies. So it still remains important to know how to create a balance. Students still need to learn to write by hand, learn to read a book and find resources relating to their subject from sources other then the internet. But too much of this tends to lead students to boredom. So its important to find just the right balance.

Overall, I have really enjoyed looking at and experimenting with these new found technologies. I plan on using them throughout my time as a librarian as well as using them in my own personal study.

VoiceThread

OMG what an awesome way to create an exciting oral presentation. You can talk over, pause while you talk, draw on the screen, I think I might even look into using this for a presentation I need to give for another class! I love this site!

Wikipedia

I've touched a little on Wikipedia in a previous post. How I used it to look up RSS Aggregators. In the library we naturally have a reference section, which includes hard copies of encyclopedias, but these encyclopedias have a tendency to become out-of-date rather quickly and its expensive to replace a whole collection. Wikipedia is an excellent way for us to help customers search for something in particular and it covers just about everything and is a lot more up-to-date. I am currently in the process of putting together a website with our IT tech and am thinking of links to add to the page. I already have a link to SLQ (State Library Queensland) and their list of databases, I think that I might include a link to Wikipedia as well. Although most people know it exists most people wouldn't think to use it when looking for information, if I had the link in front of them it might help their researching all the more.

INCOMPETECH.

So I've checked out this site and downloaded one of the songs. Easy enough process really. I can't really think of an places to use this in the classroom other then in things like background music for PowerPoint presentations and such. I certainly can't think of any area in which to use it in the library. But still its handy website if you have a reason to use it.

MediaFire

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=ca56d01818f3ab2dd6baebe61b361f7ce04e75f6e8ebb871

Well, this is my link for another assignment I'm working on for another class, it is still a fair way from being finished, but thought it would be a good file to link and see how it works. It is a really simple program to use. My file was uploaded in literally 2 seconds. I can see this being useful for myself as I almost always forget to take my USB with me to work to work on my assignments (God, I love my job).

I can see this being used in classrooms for students to upload their assignments or even drafts for their teachers or even peers to go over. It could help other students who are uncertain about what is required of them to see how another student has gone about the assessment task.

Google Earth

Google earth is awesome. I've mentioned before that I am one of those nerds who plays online games and have made some 'friends' online and during one of our bored moments we dicided to check out google earth to see where each other lives in the world.

This program is an excellent resource when teaching young kids or even older kids, well lets face it, even adults, all about geography, you can search for countries, states, cities, streets and even landmarks. If I were a primary school teacher and needed to teach my students about the world, this would be my number one resource without a doubt.

Podcasting

Well there you go. I never new just how much was available on iTunes. I have to admit I have never used iTunes for anything other the the player, I had never really even had a good look around the iTunes Store. I may even take up learning French now, I've always wanted to do that, and I see that there are plenty of Learn French Podcasts available. And OMG audiobooks, this is brilliant, I never thought to look in iTunes for an Audio Book, this will save me a lot of time preparing for a trip well in advance. Normally I have to order an audio book in from another library or even state library which can take weeks, this has just saved me heaps of preplanning.