Blog Post 1: Technology Strengths and Weaknesses

Serving as a middle school language arts teacher the last six years, I have had the opportunity to be a part of a technology revolution in education.  The way students learn today is different than students of the past, and so our strategies as educators are evolving in order to meet the needs of our learners.  Because of this, I have always found incorporating technology into the classroom is one of the most important things I can do to better engage my students and help them assume ownership of their learning. 

In regards to the ISTE-Nets for teachers, my technology strength as an educator is in facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity.  I have always been one of the first teachers on my campus to pilot new technologies in the classroom and have used various modes of Web 2.0 tools in order to foster creative and innovative thinking among my students.  I believe that anytime you put a new tool that allows for independent and exploratory thinking in front of students, they will generally flourish beyond any parameters you could have set for them.  Allowing the students the opportunity to use technology as a way to engage their imaginations in their learning helps them to take ownership in what they are doing, which in turn fosters a deeper level of understanding and connectedness to the material.  In the past I have had students use Wikis to collaborate on book projects.  I have had students use iMovie to create public service announcements about real-world issues that they chosen and researched.  My students have participated in Skype chats with professionals in various fields of study and have collaborated with one another using Google Docs.  By facilitating the use of these hands-on technology tools, I am able to vastly increase student enthusiasm for creating and learning.  As a librarian-educator I will continue to be committed to inspiring student learning through the incorporation of technology in any lesson I am a part of.  I also hope to relay my enthusiasm for incorporating instructional technology tools to the campus as a whole as a way of increasing student enthusiasm and fostering creativity.

Though I have a strength in using technology to engage and inspire students, based on the ISTE-Nets, my weakness is in promoting digital responsibility in regards to conveying the rules and regulations regarding copyright and intellectual property.  This is something that I know very little about, and that I hope to learn much more about this semester.  I know that as the librarian/media specialists on campus, one of my primary responsibilities will be in educating students and faculty members about the parameters regarding ethical digital citizenship.  I hope to continue to learn more about these issues as I pursue my coursework in this program, and will continue to remain committed to staying abreast of copyright issues after I exit the program and begin my career as a librarian-educator.