My Aha's

I think the biggest impact that this class has had on me is the my change in philosphy of technology for education. I tended to think of it mainly as a functional tool for education, but not as something that could be used to enhance education. I think my earlier concept mainly came from completing assignments for classes and conducting general work in my job as a librarian. However, I never thought of it as a mechanism which could be used to assist students in learning concepts better. As a result, I think I will start looking for more ways to use technology to assist students in the learning process. I have in the past had a tendency to look at technology as a threat because I was afraid it was have negative consequences on my job as a librarian. I believed that if students relied too much on technology it would make my position as obsolete. As a result of taking this class, I am starting to begin not fearing technology in the field of librarianship.

I enjoyed this class because it exposed me to other technologies. I was a judge for a history fair and wondered how the students were creating these movies on their computers. After the Window Movie Maker demo, I realized their methods. As a result I did not feel to far behind the younger students.

As far as the blog is concerned. I have generally not liked writing a journal. However, when I realized that my ideas were being read by other individuals who were not affiliated with the class, I began to get more interested. I started to believe that individuals were listening to my voice and taking it seriously. As a result, I want to continue blogging in the future.

Technology and K-12 education

After reading Chapters 7, 8, and 9 in Romano’s textbook, I think some of the proposed changes could be implemented. One of his proposals was to enhance those schools that already have high SAT scores. In my opinion this would be very controversial because these institutions will generally have students who are already from a higher socio-economic background. As a result, these students will not have suffered as a result of the digital divide. These students would also have a higher potential to plateau in their results. Therefore, we would not see as much improvement overall because they have been exposed to a better education experience.

In my opinion, I think it would be a lot more interesting to test these technological improvements on schools which have low performing students. As a result, we would get a chance to see how technology enhanced classrooms would impact these students. If there is a definite improvement with these students then we could pursue it in other schools.

I really get frustrated with the continued reliance on the federal government to improve schools. The government has provides schools with a lot of money and mandates for improvement of students. The K-12 system generally becomes a bottomless pit when it comes to money. The money goes in but there is not much improvement in the student’s education. Students are still not able to write or solve math equations when they enter higher education. As a result, I would really like to see some tests done in low performing schools first before these programs are expanded to other schools and requests for more funds for higher education. If this does not work, then we need to rethink what are goals and objectives for K-12 education.

My basic opinion of technology and K-12 education is that technology can only be part of the answer, it also requires student who want to learn and the support of their parents.

Higher Education and Virtual Worlds

I definitely believe that the virtual world will eventually become incorporated into higher education. After playing with the secondlife virtual world, I can better visualize how higher education could use that format. However, I had problem with navigating and working with the program because the speed of my computer was way too slow. As a result, there was a constant jerking when I was moving around. In time technology will improve this so that any processor can handle this type of software.

In my own position at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I have started to push for the university to acquire Eluminate. I believe that this will allow students to interact with instructors from home from any computer regardless of their connection and machine speed. This would also allow lecture style format for classes in an online environment. This environment would allow students to clarify concepts in real time as the course is conducted. One problem with asynchronous education is that students often do not want to ask questions because they are afraid that they will look stupid in front of their peers. As a result, whole concepts are not learned.

One of the problems that I see with online courses today is that they do not address my learning style. I recognize that I am a left brain learner. As a result, I prefer a more traditional education in learning. The asynchronous postings and discussions do not fully allow me to learn course concepts. These exercises seems more like busy work to me and not real learning. I prefer to listen to lectures and take notes. In my opinion, I learn the best that way. As a result, I have not gotten much out of online courses. If faculty incorporated pod casts in their online courses, I feel like I would get more out of the online courses.

Primary sources and the Internet

After reading through chapter 4 of Romano’s Empowering Students with Technology, I was both enthused and annoyed at the same time. I was enthused that people are recognizing that many primary resources which are available are government documents. Another concept that I was excited to see was teaching the value and difference of primary documents. From my experience as a librarian in higher education and serving as judge of the UIL history fair, many students are not familiar with primary resources. I think using resources from the national archives website would be an outstanding resource to work with. However, I was frustrated to see that people are only starting to recognize the value of government documents now that some of them are available on the web. The government documents section of the James G. Gee Library has tons of primary documents in government documents. First of all there is the Congressional Record which provides the speeches which were held on the United States Senate and House of Representatives. There is also the serial set which provides the United States House and Senate reports. This is considered to be on the best resources to find primary resources on our government. The serial set is slowing being scanned in by several companies and it is painstakingly slow. We have a database at the library called U.S. Congressional Serial Set which provides some of the scanned serial set. Resource that we also have in print is the public papers of various presidents. These contain the actual speeches of the Presidents of the United States. I have a handout that contains some of the primary resources available in print and electronic for genealogists at my website. There is a digitization project that is being put forward to scan and catalog the entire government documents collection. This is going to take quite a while to complete. If you are interested about it you can find out what has been scanned and more information about the initiative at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legacy/registry/. Some other resources that we have which are primary resources and not government documents are the New York Times and other newspapers in microfilm. We also have several databases which contain newspapers accounts from the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

I guess another aspect that frustrated me about the chapter is the lack of knowledge about what is contained within a library. We have tons of these resources available that are not being utilized by students and faculty. This is where I’m going to reiterate again that a partnership needs to be established between faculty and librarians. It is becoming more and more apparent that students and faculty do not know what is available. I understand November’s premise that the concepts of primary resources can be taught by using the national archives website. However, these concepts could be also taught through the use of other resources which are already available in the library. It is simply a lack of communication between faculty and librarians. Universities also need a teacher learning center in which this communication can be fostered.

Educational technology - success or failure

In my opinion, it is sometimes difficult to say that the technological innovations have been a failure in education. The main reasons that technology has tended to not be utilized in education is due to the knowledge utilizing and the cost in acquiring the hardware and software. My first experiences of using a computer in a classroom occurred when I was in the 4th grade using a TRS-80. Only one teacher in the entire school knew how to operate the machines. As a result, you were only able to use the computer once a week for about an 30 minutes. We learned very easy BASIC programming. I remember messing up the programming of the computer program and I classroom teacher who was not acquainted with the computer panicked. As a result of her reaction, I became nervous around computers for many years. The costs also have a real impact on education. In order to provide plenty of technological components for students in higher education, a sizable amount of money needs to be spent. Another factor that has to be considered is not all parents and students are able to afford their own personal computer. I remember a vendor who sold a library database came to a university that I worked for and was surprised that the students did not have access to their own laptop. The vendor had been to several other universities and that was the norm. As a result, they were not sure if their product would be suitable for the university in which I was working.

A proposal that could be put forward to provide technological training on university campuses. I realize that many institutions of higher education provide training in Microsoft Office products. However, this is only minimal training. These institutions could provide training through a continuing education program which would allow faculty and support staff the opportunities in learning how to use software. As far as funding goes, I really do not see any other alternative than raising fees in order to increase the amount of technologies available to the institutions. Since state universities are becoming more and more privatized as a result of lack of funding from the state. The only alternative is to increase fees or seek additional funding through grants from corporations.

After reading chapter 6 of Michael Romano’s Empowering Teachers with Technology, I strongly agreed with the following perceptions:

As the third millennium begins, it is evident that the development of digital technology has had, and will continue to have, a profound, pervasive impact on the course of global civilization.

In my opinion, nothing has transformed education and society the way computers and the Internet have. Higher education used to be dependent on classes taken in a brick and mortar building. Since the expansion of computers and the Internet, many individuals are taking classes online. People who live in remote locations are now able to take courses which were at one time not too long ago impossible. I believe in the future technology will improve enough to where a class of 30 students can meet at the same time interact with each other. This will greatly improve the online educational experience.

The pervasive societal developments fostered by the computer and the Internet evoke a wide disparity of reactions, since they are perceived from disparate vantage points. Regardless, all can agree on one reality: humans will become more and more dependent on the mighty minuscule microchip. We can be optimistic that in the end the human capacity to adapt will prevail – as it always has.

People are already dependent on computers when they do their research. As a librarian, when we give a student the opportunity to use a print index as opposed to an online database, they will use the computer. We have also experienced when the computers go down, the library becomes a ghost town. The library staff has also noticed that the number of reference questions have significantly reduced. Students tell the librarians that they do not need to use the library because everything is on the Internet. However, in my opinion, the process of conducting research is still difficult on students. Students are only using the Internet to conduct what they believe is sound research. They are not validating their source. In my opinion, higher education should strive to work with libraries to instruct students on which resources are the best to use. Students need to be provided guidance in their assignments and not allowed to only rely on the Internet to find answers to their research.

The computer is a multimedia information-management system that can be programmed to function on an alternative basis. They replicate and markedly amplify certain basic cognitive functions of the human mind, specifically storage, computation and retrieval. Thus computers have enormous potential to profoundly impact the teaching-learning process.

There is no way that I can remember everything that I come across. As a result, I rely on my computer to store lots of information that I use from time to time. Whether it is preparing presentations or papers, the computer serves a useful purpose for me. I also use the computer as a mechanism of communication through instant messenger, e-mail, and blogging.

Because computers store multimedia information interactively retrievable utilizing software that is course specific, they allow teachers to provide each member of the class an increased number of individualized learning experiences based on the learner’s needs rather than the teacher’s availability.

Tutorials are an outstanding mechanism that can be created and used for educating students. I have created several online tutorials for finding legal information during my tenure at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Several students have expressed their gratitude that these tutorials are accessible to them whenever they need it. This is one method in which the Internet can serve as a useful tool in educating students.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century it is apparent that society is driven by information managed in three literacy modes: print literacy, video literacy, and computer literacy. To maximally empower teachers all three should be integrated into the implementation of the curriculum. What is not apparent is how this is best accomplished.

I agree strongly with this perception. There is no better way that this can be accomplished than through a partnership of faculty with librarians. The library staff are usually more familiar with the resources than anyone else on a higher education campus. The only way that students and faculty can become knowledgeable in what is available is through a partnership. I have created a rubric which outlines the expectations of what a lower-level undergraduate, upper-level graduate, and graduate level student should know based on information literacy concepts. However, I have not decided which would be the best mechanism to get this adopted university-wide. The only format that I know of is through the faculty senate. However, if other mechanisms should and could be used I would be interested.

Interactive multimedia, stored and retrieved by computer, represents a linkage or convergence of print literacy, video literacy, and computer literacy. Its full potential in the classroom is significant and still to be realized.

As educators we all want students to provide higher quality writing, critical thinking, and research. It is only through partnerships between faculty and librarians can information literacy standards and expectations be realized.

Evaluation of Romano's Chapter 4

After reading through Chapter 4 of Romano’s book Empowering Teachers with Technology, the following six perceptions concerning teaching and education:

• Human progress from the Stone Age to the Information Age resulted primarily from amplifying individuals capacity to function first by empowering them with crude implements, the tools, then machines and now technology. This is basic to understanding how teachers can do what they do – better
• All human activity is driven by information; the more demanding the activity – the greater the need for information. Thus, information can be termed the fuel that powers the teaching-learning process.
• The master teachers of the Information Age are those who develop the capacity to navigate the worldwide oceans of information and selectively retrieve that which can provide an enriched experience for their learners
• How teachers manage information has a major impact on the outcome of the teaching-learning process. Technology facilitates and amplifies the teacher’s capacity to provide learners of higher fidelity in an individualized, interactive mode.
• Teachers plan, communicate, guide, and evaluate. Information technology can be adapted to allow the teacher to do these better, and thus impact positively the efficiency of the teaching-learning process.
• There is compelling evidence that learning is heightened when teachers create visually rich experiences, thus engaging the learner’s entire brain – rather than only half.
  
  In my opinion these six perceptions are very important because technology is going to change education in the future. Higher education is only beginning to fully utilize Internet technology through distance education. Colleges and universities are also starting to use teleconferences as a method of educating students also. I also believe that our society is becoming more and more dependent on information. However, in the future, the indicator of an educated person will be whether they can discern credible and erroneous information. In higher education, it is going to essential that faculty and librarians form partnerships in which we train students how to find, evaluate, and utilize information properly. I also think faculty are going to have to be innovative in how they utilize technology in order to facilitate education. Partnerships will have to be developed with educational technology departments in order for faculty to keep current with the technology that is currently being offered at the institution of higher education. In my opinion, faculty will always have to continue to develop objectives and evaluate whether the students are learning the materials. As they develop their objectives they will also have to develop curriculum which will address all of the various types of learners. Typically instructors teach in methods which are similar to their learning styles. As a result, departments should be created on university campuses which allow faculty to learn how to instruct to the various learning styles of individuals.
  
  After taking this course and continue my doctoral classes, I will have to look at technology as a tool which can be utilized to facilitate education in the future. I have also begun to realize that I’m going to have to adapt to using more technology in the future also. Traditionally, I have preferred print resources to find information. However, I have begun to notice since taking this class that I am going to rely more on electronic resources to find the information that is needed. This really has been apparent as I have been creating my educational technology time line. More and more of the books are becoming available online. I am not a huge fan of online books, because I cannot find information as quickly. However, I’m going to have to learn to adapt in order to survive in the workplace. I believe these tendencies is what has kept education from utilizing technology in the classrooms. As educators, we don’t feel as comfortable utilizing it. In my opinion, educators are still learning how to manage instruction in an online course environment. As we use this technology, we are going to have to work together to learn how to best educate student with the medium. As a librarian, I’m going to have to learn how to operate within the online course environment in order to meet the needs of these online students through recorded instructions and other mechanism. Partnerships will have to be developed with faculty in order for librarians to be given an opportunity to conduct instructions for the students using these online course environments.

More learning

I've been learning some more about creating websites. I really prefer to not have advertisements or popups on my website. As a result, I went looking to see who would have the best deal as far as acquiring space for a website. I learned that my Internet Service Provider (ISP) Earthlink provided 10 MB of space for individuals who subscribed with them. As a result, I have started to create my website.

As a part of the learning experience, I have started to work with new environments that I'm not familiar in the creation of webpages. First, I have learned how to create and operate webpages in a frames environment. In the past I have not particularly cared for frames. However, I like the way this environment is working in the creation of an electronic portfolio. I've also been learning how to use the computer software Fireworks to make rollover buttons. This is the first time that I've ever worked with Fireworks and rollovers. In my opinion, it makes the webpage a little more antimated and gives it some personality.

Higher Education and Technology

After reading through chapter 3 of both Michael Romano’s Empowering Teachers with Technology and Alan November’s Empowering Students with Technology, I recognized that I have several concerns and hopes for technology in higher education. As a librarian, I am always concerned about the role libraries will play in the future as technology increases. As librarians we have definitely noticed that the number of reference questions that we used to receive at the reference desk has gone down. In my opinion, I really do not believe that student’s research knowledge has increased. They are only relying on the Internet to find resources. I still recognize that most students do not know the difference between primary and secondary sources. One method that I am using to overcome this barrier is trying to increase the services we have available at the James G. Gee Library at Texas A&M University-Commerce. I’m in the process of starting a geographic information systems lab at Texas A&M University – Commerce. It will have the software necessary for individuals to conduct spatial research. Another concern that I have with the potential for additional technology in the classroom is whether the quality of education will improve. I have noticed that a lot of the students are still lacking in basic writing, mathematics, and research knowledge. I often question whether the introduction of more technology will decrease the emphasis on the basics. One method that could be used to overcome this barrier is creating partnerships with faculty to stress research skills. I’ve recognized that some faculty do not know what resources we have at the library. These partnerships will assist faculty in knowing what we have available and foster better research by students. My third concern for technology is whether students will be able to differentiate between different types of resources. Many student do not recognize scholarly resources. The general thought is that a web resource is scholarly or primary. Some of the web resources are great resources, however most are not. It is amazing to me how many students believe wikipedia is a great scholarly resource. I really believe that partnerships between librarians and faculty will assist in overcoming this obstacle. However, faculty will have to allow librarians some of their class time in order to educate students in how to conduct research and wean them from simply relying on the Internet.

I believe that increasing the use of technology in education will assist students in their learning according to their learning styles. Many students are audio visual learners. As a result, online videos on computers can be utilized. This will be a marked improvement over the traditional lecture format. I also believe that technology will increase educational opportunities for students. For example, Texas A&M University-Commerce does not offer any programs which support geographic information systems. The closest university which offers it is University of Texas at Dallas. Texas State University –San Marcos used to offer online courses. The availablity of online courses will allow for additional learning opportunities throughout the United States.

In Romano’s book, I generally agree with majority of the barriers that he states in his book. After working at three universities and attending four as a student, I really do not believe that higher education has a vision for the utilization of technology. Online courses are popular because of their flexibility, but faculty are still struggling to design classes that are meeting the educational needs of the students. I also believe that many departments in higher education are acting independently. As a result, ideas are not being shared which could improve the quality of educating students. I also believe that administration in higher education does not understand the potential of technology in the classroom also. They recognize the popularity and want more classes to be conducted through the online environments. However, educational standards need to be created to ensure that students are learning and teachers are using the technology to its fullest potential.

This class has addressed some of my concerns for technology in higher education. The main point that I’m getting out of this class is that we have to utilize technology to its fullest potential in the classroom. Educators have to inform all interested parties of what are the strengths and weaknesses of technology in the classroom. However, I think the basics in education like research, writing, math, grammar, should still be stressed. I think this class will address more of my concerns when we learn about how to create interactive Powerpoint presentations because it will allow creators to design educational materials in which students can interact with. This will appeal to the various learning styles of students.

I stongly believe that collaboration is essential in higher education because it fosters the improvement of education. I have gone to information literacy workshops and learned that one of the most important thoughts today is getting teachers away from being the “sage on the stage” and more the “guide on the side.” I generally believe that being a “guide on the side” fosters critical thinking. However, the “sage on the stage” serves an important fuction in higher education. In library instructions, I’ve tried to implement the “guide on the side” mentality. It works in some cases. However, there is a lot of material to cover in one hour. As a result, some instructions become more lecture focused. I do not much care for this method. However most faculty do not want to give up much of their classroom time for information literacy instruction.

Instant Messaging and Wikis

I'm a huge fan of instant messaging. At home I use Yahoo! IM and when I'm not at home I'm using Meebo to talk to friends and former colleagues. Meebo can located at http://www.meebo.com . The best part about meebo is that you do not have to download anything to your computer. As a result, I'm able to chat anywhere.

I was chatting with a friend of mine who was a former colleague and we were discussing blogs. I sent her the link to my blog for the class since she is interested in them. We started discussing wiki because of my earlier post. There are two wikis programs that she likes in particular. One of them is Wetpaint which can be located at http://www.wetpaint.com/ and the other is Pmwiki which is located at http://www.pmwiki.org/ . Wetpaint is a web-based wiki and does not require a download. Pmwiki is a software based program and has to be downloaded.

Word to PDF converter

I've been thinking about the digital portfolio and have decided to take some of my word files and convert them to PDF files for ease in uploading. I found a really neat software that can be downloaded for free which allows you to convert those files. The name of the software is PDF995 and can be located at http://www.pdf995.com/download.html.

Hope this is helpful for anyone else. We get questions like this at the reference desk and now I know where to find it.

The power of blogs

Okay, I've been struggling for quite a while with the power of blogs. My general thoughts were that nobody is really going to be reading this stuff that I'm writing except for members in my class. Then, I made a comment about Elluminate because of my experiences with it. I thought it was a great product. However a colleague told me that they were not impressed with that type of format for online instruction because it was a bandwidth hog. I wrote all of this in a previous blog. Today, I decided to read through and see if anyone had commented on my blogs. I was fully anticipating that only individuals in my class would be the only ones commenting. However, I got a comment from what I think was someone from the company that creates or distributes Elluminate. He provided me with more information about Elluminate and explained that it was designed for educational institutions. He also stated that it was used in developing nations where high speed Internet access was generally not accessable. The results there have been outstanding. As a result, of this experience, I believe that I can put forward my thoughts and reach people way beyond just my immediate world at Texas A&M University- Commerce.

I have also discussed the power of blogs in education with my professor, Dr. Wickersham. She discussed that blogs could be a way of communicating with parents and students. I had not really thought of this as a possible use of blogs and technology. However, if a blog was to be used in this format, it would need to be set up so that only parents and students could only look at it. As a result, privacy would be maintained.

Some thoughts

There are several ways that I can use the skills that I have learned in local, staewide and/or global connections. First there is the development of web pages. I have created one for my government documents department at Texas A&M University – Commerce. The webpage that I have created for the government documents department is located at http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/library/govdocs/ . I have also created tutorial that allow students to learn how to use various resources at the library. They are located at http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/library/govdocs/tutorials.htm . I believe the creation of more of these tutorial is a great method of reaching more individuals.

In my opinion the more methods that we use technology, the more individuals we can reach in higher education. However, I still believe that face-to-face classes should still be a component in education. There are instances where there are not any substitutions. I believe that the interaction that is received in face-to-face cannot be substituted by any technology. In many cases, people feel more free to say that they do not understand the concept in those online courses. In those situations, the instructor can clarify the concept further.

The messages that I received loud and clear in Romano’s Empowering Teachers with Technology and Empowering Students with Technology by Alan November is that we need to be creative in our use of technology in the classroom. We have lots of potential uses in technology that we already exist. It is simply up to us to find methods of using these curent technologies to facilitate education.

Things I have pondered about

As I have been reading the class notes and Empowering Students with Technology by Alan November, I have thought about how technology could be utilized in both work and in the classroom. As I was reading about the RSS, I thought they were the same as wikis. After becoming involved with Bloglines, a RSS aggregator, I learned to think of them more as a newsgroup where individuals post on particular news stories.

However, in the workplace, a wiki would be a great place for colleagues to post comments about things they’ve learned and keep everyone informed as to what is going on in their departments. After doing some searching on the web, I found a free wiki creator that does not require downloads. The name of the website is pbwiki.

As I was reading Alan November’s book, I started to think about video conferencing. I’ve used a form of video conferencing in preparing for my presentation. The software that we are using is Elluminate. It allows us to talk together through microphones and write online to each other. We have even constructed a paper with it. The video conferencing is live so we have been able to discuss everything in real time. I spoke to a colleague about the values of the software. However, I was told that those types of are bandwidth hogs and are not as valuable at this time. However, I sometimes question that assumption if other higher education institutions are using it.

As I continued reading further in November’s book. I started to think about server space for creation of a Web site. Since I’m not made of money I started to look for places that allow you to have free server space. I had some difficulty locating those spaces. I know as a student I’m allowed to have free server space. However, I was thinking of locations for when I’m not a student. If anyone knows of a place I would be interested. I don’t know what I would put on it though. I’m just considering this as a learning process.

Desktop Publishing

After class I worked on some of my old handouts to see if I could use some of the new skillls that I learned to improve them. I added a watermark which contained an image of the Federal Depository Library Program logo to each one. I took the image from web and tried to slap it in as a watermark. Unfortunately, you are only able to insert a jpeg as a watermark. As a result, I used my version of PhotoShop to change the format to jpeg and insert it. The result was a very professional looking handout.

I have tried to use the “track changes” tool in the past. In a conference that I am preparing to present at, my co-speakers and I used it to write up a explanation of the presentation. The problem was that nobody was that nobody knew how to update and change the corrections. It ended up it was easier to print out all of our changes and then just retype the whole paper because of our lack of knowledge. The class session was helpful in learning how to utilize the function better.

The skills that I have learned has an impact on my educational technology definition and vision. knowledge of additional desktop publishing skills allows me to create flyers and handouts which are more professional and eye-catching. In the past, I created pretty plain handouts. These skills can also be used to create library database handouts which assist visual learners better though the use of text boxes and arrows. As a result, more indivdiuals learning preferences are met. Many of these skills are also transferrable to other software programs. As a result, the desktop publishing skills can be utilized in web design.

Blogs and Del.icio.us.

Blogs and Del.icio.us. are two very interesting online resources. In my opinion blogs are a good format for allowing any individuals to provide their opinion on any topic. They are also great resources for allowing individuals to update others about what is occurring in their life. However, an outsider should not consider it to be a primary resource when doing research. They should use it in conjunction with other resources to verify and validate what was stated.

Del.icio.us is an outstanding online resource. I don’t know how many times I’m not at home and cannot remember the Web address of a Web site. This would allow me to go directly to my favorite Web sites from any computer. I had learned about this resource at a librarian conference. However, this was the first time that I actually got to use it.

Things learned in the January 30 class

I learned several things in class on January 30th. First I learned about www.searchenginewatch.com. The website provides information about the various search engines on the World Wide Web. Some of the features that it provides individuals are search engine searching tips and a listing of the various search engines out there. One of the interesting articles that they had on the Website was a Nielsen NetRatings for the search engines. In July 2006, the five most popular search engines were Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Ask. I was surprised that some of the meta-search engines like dogpile and go2net were not included in the top used search engines. I have found them helpful sometimes in finding obscure resources.

Another Web resource that I found interesting was www.archive.org. I had fun viewing friends’ websites and seeing how they have evolved over the time. My only complaint was that it had lost some of the previous archives of changes on the websites. As a result, even though it was a great resource, I tended think that this would not always be reliable for seeing websites that have been eliminated. For example, some government agencies are eliminated and much of their information is on the websites. Once the website is eliminated we lose the information that they provide.

Another feature that I found interesting was the link: command that can be used in the search engine Google. This could be a very effective method in finding out if a website is valid.

I was also not aware that if a www was not listed in a URL, the Website was not registered. I learned at a Super Bowl party that I went to last Sunday that you can register and purchase a domain at places like www.godaddy.com. Several of my friends have registered their websites. I learned that you make an agreement with company for a certain period of time. I was surprised that the prices for registering a domain were under $10.00 for several years. However, you can get some extras which will raise the price to around $15.00 - $20.00. You can also purchase server space with the companies but that can be pricey, because the charges are at a per month basis.

List of Technology Skills Iou Would Like to Develop.

1. Learn effective creation of online tutorials and instruction – The creation of online tutorials and instruction serve an important function in education today. These methods allow individuals to learn how to utilize resources at times which are convenient for the user
   
2. Learn methods of utilizing technology to better facilitate learning by students –There are various types of technologies out there that can be incorporated in educating students. However, the knowledge of which methods best teach students is often not clear.
   
3. Learn resources which can be used to keep current with education technologies – Technology is rapidly growing and changing. It is often difficult to know where to go to learn where the market is going.
   
4. Learn which technologies are not effective in education and why – I occasionally hear people in technological fields say that a particular technology is a bandwidth hog or other technological jargon. It would be very helpful to learn what these terms mean and why they would hinder education.

Educational Technology Philosophy

Definition of Educational/Instructional Technology

Educational Technology is the ability to provide instruction through a variety of multimedia formats. According to Francis Dwyer, these multimedia formats include audio, video, computing, print, and combinations. Some examples of audio formats include compact discs and online conferences. Video utilizes various types of televised formats. Some computing technologies include email, chat and various online multimedia. Print formats are usually utilized through handouts. Finally, educational technologies often utilize a combination of each of the formats (Dwyer 1999, p. 249). All of these formats allow individuals to come together and learn a subject from a variety of locations through a computer.

The instructor and students have important duties with educational technology. The instructor should serve as a facilitator of learning by creating objectives which will be taught to the class. The instructor then explains concepts and provides background information in order to help students gain knowledge to learn each objective. The students’ role is to learn how to utilize each concept taught and serve as a learning community by sharing their experiences and providing additional resources that they have located in their individuals research.

Individuals learn from a variety of methods. Some learn through a constructivist approach. As a result, they associate past experiences with new knowledge. Some individuals learn concepts through passive or lecture style formats. As a result, one of the roles of the instructor when utilizing educational technology is designing the course to accommodate the different learning styles

Reasons for Obtaining My Degree

Higher education is an area in which I have a very strong interest. It is a field in which I have worked for over eight years. My successes and interests have led me to want to continue my career in this area. A mentor of mine once suggested that I could achieve higher levels in academia through the acquisition of an Ed. D. As a result, I am providing myself with the opportunity to learn more about higher education through taking courses at Texas A&M University – Commerce. Currently, I am not quite sure where I will take my next professional step in academia. Since the explosion of the Internet is having a huge impact on higher education and libraries I am exploring my options in academic librarianship, administrative, instruction, or instructional technology. My desire is to take several educational technology courses in this program in order to be technologically savvy and know more about the various opportunities that educational technology will have in the future of higher education.

Current and Future Goals

I have several current and future goals:

• Complete my doctoral degree at Texas A&M University-Commerce
• Upon completion of my doctoral degree, obtain a position which will continue to maximize my potential in the field of higher education.
• Become proficient in Geographic Information Systems at Texas A&M University – Commerce.
• Learn a computer programming language in order to extend my technological knowledge.
• Learn the hardware components of the inside of a computer and how to install them in order to create machines which are the most functional for individuals.

Purpose and Expectations of Taking This Class

Traditionally, students in higher education had to attend a physical classroom in order to receive instruction. However, Higher education is beginning to incorporate various technologies in providing instruction to students. This has resulted in students attending classes through online courses. As a result, it is very clear that technology and online instruction is going to have a huge impact on higher education in the future. For this reason, I decided to take this course. My hope is that this course will allow me to become familiar with the various technologies that can be utilized both in teaching in a classroom and in a library environment. I hope that this class will also provide information about which student learning styles are best incorporated with each technology.

Caution!!! Please be aware that since I am a librarian and I am going to scrutinize resources a little more than a traditional student. One of my hugest concerns is that individuals are tending to not value credible resources as much as ease of access through the Internet. As a result, I believe our society needs to become more information literate and scrutinize the resources better. For example, I understand the value of wikis. However, I have a concern that individuals will accept the contents as fact and not critically analyze it.

A little about me

Originally, I’m from Fort Worth, Texas. I got my B.A. degree in Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington. I got my M.S. degree in Information Science at the University of North Texas. My first librarian position was at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I stayed in San Antonio for 13 months until I landed the position here at Texas A&M University – Commerce.

As I said in class on Tuesday, I am the Social Sciences Reference/Government Documents Librarian. I am in charge of the government documents section. In addition to working with government documents, I am the subject specialist for history, political science, sociology, criminal justice, and social work. I have been in that position for a little over three years now. In addition to my duties in the library, I serve as the senator representing the library in the faculty senate. Some of my professional areas that I have a strong interest in addition to government documents are information literacy and (GIS) Geographic Information Systems. The library is in the process of creating a GIS lab in the government documents area.