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.