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.