Final Blog: We've Only Just Begun

This has been an amazing summer! When I think about all that I have learned, I am simply blown away. But, I also recognize that most of what I've learned about mulitmedia is just merely scratching the surface. For example, I now know how to use Movie Maker, but I am nowhere near the point where I feel like I have mastered all of the "tricks." And, I feel that way about most of the tools we've learned about; I've certainly improved my competency, but I have a lot of room for growth. I think that's a good thing (well, a GREAT thing would for me to be a guru on all of these tools, but that probably isn't possible). It gives me the chance to really think about which tools are worth investing extra time in -- for myself, my colleagues, and my students.

As I look ahead to my first year as a teacher librarian, I see three tools/resources that I want to focus on: Google, the AEA, and podcasting.

It goes against my nature to support BIG Corporatism, but like it or not, Google is the cutting edge on so many "free" tools. Though not perfect, I have really found our class site to be useful, and it's made me think about how I could incorporate this feature into my library. I definitely think it could be a great way for kids or teachers to collaborate. I am also thinking about how I can use Google Reader. I love the idea of kids being able to collect up-to-date information about a given topic, and I'm thinking about ways to promote this approach in a systematic way.

I know that as a teacher, I was not very good about using the AEA or promoting it with my students (or colleagues). Now that I've seen its full potential: DE Streaming, AP Photos, SIRS, EBSCO, etc., I feel the need to really promote this resource as a place students should always go to when they start a research project.

Finally, I am excited about the potential that podcasting holds. I'll admit that, at first, I did not think it would be that powerful of a tool. But, now that I have seen how it works (and how easy it is), Ireally think it is something that not only kids could get into, but it is also something that teachers might be likely to incorporate into their lesson plans. I think it has a huge potential to give kids ownership of a lot of what goes on in school, even outside of classroom.

As far as who I am following, I have RSS feeds going in my Google Reader on both Joyce Valenza (one of the best websites I've seen in the field!) and David Warlick. My plan is to closely follow a couple of people for a while and then choose others to follow for awhile -- it's good to get all kinds of different perspectives. But, as far as Valenza and Warlick, I really appreciate the enthusiasm and vision that both of them bring to the field. I particularly like how Warlick has stopped refering to what we are doing as 21st century learning and instead is calling it "contemporary literacy." I know it's just semantics, but I think that it seems to better capture what educators have always needed to do. Compared to our predecessors, we're not anything special, we just have different ways to get at the same goal.

I would be remiss if I did not address the most powerful personal learning network we all have going right now and that is the 20 of us and those professors who have taught us so far and will teach us in the future (and hopefully, eventually, the second cohort, as well). I get just as many ideas from all of you as I do from any other thinker or practitioner on the subject. Even better, we can continue to bounce ideas off one another, laugh together, and cry together. Hopefully not much of the latter, but Darla is leaving Bdorf Monday, and it's not going to be a fun time : ( Anyway, I have learned so much from all of you, and I think it's great that we have this amazing group of people to draw from. THANKS!