Final Reflection

Final Reflection

Upon completion of my Digital Technology for School Librarians course I have had many assignments that required me to explore different technology, apps, blogs, and different forms of social media. As my final grade, I will review the things I've enjoyed the most, the things I didn't enjoy so much, and what I feel will benefit students the most.

The Highs

• Different Blogs & RSS

The only thing better than blogging was getting to read other blogs and finding a site where I can house all of my favorite blogs together. I've enjoyed blogging, and I see it as a really beneficial way to take ownership of your work. 

• Screencast-O-Matic & YouTube

Screencast-O-Matic was one of my favorite sites to explore, because I enjoy making videos that my students could watch to revisit things they didn't understand or don't remember. YouTube is the perfect way to publish the videos by creating your own channel. 

• Instagram

A picture is worth a thousand words and Instagram can help with that. Even though I was already a personal user of Instagram, I enjoyed finding different ways to say things using pictures on my school library page. 

The Lows

Disclaimer: These are sites that weren't as exciting to me, but it does not mean they aren't valuable. 

• Vine
• Facebook
• Twitter

I was not a fan of Vine or Twitter because I feel like Instagram already has a video and text feature that can be used in the same way as both of the apps.  While there are plenty of wonderful apps, I also don't feel the need to have every single one. It can get confusing and overwhelming at some point. I also had the opportunity to explore different library Facebook pages and very few were successful. A lot of work goes into making the library Facebook page relevant, and I would rather the time be spent elsewhere helping the patrons. 

• Podcasts

If you have extremely auditory students, then podcasts may definitely be an option, but it wasn't one of my favorites. 

Most Beneficial To Students

• Book Trailer
• Cartoons and Comics
• Infographics

Along with the highs I mentioned at the beginning, I found the book trailers, cartoon and comics, and infographics to be the most beneficial to students because they all fall in the create section of the Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid. Creating or designing new and original work is challenge for many, and I even struggled creating my infographic. Students may watch videos to remember, understand, or analyze, but the creating part is where you see whether they really understand!