Spring 2022 Reflection

 Learning does not take place in isolation. It is a cumulative experience or circumstances and input. Knowledge adds to knowledge until a sort of tower of expertise is build in one area while other areas are not towers but small piles until new knowledge heightens it. 

This blog was created for SLIS 761: Information Technology in the School Library Program. Simultaneously, I was taking two other library science courses. It was the second semester of my degree. I started this degree at the age of 45. I had never taken an online course. I stayed home to raise and homeschool my kids from 2009-2018. I did not even have a cell phone in 2009. Starting grad school was daunting. Technology and its uses literally exploded from the time my first was born in 2002 to when I started grad school in 2021. I felt my resumé had a giant hole in it. 

Why share this background? My life of being a stay-at-home-mom made me feel like technology had raced ahead while my children grew and I was still at the starting line. I felt totally unprepared and unskilled. Last semester I learned that I could be successful at online learning and a bit about my own poor digital information filing (still improving!). What I learned this semester in 761 is how to use Canva to create appealing digital infographics, what a makerspace can be, how to use Pearltrees to organize my school and my projects, how to create a website, and that there are hundreds of apps and technology to explore for aiding education. I learned that even though I struggled to get my audio slideshow of the library on my webpage, I could figure it out.  I even figured out how to edit the closed captioning on the audio slideshow so it is accurate and to add alt text to images. 


What is my biggest takeaway this semester? From 761 in particular? I can use technology effectively. I can learn to use new apps, troubleshoot problems, and create things that look as good or better than the creations of the young whippersnappers fresh out of college in my classes. Thank you for taking me on this journey. At the start of the semester, I really did not think I could I figure out this technology business. Now I am ready to try and learn more. 


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