Eeeks!

I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the jumping between all the different modes of communication we're using! This is a huge change from WebCT (which is a great thing), but I feel like I need some time to wrap my head around it all. I feel strangely disconnected from everyone and am starting to freak out about having only four weeks left in this class. If anything this class is teaching me is that my mind is clearly NOT naturally wired for this online social networking stuff! But that's not to say that I'm not open to learning about it and trying to adopt it. I feel like I'm finally understanding the context of young people's lives! It's a real treat to get a glimpse of their world, and hopefully this will be the beginning of trying to keep on top of it and in turn trying to mould some meaningful educational experiences for them.

I've been enjoying reading everyone's blogs for this class and I'm happy to see that many people share similar fears, hopes, and questions. I wish I could respond to everybody's posts. I like how everything is easily streamed from RSS to Google Reader, but feel a little overloaded at all the links to explore. I just wish I had more time, darn it!

Social Software: Friend or Foe to School Librarian?

I am loving all the new social networking software available these days and only wish I had more time to explore everything. I constantly get befriended on Facebook by all sorts of people from my school and my past; unfortunately, between classes, course work, work, family, and building a new home (yikes- managing the funds is a full-time job all in itself), I simply don't have time to play! This "Technology in the School Library Media Centre" course is the PERFECT excuse to spend hours playing around with all the softwares I've been dying to explore.

But one thing is nagging at me. I'm thinking back to an interview I had over a year ago with an elementary school principal re: a teacher-librarian job. I was pretty fresh to the MLIS program, and I was excited to share all these new technologies that have enlightened me during my studies! I went on about how I could collaborate with teachers by implementing wikis, and how I could introduce blogs in the library for students to post book reviews, etc. I even talked about improving the library website by connecting the catalogue online.

I didn't end up getting the job, and since I'm incredibly charming and qualified (ha ha), I'm wondering if it had anything to do with my espousal of technology! It's true that the schools in our district don't have huge budgets for computers and system upgrades. I did my practicum in a highschool that didn't allow any video-streaming or gaming simply because these applications were too draining on the system. But I think it goes further than this. My perception is that teachers and schools in general are scared of social software. Their educational potential is outweighed by the fear of a number of things: student distraction, online safety, and the big one: teachers' fear of learning about the stuff! I have great dreams about running workshops for teachers in the school library during lunch hours or after school. But realistically, between all the other tasks they juggle in their time management, and the "stigma" that these types of social software have in schools, I wonder if this would fly.

I do dream about the day when students are allowed access to their e-mails during school hours. I dream about the day when podcasts and video streams are integrated in lesson planning, to appeal to all different types of learners. I dream about the day when schools embrace technology, instead of finding ways to filter and block it from their students. This stuff ain't going away...