Personal Technology Use
Grade 11, in 1980, was the first time I used a computer for a course in careers. It was huge and very DOS. The next time I had any experience with a computer was working in an orthodontist office in the 1990’s. We had a program for charting what we did on our patients and booking their next appointment. The program was simple but went down often and lost appointment times. That caused a lot of anxiety then when patients came in that we did not know were booked. Almost 20 years of experience with the computer left me thinking that they certainly were not perfect, they could lose your information and cause stress and they were a bit slow still. I did not see a real use for them then and they did not connect people.
My husband purchased our first computer in 1994 so he could write his thesis and then move on to his doctorate. I did not touch it. I know we had dial up and it was frustrating for him as he worked with faster computers at work. We got our third and present computer in 2009.
In 1999 we made a big change in life by moving from a big city to the far north in British Columbia and that was when I decided to go back to school. Suddenly I was faced with typing essays and somehow I expected my husband to type them for me after I wrote them out by hand! He was kind enough to support me by typing the first one but I was on my own after that. Surprisingly, my grade 8 typing courses came back to me. Kind of like riding a bike but I am not fast at either. Still I love the satisfaction I have at typing out my own work and take advantage of all of the tools Microsoft Word offers. Typing now compared to the typewriters in the 1970’s is a dream.
I sent my first email in 1999 and still to this day I would rather write a letter or chat on the phone. I don’t understand my reluctance when I know I enjoy typing reports and essays. I love the research but communication with “real” people is what I prefer.
Though I actively use the internet for research, I do not like to make purchases on it. I like to protect my personal information. I started a blog 2 years ago for one of my Teacher librarian courses and have never used them for my own teaching until this year. I am working on a learning team grant with a colleague and a grade 3 class using a private blog so we can share our ideas, creative projects and thoughts there with my colleague’s grade 2 class. It is exciting but feels a bit daunting as we both are teacher-librarians with little “extra time” and “borrowing” the classes on our prep times to do this. My hope is that other teachers will see what we are doing and what we have to offer then, want us to collaborate with their class. This means more social media time for classes with us and more time besides becoming just a checkout girl in the library.
Apart for using computers for finding ideas on the internet, writing reports and typing up lessons, I never used the computer for much more. I have played with iTunes a bit and created Excel spreadsheets but simple stuff is where I am at on the computer.
Technology has only started to make a real impact on my life since teaching and pursuing my TL diploma. I want to create my own web page for the purpose of marketing my art work. I have been asked to do this for a few years now and I feel that I am ready for it. Taking courses like LIBE 477 forces me to step out of my safe zone of what I do and know about technology. Also, by taking courses that use the web and through playing for learning about the web tools I become more curious about what I might be able to do. I am losing my fear of accidently deleting or losing my work. That has happened so many times now and I have learnt to move on. I don’t think I am the kind of person that will Twitter all day or Facebook much after learning this simply because I am a very social, outgoing person. I get my energy from socially interacting with others.
At work the computer is mostly a tool for signing out books and using the internet to find books to buy. I use it to booktalk and show a web page about an author or to view a trailer to a movie for a book. I show students how to use our webCAT to find books in the library and look at district e-resources. I am also inclined to check our First Class email at school though mostly this is done at home.
My work use of the computer is much more basic use for the library compared to my use at home where I use it for playing, learning, searching and storing information such as digital photos.
Living and Working in an Online World
I do not like to shop or bank online as I don’t have a secure computer system set up, just the security that comes with Shaw. The only time I have used it for online shopping is to buy a Westjet ticket or Amazon books. I refuse to make donations online and prefer to give locally anyhow. My husband has a secure system at work and is able to use it for banking there.
I need my computer at work as signing out books is a nightmare without the computer. I am disappointed when I do not have the technology, such as a projector, for showing images from the computer because it has been borrowed and maybe it is somewhere else in the school or the long cord is missing. I do not have time in between classes either for hooking up a borrowed projector or doc camera. I normally spend about 4 hours a day on the computer checking out books, making notices, schedules, signs, book orders and searching for books. The copy and paste feature is my favourite since I know what it is like to type on a typewriter!
I know how to download pictures I take or images from the computer to make invitations and thank you cards. Attaching a Google map for directions to the location of the party is something my friends and colleges love to get with the invitation too.
The Prince George Public Library or PGPL has its own online catalogue. I have used it for Library to Go to download ebooks for my parents and I use the computer for holding books or renewing my books. I also like showing kids how to use Tumble books as it is free!
I bought my first cell phone when I began to TOC 5 years ago. It was a Krzr by Motorola and texting was not fun on it. Last Christmas my husband bought me a Samsung Touch Screen Phone for phoning and texting. My phone can do a lot more than this but I have not learnt to enable the tools. We only have a basic package with Bell and do not use the Google or internet option on it. I am not inclined to use my phone for all the things it could do as I like the computer or laptop. Big buttons and big screen.
My experiences with Web 2.0 are more of watching it happen. I have received picture albums from friends and been part of an illuminate talk. Only blogs are the ones I have created and I did begin my own Facebook though I do not keep it up. I think this is all a bit overwhelming and I have so many different passwords (identities) it is tiring. I keep a page on my laptop called “So You Forgot Me” because I can’t keep track of all of my logins and passwords.
Reading and Literacy in an Online World
Pop culture has influenced me some when friends want to share things with me through Facebook I started to collect friends who ask to be my friend (people I know) though I have not kept up. I like to text mainly if I go out and am waiting for someone or I am on holiday then I can be reached.
I still love books. The printed kind rules though carrying around “Gone” by Michael Grant is cumbersome. I definitely “Jones” over anyone who has a beautiful collection of books in their home or a true home library. Even my art is beginning to get influenced by text. I have begun to apply some text – a word or saying or poem - to my painted pictures. This is in response to an anti-bullying project I am taking on. I love playing with fonts for my typing or even my display boards at school.
I am looking at getting my own e-reader soon just because I am curious. I bought my parents e-readers last Christmas and set them up with Adobe so they can take books out of the library. I know how to do that stuff but it is not my desire. I am curious if I should be getting it for school but I know the budget for it is not there anyhow. Reading online is largely emails and UBC course work. Often for my course I print the outline because I like to have it without turning on the computer and logging in. I like to save the non-print text to my desktop for later. The IRPs are definitely something I would not print but they are great to copy and paste for lessons and reporting.
Seldom do I get books from the public library although I like to go to see what is trending as far as kids reading goes so I can get it in my libraries. Besides building the collections at school I love to build my own to share with others. I also belong to two book groups.
Listening and viewing on the computer is fun but when it stalls because the video needs to download more I get bored. On the whole, I would rather talk to real people, not sit in a room with my computer or have a device that I can carry and tap out something on it as it demands my attention. Remember I like socializing directly with people so carrying a device interrupts the social aspect.
Conversely, I love the ease of typing something like this out then place it on a blog page to share and hand in. How easy it is to edit too!
By the way, I did this in Calibri (Body) and font sized it to 14 for easier reading.
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