Week 12 - Webinars, Week 13: Professional Development readings

Webinars:

I have to say that I agree with what I've been seeing in my cohort's posts - the chat feature in the webinar platform often led down unrelated or irrelevant pathways instead of deeper discussion of the issues the webinars were addressing. Also, thank goodness for teammates who can watch the chat box while you're presenting - never have I had it driven home so clearly that I am abysmal at multitasking. I have to say that the webinar was actually a pretty cool experience, but with an amount of time that short, you've really got to think about what you want to get across and make sure all of your underlying notions are expressed, which I failed at, but I've learned my lesson for next time. The webinars I watched were really informative and interesting, but I doubt I did them justice in my interactions - I have been running on empty lately. Anyhow, good job everybody!

Professional Development Readings:

I found the ideas expressed in the readings this week to be engaging and interesting. (Though the comments in Blowers & Reed about how useful it was to learn to clean a mouse took me by surprise.) The principle, however, is timeless, even if the subject matter isn't. The idea of more self-motivated professional development really appeals to me, especially the notion of tailoring your program to your specific strengths and weaknesses. I have to say, I like that idea much more than the more traditional one-size-fits-all "Who Moved My Cheese?" style PD sessions. The Fusion program described by Semadeni definitely seems more empowering and useful than traditional PD efforts, and its usefulness in community-building would undoubtedly improve a teacher's chances of improvement and increase the dialogue among education professionals.

Week 10: Class reflection, Week 11: Twitter!

Week 10: Class Reflection

Last week in class we discussed Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, as well as a couple of more recent incarnations of them. We spent the bulk of our discussion time on embedded librarianship and online learning. During the remainder, we met with our webinar groups to come up with a topic and a plan.

We discussed why institutions offer online learning program, why people choose online or face to face programs, possible pitfalls in online learning interfaces and communication. Before I came to SI, I had a choice between an online program at another highly ranked institution and the face-to-face program here. Because it was important to me to get to know my teachers and classmates, to get hands-on experience during the program, and to build up my professional network throughout, and because I know myself well enough to realize that I am not sufficiently self-motivated to stay on top of assignments in an online program, I chose the face to face program. Of course, every student has different priorities. If I was already working in a library with opportunity for advancement and an enjoyable work environment, I may have made the choice to attend an online program.

Week 11: Twitter

I've been on Twitter for a while, mostly using it to keep up with local events and friends, but this exercise has really revealed to me the usefulness of the tool in keeping up with library news and identifying innovative services and programs in libraries. I have to admit, however, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole retweeting thing. I don't really know why, though. I guess I feel like it's similar to introducing yourself to a stranger out of the blue, and that idea definitely makes me nervous.

I agree with Meggan, though, too. There's a lot of Facebook-ish triviality on Twitter. When I was looking for people to follow, I'd decide based on their descriptions. After I looked at my feed, though, I deleted the people who posted mainly about dinner, cats, etc. If I knew them personally, I'd probably leave them there and giggle at them. I find the wide range of topics interesting. Do many people, I wonder, have a personal and a professional Twitter account?