Autobiography of a Tech User and Creator
Look around you at this moment and
what forms of technology are staring you in the face? I am looking at a flat screen TV,PVR, Blue
Ray player, a Wii, and the laptop that I am currently typing on. Technology is all around us and we interact
with it at almost every minute of every day except when we are sleeping. Through evaluation of my own tech use I have
discovered that I am somewhere between a novice and intermediate tech user and
creator as defined by the LIBE 477 Inquiry project for later in this term. Areas of tech and Web 2.0 discovery will
focus around personal technology use, living and working in an online world,
and reading and literacy in an online world.
In this autobiography I will evaluate and question my tech and Web 2.0
knowledge and push it by creating a representation of my knowledge by creating
a Glog.
I am dependent on technology in my
personal life. The first time I used a
computer was when I was twelve and in grade 6.
My parents had bought a MAC Classic, one of those little cube
computers. I used computers in my later
years in high school but really stated to depend on computers and technology
when I started my post-secondary education.
In my first year at Douglas College I bought my first computer an IBM. The computer was huge; I was tethered to that
computer until the end of my Bachelors in History from SFU. When I was accepted into the UBC Education
program I decided it was time to upgrade my computer and bought a Toshiba
laptop, two years later I bought a Dell laptop, and now I use my second Dell
provided to me by my school district.
Computers have played a significant role in my educational journey. I have horrible handwriting and without this
tool my grades could have suffered. I
believe that everyone should have access to using computers as it provides an
even playing field for people who have difficulty with neat handwriting as well
as issues with grammar and spelling.
The first time I used the internet I
was in high school and used it during my spare block in the library. At that time only two computers in the
library were set up for internet use, you had to sign up to use them, and they
had to be used for research. The first
time I had my own email account was during my time at SFU. At SFU was the first time that I was
completely free to explore the internet for research and communication. My first experience with blogging came during
in a previous UBC Teacher Librarian course LIBE 467 Information Services. During this course I also had my first
experience with Google Docs where my group and I created a group assignment
online. I use the internet almost every
day in my personal life. My family is
all very tech and internet savvy except for my mother. My mom has a laptop on which she plays her
online games and needs my assistance to search Google and watch YouTube videos.
As a teacher I feel that I have to
be comfortable working and living in an online world. This is the world in which my students are
growing up in and if I don’t have knowledge of this Web 2.0 world I feel like I
would be doing them a disservice. In using Web 2.0 tools in my other UBC
courses I can see how important it is to pass these tools onto my
students. I have two bookings a week
reserved in the computer lab each week and try to get my students in atleast
onec more during the week. So far this
year we have looked at internet safety as a class and done an online scavenger
hunt. I’m hoping to get more ideas from
this course to share with my students.
I live part of my life online, I bank online
and have never had a problem with it. I
also like to shop online and did much of my Christmas shopping this year on the
computer. This is my first year teaching
elementary and I bought most of my materials through Scholastic online and
Amazon. I find shopping online is quick
and efficient. I have had a cell phone
as my main phone since I started my post-secondary education. Having a cell phone has meant that I can be
in contact with anyone who I may need to talk to or those who may need to talk
to me at a moments notice. My cell phone
was especially important during my teacher on call days. My daily booking came through my cell phone,
otherwise I would have had to spend most nights sitting at home waiting for my
call to go to work for the next day.
I
find that my reading and literacy online is on the rise. When I get to work in the morning I try tool
take a look at Google and find out what the news stories of the day are before
class starts. I like to chat with my
students about current events that are happening each day. My classroom is the only intermediate class
without a Smartboard and projector mounted in the room. I bring in the school’s projector to show
current events and other sources for the students to view, even funny YouTube
videos. In my own personal life I look
online for research materials as well as for entertainment. I have a Sony EReader and purchase books
online for it. I have also used the
Fraser Valley Regional online library and borrowed books from my reader from
that site. I love having a reader and an
ipod as well. The next device that I
plan on buying is either an Ipad or another type of tablet. These devices allow
me to take my entertainment with me without having to take a large
backpack!
This
is the start of my autobiography of a tech user and creator, it will be never
ending. I decided that I would create a
Glog to illustrate my autobiography. The
Glog includes a funny song about computers and tech use and my experiences with
technology through pictures. I tried to
record my autobiography and place it on my Glog, the audio was being
uncooperative, so unfortunately you had to read this rather than listen to me. I plan on working on this for my Inquiry
project. I chose to experiment with this
technology as it is something that I would like to use with my students; they
probably already know how to use it!
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