Remember that old professor from chapter 6 of our reading who refused to use Power Points because of his either a) purist mentality or b) stubborn attitude? That was me and Twitter.
I'm relatively new to the Twitterverse--I just created an account this summer and have an impressive 130 Tweets and 20 followers (the latter may have something to do with either a) my private account or b) my coolness).
Up until this summer for the past five years or so, I was super anti-Twitter. I thought Twitter was for people who wanted to know what Beyonce had for breakfast, or thought people cared enough to hear about what they had for breakfast. Twitter was, in my mind, an empty shout into the void, hoping to find someone who cared enough to listen.
But, just like that grumpy professor from chapter 6, I discovered that, "When you overcome hurdles or prejudices and interact hands-on with a particular device or platform, you often uncover its unexpected potential to help you respond to learners, address problems, and diversify your practice" (64). Although reluctant at first, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I've come to love Twitter professionally and personally.
However, let's say I created an account and hated it.
As I talked about/ranted about in a previous blog post , "You cannot use your personal technological preferences as an excuse to
be uninformed about current technology trends in the field you work in," (You know you're really cool when you start quoting yourself in your own blog).
As Neil Krasnoff stated in his "Twitter in the Classroom" YouTube session, social media is going to be around for a while (I actually think he said "here to stay," but I'm being more hopeful that that isn't the case).
He mentions later that you can't tell students what not to do on Twitter when you yourself either don't use Twitter or do those things that you tell them not to do. A good information literacy instructor will embrace new and changing technologies without presenting them in a world-is-ending fashion.
Being anti-technology is not helping you nor our profession.
Being willing to adapt to changing technologies is not only important for information literacy instruction in the face-to-face classroom, but the online environment as well. In order to teach effectively online, you need to know information about the resources you're working with in an effective manner.
Going off of the example in chapter 6, you can't just be like, "Oh, a virtual whiteboard. I will use this like I would use an actual white board except virtually." If you want to use a technological tool, you need to investigate the benefits of the tool, any special features, glitches, etc. of what makes this tool great or awful. Watch videos of other people using the tool well or not well. The author describes this as "purposeful playing."
Good online instruction will not simply record a lecture and tell you to watch it and post your thoughts on the forum. Good online instructors will use their previously-aquired knowledge to match the best technologies with the best ways to use them in their virtual classrooms.
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