The Digital Era: The rapid change in technological resources and how we adapt

I often think about what my life would be like if I was blind, deaf, paralyzed, or physically handicapped in some way. When I put myself in the shoes of those with these handicaps, the feeling of how challenging life would be overwhelms me. I can only imagine that the anxiety might be worse for those living life this way. So, getting any type of help to navigate this world is extremely important for those who are disabled. And that includes tools that help them navigate the digital era.  Exploring this topic reminded me of an experience I had with someone who was deaf. I was 16 or 17 working the front counter register at McDonald's. A customer approached and handed me a sheet of paper with their order written out. At the top of the paper, it stated “Hi, I'm deaf. Can you please put in this order for me?” I looked up and smiled with a nod. After putting the order in, I pointed to the displayed total with as much hospitality as I could with my body language. The customer paid and...

       Image property of author           We’ve all heard of Copyrights and Fair Use. But have you ever wondered what a copyright is? How it came to be? Who’s allowed to obtain a copyright and who are the gatekeepers that decide this? Currently, I’m in my final year of my graduate program in Library and Information Science. The concept of copyright and fair use has been presented in all of my courses thus far and the importance of it in any industry. For librarians, archivists, and professionals in the information science field, this concept must always be in the forefront of their minds when gathering, storing, and disseminating information. As you’ll recall in my introductory post, Proud Millennial , I hope to become a cataloging librarian and/or a digital asset manager—two professions that required a strong grasp of copyright and fair use. This led me to do a deep dive into the subject as I will be obtaining my degree and entering the...

Have you ever heard of active learning? If you are like me, this concept was foreign until recently. Wanting to know more about active learning and the role it plays in education, I took time to do a deep dive into this topic, exploring the diverse ways in which active learning can be applied. So, what is active learning? According to Adam Steele, an author for the Cambridge Brighter Thinking Blog, Active learning is a classroom approach that focuses on how the students learn, not just what they learn. This approach ensures they are actively engaged in learning and encourages more complex thought processes. Opportunities provided by you, their teachers, such as enquiry-led tasks and open-ended questions, challenge the students and support them to build knowledge and their own understanding. This assists them to become responsible for their own learning and more motivated to achieve. (2019) Reviewing the many strategies and techniques that have been developed to assist educators in ...

The dawn of the social media era began in the late 1990s/early 2000s. In the video below you will find the journey of social media concisely compiled in a series of animated bar graphs. Video Source: Captain Gizmo      As a millennial, my social media journey started in 2004. In 2004, I had just turned 13 and entered 7 th grade. To clarify, this was the start of middle school for me, as I know some school districts start middle school in the 6 th grade. During my middle school years, I was a very quiet and reserved person. I didn’t really have any friends. Besides attending classes, most of my school day consisted of observing my peers, on the outside looking in. While in school, I overheard some students talking about this site called Myspace. Wanting to fit in with the “popular kids”, I went home, got on the family desktop and made a Myspace account. After creating the account, I ran into a snag—I didn’t have a photo of myself that I could use as a profile picture. ...

We use technology on a daily basis. So much so that it has organically become a huge part of today’s businesses, schools, and libraries among others. While this is our new reality, it never occurred to me the value of technology when it is intentionally integrated into the workplace. Being intentional about integrating technology will no doubt help me grow, thrive, and succeed in my career. How to be Intentional How can I go about doing this in an organized and efficient manner? That’s the question I asked myself. Turns out that educators have been ahead of the game, integrating tech into lesson plans and assignments. Over the years, educators have created and used frameworks focused on technology integration to evaluate themselves on their current teaching style. The frameworks can show an educator how their integration or lack thereof has impacted learning and if they should brainstorm on how to enhance curriculum using technology. Some students may learn better by hearing a book...

  Image by  Top 10 website About me      I’m a 32-year-old graduate student, pursing a master’s in library and information science (MLIS) at Dominican University. I chose this field of study as I’m a lifelong learner. The only constant is change, and just within my lifetime, technology has grown and changed rapidly making a wealth of knowledge accessible for all to explore. As a millennial, I have a very unique relationship with technology and its rapid growth. My generation is young enough to quickly adapt to our digital world, yet old enough to remember a time before this digital era. Jess, author of medium.com article “The Millennial Maze—A Generation’s Journey from Analog Childhoods to Digital Adulthood”   eloquently describes this phenomenon, stating that “This duality of experience has instilled millennials with a sense of nostalgia for the simpler, analog days, coupled with an appreciation for the conveniences and opportunities afforded by digital ...