Chapter 6. Final Thoughts

Heather Moorefield-Lang

In this issue of Library Technology Reports, we have discussed podcasting, creating YouTube channels, flipped learning, and blogging—all valuable tools that you can consider implementing to elevate your instruction. The authors have featured a variety of ways to get started, gather ideas, and execute and use these technologies in delivering instruction and information. They have discussed challenges with the technologies, offered recommendations, examined obstacles faced, and shared success stories. Through digital media, these authors have been able to deliver a wide range of information to a vast group of people.

My final thoughts to you are these. What are you interested in sharing? We all have information to impart because we all have individual and independently lived experiences. Your peers, colleagues, and fellow professionals want to know what you know.

As you consider exploring a new technology to enhance your instruction, think about the following:

1. What you do every day in your practice. Is there something that you do well, something that you specialize in? Would you be willing to share your expertise? There are a variety of ways to do this.
2. Where you work. Are you in a rural (urban, suburban, international) library setting? The field wants to hear about experiences that are different from theirs. They are also very interested in hearing about situations like their own. Which leads me to the next point.
3. It is so easy for us to become professionally lonely in this field. School librarians are typically one to a school. Public librarians can be siloed in their setting depending on the location. Academic librarians are commonly very specific to their field. Those are only a few examples. No matter our location, community, or setting, we are going as fast as we can. We crave information from the field, and when knowledge is shared among peers, it is amazing.
4. The tools that are available to you. If you’re not interested in blogging, vlogging (video blogging), podcasting, and so on, know that there are other tools out there. Start small—create a newsletter for your school, system, district, or community. There are a variety of digital newsletter tools available (Smore, Canva). There are a variety of template-based, easy-to-use website tools available where you can build your own webpage for information and instruction distribution.
5. If sharing information or teaching using technology makes you extremely nervous, watching what is available. The authors of this report have recommended a host of podcasts for listening, YouTube channels to view, and blogs to read. Take a look, see what is out there, absorb, learn, and if you decide you would like to join these authors in information sharing, know that the option is always available.