Method 3--Cloud Computing

I found this discussion about cloud computing really interesting. The idea of all of our personal data, in whatever format, being out there in cyberland, not residing on my personal computer, and the elimination of applications purchased for individual work stations, is not a new one. For me, however, it is new in the sense that before, cloud computing was more like sci-fi.  I confess I am something of a Trekkie.  Even back in the 60's when the original show aired, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock accessed vast amounts of information on the Enterprise computer.  They spoke their log entries on whatever star date directly to the computer wherever they happened to be.  I can only assume that their pretend security protocols were much better than ours currently are.  But in later spinoffs, everyone's databases seemed to be shared.  All that to say that as I mentioned in my last post, there is this tension for me between making use of all the online resources out there and teaching my students to do the same, and my discomfort with the whole world knowing my business.  I guess Captain Kirk had ways to hide his own "stuff."
        I would be really interested in knowing the ages of some of the people who wrote about privacy issues.  I'd be willing to bet that the more cautious of the writers I read today, tend to be older than those who are ready to go and blow.  I heard a report on NPR in the last couple of days that asked the question, "Is privacy dead?"  A comment was made that most young adults probably don't even give that question much thought.  All the social networking is just a part of their world.  They deal with the setting up of "friends" and the restricting access with facility.  Consequently, I think they have a much higher tolerance for having all their information out in the cloud than I and others of my generation do.
         And back to cloud computing.  Supposing I were ready to jump into the cloud and encourage the students in my high school to do the same, I believe I would be fighting a battle on two fronts. First, the technology department, as knowledgeable as they are, have the responsiblity to protect students from inappropriate web places, and the need to take into consideration the expectations and desires of parents to protect their children while at school.  Throw in their not insignificant job of keeping the network operational with limited resources, and they tend to be a pretty conservative lot when it cmes to student usage of the Internet.  The second battle is against teachers, even young, savvy teachers, many of whom are more concerned about "information sharing" (i.e. cheating) among students than they are in learning to incorporate technology in a meaningful and relevant way in their classrooms.  I fully understand that teachers must be able to trust and evaluate individual student's comprehension of information, but I am also fully convinced that the best teachers are going to be the ones who find ways to do that while encouraging collaboration and information sharing.  I don't envy them their task.  And I just hope I can figure out my own place as librarian in this scary (exhilarating?) new world.  I was quite taken with the online wp programs like Googledocs.  It seems to me that I should be pushing the use of that little niche of the cloud for at least some things at school.

Methods 1 and 2

Stephen Abrams’s article on Web 2.0 and Librarian 2.0 is just exactly what has caused me to drag my feet on starting this Web 2.0 training—A dozen Ways to Two-Step. The article is filled with phrases and ideas which are totally foreign to me, and it seems exhausting to do the work necessary to bring myself up to speed. Abrams’s article was written over a year ago—what has changed since he wrote the article? What new things have been developed in the last year? Technology evolves at a breakneck speed.  I am 57 years old. I grew up in a non-digital world. When I was a senior in high school, there was one group of geeks taking a computer class. We still used the slide rule in chemistry. I used little pieces of correction tape to fix my mistakes while typing research papers. Bottom line, I’m terrified that no matter how much I work, I won’t be able to catch up.

I’ve been a school librarian for 16 years. We got connected to the Internet in our district during my second year. Perhaps it really became useful 3 or 4 years later. So within 10 years, we’ve (I’ve) gone from its being an interesting concept to its being absolutely essential to life on this planet. I love the Internet, the instant access to just about any information I could possibly want, the instant communication with everyone important (or unimportant) to me, the incredible ease with which I can do my job—everything from ordering books online to helping students find reliable information in a fraction of the time it took me at their age. I have to wonder, though, what the consequences will be. There is something about the Web and where it is going that feels very invasive to me. That is one reason I’ve resisted making a Facebook page (that, and the fact that my children wouldn’t want to be my friends.)

So, I’m looking to this little course to move me a little closer to tech-savviness and away from fear of the whole thing!

P.S. My one point of tech pride is that I do have another blog—one I created a couple of years ago to post book reviews on for my students. See it at http://lorenahslibrary.blogspot.com/

Starting From Scratch

OK, I've just spent an hour trying to get this blog to look they way I want it to look.  Not there yet, but will continue to play with it later.  On to more important posts!