LIS768: Book it. Done.

Yep. I'm really (almost) done with LIS 768. I've turned in my paper, & have tortured myself since then with my normal, "Oh, man. I so shoulda put this in. And I probably coulda skipped that. Crap." *sigh*.

So, I'm supposed to be reflecting and wrapping up. Huh.

Looking back, even just to the start of class...I've come a LONG way. I'm really really glad I was just finishing up the 23 Things on a Stick, because it sure helped. Even though our LIS 768 actual class time was limited, it was all the outside online collaborating and dinking around with social media tools that really made the class not only relevant, but fun.

What did I learn?

I learned that there is so much more to explore than we had time for. I learned that group projects don't have to be so painful (a big shout-out to Chris & Kay--we done good, I think), and that yes, Virginia, when given the right tools and group, they can actually be, dare I say...awesome! I learned that although Drupal is worthy of respect (both for the harsh learning curve and for what it can do), I don't fear it like I would have before. I learned that just because an social media application was designed for one thing, it doesn't mean it absolutely has to be used that way. Best of all, I learned to let go of prior misconceptions and just see what the social media tools had to offer me--not only where I am right now, but what I can see to do with them once I'm ready to get that far.

It's also been so great watching other classmates get excited too-like, I think what Lindsay is doing with her classes is way beyond cool, and love to read her posts about how the kids are really starting to embrace her ideas. We've all had to figure out what fits into our lives and what doesn't, and the choices we've all made are interesting to me.

I don't know that I'll keep using my Google RSS Reader. I like the pretty pictures on the real sites too much, I think. But, instead of completely dropping the RSS idea altogether, I'm going to take the time to look at some others. I definitely will keep using Twitter. Actually, I use Twitter more as an RSS feeder than anything else. And, I tell you what, there's some interesting people Twittering, and there's a whole lot of knowledge floating around on there. This blog will stay up because, well, I still have 79 out of my original 101 Things left to do (I will get there...).

From LIS 768, I'm taking away a renewed sense of, "Hey, I can do this." Very empowering. I'm excited to see what I can take back both to my 'everyday' life, and to my library. My world has opened up immeasurably because of using these new tools. Although there are moments that I wish I could just hit a pause button for awhile so I can get caught up, for the most part I just remember the most important thing we learned this semester--Have Fun. Play. Don't Be Afraid to Explore. And, I know that just because the formal class is over, that doesn't mean I get to stop doing any or all of those things.