Hi everyone.

I'm so excited about our new blog!  I work as a substitute teacher on a high school campus and I get to experience first-hand everyday how teens learn via technology.  Whether it's in a traditional classroom or an online learning environment, technology is a vital component of classrooms as well as libraries.  However, teaching technology is very different based on what types of students are present.  School-age children and teens are digital natives, having technologically-rich lives from the moment they were born.  Whereas most adults are learning on an as-need basis; learning new technology as necessity dictates.  I am among this group.  For instance, I have never blogged before.  Is it hard?  No, but I just never felt the need until now, when I'm required to do it for my degree.

Teaching technology is an area where it is essential to have the right tools.  I can't fully teach a student to use a new program or hardware just from a book.  There has to be a hands-on component.  Labs, service learning, volunteering, and other forms of hands-on techniques are extremely important and essential for a complete learning experience.  I got to teach coding to a group of high school students recently, and they got to use the courses available at code.org in order to really try coding firsthand.  Learning coding from a book would not have been nearly as good of an experience for these teens.

Technology is an segment of the market that is growing exponentially and will continue to grow for many more years.  It's important that we have a workforce that excels technologically, but before we can get there we need people to teach them properly.

Changes Made to the Blog

These are the changes that were made to the blog after it was created.*

Clarissa M.

• Created initial blog & chose template, etc.
• Added bookcase background to template.
• Changed fonts and colors.
• Have sent all permissions and added all administrators.

Verna G.

• Added a navigation bar under the title, in case we add more pages to the blog.
• Changed the sidebar from 2-columns to 1-column in order to bring more focus to the blog posts and readjusted the width of the posts column.
• Created an "About" page and added it to the navigation bar.
• Added a link to the "LT 130 Blogs."

Lauren L.

• Changed font of title from Georgia to Paytone One for a better outstanding look.
• Changed tab background color to add more emphasis on the tab on display for easier navigation
• Changed font of tabs to Paytone One so it would stand out better.
• Changed the name of the link list to "LT 130 Blogs" and have them in alphabetical order for easier navigation.
• Changed organization of archived blog posts to monthly for a sleeker look.
• Re-arranged widgets on the right side menu.

Hailey J.

• Added image of library technology to sidebar. 
• Looked into adding additional widgets to sidebar. A link list might be a good addition later on.

Holly R.

• Added a search window on the side.
• Added a new "Reviews / Tips" page on the navigation bar. 

Bill D.

• 2/1....added a link list, put in two other LT130 blogs
• 2/9....added a "labels" section on the side, labeled this post

Geoffrey B.

• Changed the archive settings from Flat line to Hierarchy
• Added the option of, show post title, to allow easier navigation in finding old posts.   

Marcela M.

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*Please edit this post as you make any change to the blog.