Paula’s E-Musings

What can I do when I’m not planning and implementing, talking, meeting? Well, why not start a blog that reflects on the constantly evolving online environment my team of librarians and technologists and I are always running so fast to stay ahead of? 

Students and faculty are interacting today in ways never considered when I went to college and attended lectures with the occasional 16mm film presentation . . .  or used labs where the latest technologies were analog, and the mainframe computers around were rarely available to non-computer science majors. There was no blogging, class wikis, podcasting, or digital imaging  – not even in the far reaches of the technologists’ minds. But they are here now, and we are looking at how to use them as our students – the Millennials who came of age with a variety of technologies – fill our classrooms, libraries and labs.

Like most of us I’m overscheduled and have too many to-do lists and leave meetings with even more to dos. I spend my days working with others to build and maintain robust technological infrastructures that never are supposed to fail and to develop and deliver programs to meet the information and technology of everyone. Read more about who I am and what I do on my website.

I’m always trying to stay abreast of new developments and best practices.  I read books, journals and online postings. I go to conferences and participate in webinars. But there doesn’t seem to be much time to reflect on the evolving online environment, with its many challenges and rewards. E-Musings is my attempt to take the time to think and write about my world, the people with whom I interact, the learning environments I help to create, the students and faculty who interact with each other and with me. Let the exploration begin!