Technology

One of the reasons I was thrilled to be accepted to the Information School's MLIS program was the many technology core courses students were expected to take and excel in. I felt this was enhanced by the fact that I was taking these courses as an online student. As I worked, collaborated and studied online, I discovered resources I never would have had a chance to engage with otherwise.

In was in a simple introduction to HTML class that I learned many of what I consider to be my most useful skills. By the end of the class, we were expected to produce a simple website which would eventually be the basis for our portfolio. When I look back at this basic website, I am glad that the iSchool's program ensured that I had to continue to build on the knowledge I acquired in the class. When I examine a website I produced for a later class, I found that the finished product was no less simple but the overall affect was much more polished than my earlier endeavors.

I also took a XML class for my final technology requirement. As my other colleagues have commented, this class is difficult. The language and commands are something that I, as a happy non-programmer, had never thought I would need to know. Even though the class itself never stopped being a challenge for me, I got to the point where I was able to recreate a sample website using far simpler commands than I would have had to use were I to make the webpage from scratch.

Re-created webpage using XML

Additional Technology Skills

• Jing, Voicethread and other online media tools
• Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools
• Google accessories (including Google docs, Gmail and Blogger)
• Familiarity working with XML
• Working knowledge of HTML and CSS
• Microsoft programs, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher