The Machine is Us/ing Us

 
Professor Wesch named this video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" because while many people feel that with the increased popularity and necessity of the internet many people feel like we are becoming slaves to technology it is in fact us who are enslaving technology.  We are creating, managing, and organizing information in a fantastic new way.  This new way involves us interacting with information like never before, in real time where others can instantly have access to it.   Sites such as Wikipedia place knowledge and information at the fingertips of anyone with internet access.  While this is a convenient place for it to be it can also be scary.  Anyone has access to upload, change, or add to content on the internet.  

This realization is especially true for this generation of librarians.  We are the ones who will be charged with the task of creating some organizational method to control the chaos that is the World Wide Web.  We will have to make it a safe and reliable place for our students.  

While technology was previously seen as a tool in schools or a fun activity to engage students it is now a required element of teaching.  Just like reading and math teachers now must teach technology skills in Texas.  The ability to find, create, and use different websites, software, and other technology resources requires another new role for teachers and librarians.  With the ease at which websites can be updated we must not only show students how to access information and how to use this technology effectively we must also teach them how to ensure that the resources they are using are reliable and valuable.