Gotta do whatcha gotta do.

     I really enjoyed reading the “7 Things you should know about… Social Bookmarking” article and the scenario it listed for Dr. Smith and Dr. Brown.  Social bookmarking seems like such an excellent and care-free way to organize your bookmarks for your own personal use, and also to share with co-workers, friends, and fellow posters.  I love the way that you can create “stacks” on my delicious.com – it is so easy to group together certain topics that you are interested in.  I made a stack that focused on Education and Technology, with another stack focused on our upcoming trip to Disneyland.  
     Using a social bookmarking site in a classroom would be extremely handy for students to share links if they are working on a group project – this way they have easy access to all the sources that could potentially be used.  Teachers would also be able to share different links with their students to help solidify a concept they were teaching; they could provide links to YouTube videos, Wikipedia pages, photos on Flikr – the list is endless.  Not only would students be able to view this, but other teachers and parents as well.  This would help other teachers if they had similar lesson plans find information quickly and easily; it would also allow parents to be updated on what their students are studying in class at their own convenience.
     The 2008 definition, to me, was the most efficient and made the most sense.  It was also the definition that was the closest to my preconceived concept of what Educational Technology was.  I didn’t actually think that I could make a career out of Educational Technology; I was under the impression that it was a tool/device that was used in the classroom by teachers.  However, I really like the idea of individuals being solely dedicated to the growth of Educational Technology and making sure the ethics of this area is protected.  As a member of a support team at my own job, I understand how valuable having a group of people making sure that everything is working well behind the scene is. 
     I think as time goes on, this particular career will become even more valuable.  It will be necessary to understand what means of technology are best used in certain situations.  And with technology becoming increasingly visible in the classroom, the dedication to the ethical use of technology will also be very important.  I look forward to learning more about Educational Technology as a career as the class goes on, and possibly seeing how I would be able to fit in to the definition.