Videos and QR Codes in the Library

This week I was asked to explore the world of YouTube, QR codes and animoto and how these tools can be helpful in the library. I know that I use YouTube in my library all the time! The most common use for YouTube for me right now is book trailers. I always try to encourage my third and fourth graders to read all the Bluebonnet books each year and to get them interested I show the 20 book trailers and by the end of that class period all my books are checked out! It is a great way to show students about books in a format they really pay attention to. When watching the book trailers I noticed that most of them were created using the web tool Animoto. When I was asked to create an animoto this week I was worried at first because the ones I have seen always look professionally done and I didn't think that I had that ability, but after I started it was one of the easiest web tools to put together. Animoto is very user friendly and a tool that students can use with ease. I have already shared it with my fourth grade teachers and we are planning a project using it. With both YouTube and Animoto the amount of way you could use them in the library is endless. With YouTube you can watch videos of authors reading their books, interviews with author and illustrators, book publishing, or you could have your classes/students record themselves reading or performing a readers theater. There are is so much that a librarian could use YouTube for. The same with Animoto. You could assign all kind of projects the kids could work on. Even the really young students could put together an Animoto using pictures and sequence the story of the three little pigs.

 YouTube

Here are a few examples of great YouTube videos from different Libraries.

1)Norman High School

This is a great YouTube video that tells the viewers all about the library, from when it is open to what the library's purpose is. I think that this video is very helpful to students. If I was a new student and didn't know about the library, after watching this video I would know a lot more and be more likely to walk into the library and feel comfortable. I really like this idea of a welcome to the library video.

This is another cute video that Norman High school created to show viewers all the different things that you can do in the library. I liked how they used the school mascot to create this video. I think that by using the mascot it will entertain the students and keep them engaged in the video. I think that they probably enjoyed this video about the library the most.

2) The Unquiet Library

This library has created a lot of tutorial videos that show how to do/create something. It was hard to pick just one video to share. I chose one example showing how the librarian is teaching the students how to embed voice into a prezi. While watching you an tell that she was collaborating with the teacher on a project and I really like that collaboration was shown.

This next video shows how a librarian can use YouTube for a student project. You an tell by watching the video that the students really enjoyed creating this video.

 

 

3) Pikesville High School

This library uses their YouTube channel to share projects and to post video of all the fun things that happen in the library.   I think the most useful videos for the students are about the ones made by teachers explaining why the students should or should not take their class. If I was a high school student I would think that was helpful. You also get to see and hear from the teacher so you already know a little about who teaches what. The video that I think the students would enjoy the most you be the videos that were posted that show the "library in action".

4) BBMS School Media

This school has some of the best videos! I watched several and it was hard to pick just two to share. The parodies they have made are awesome! The librarian has also posted a few video of himself talking about some good reads for students. Its a great way to get the students interested in some books that they might know about if he hadn't posted on YouTube.

 

I think that the students had to love this video about brining back books!

These four YouTube channels show just a few of the many ways a librarian can use YouTube to promote the library.


Animoto

I created an Animoto video to use as a book trailer for the book "Max the Brave". It was super user friendly as I said before! I really enjoyed working with this web tool and will be making several in the near future

Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There's only one problem-Max doesn't know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn't have to be Max the Brave all the time...
Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight in Max's mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children's classic.

-Amazon










QR Codes

When I think of QR codes, the library is not the first place I think of. I have used them in the store and while I am grocery shopping but didn't really connect QR codes and all the possibilities that they offered in the library. I was actually sitting down in a meeting today with a book rep and she started telling me how if I buy enough eBooks then they will provide me with a certain amount of printed books with the QR code on the back so the students can scan it and be able to read the book on an electronic device. I was blown away. While I was researching about how QR codes could work in the library I discovered that there are so many uses. You can make  a QR code link to songs, videos, Web sites that you think the students or parent would like. I also liked the idea of creating a code and placing it on audio book cases for author interviews or books for reviews.You can make a code for just about anything and the students just have to have an electronic devise to scan it. While there are so many ways to use them in the library I am finding it hard to imagine exactly how I can work them into an elementary school library where the students are not allowed to walk around with an electronic devise and a campus that does not have a lot of technology (iPad, laptops). They would be very helpful to the teachers and parents though and that is great. When I created the one below, that will take you to my animoto video, it was a lot easier than I thought it was. I entered the URL of my animoto that I posted to YouTube and then downloaded the QR code and I just had to save the image. You are also given the option to email or print the code so it is easy to share with others. I am planning on creating a QR code to post on the front door of my library for our up coming open house night so the parents will be able to scan it and it will take them to our school library page. I am also going to try and make another for the Facebook page I created for the library!