Videos and QR Codes in the Library

The internet has become part of our everyday lives. We are constantly checking the internet whether it be looking up something, accessing social media, or watching videos on YouTube. Video messaging such as YouTube has become integrated in the way we run our lives. Typically people use YouTube for entertainment purposes, however, educators are using YouTube more and more to present, demonstrate, and share any videos they want. Many times, educators look to YouTube, as a teaching tool, to help teach a particular unit in class.

Here are a few YouTube channels from various libraries that show ways libraries are using YouTube.

Norman High School Library

This video is helpful to students because it explains to students how to access the library. This video would be useful to not only currents students, but new students and parents as well.

This video is one that students would like and have fun with. The librarian videos the mascot showing off different things a student could do in the library in a humorous and fun way.

The Unquiet Library

Finding and Using Wikimedia Commons Images: This video explain to students how to find free images that are not copyrighted through Wikimedia Commons. This will be a great resourceful tool for students when they are working on any assignment.

“Rocky Top" Performed at the Roots Music Club: This video consists on a band coming to the library to play. This is a fun way to get students engaged and interested in the library.

Pikesville High School Library

 

Pikesville High School FAFSA: This is an informational video reminding students to sign-up for FAFSA. This fun video grabs the student’s attention and help as a constant reminder to sign-up.
 



Wii Like to Party @ The Panthers Library: This is a video students would enjoy because it gives them an opportunity to relive the excited memories they made with their friends in the library.

BBMSMEDIA:

NoodleTools - How to use a pre-formatted database citation: This video shows how to use pre-formatted database citation. This would be helpful to students who are not yet sure on how to use citations.




Kids in the Hall - NIck's Director's Video: This is a fun and creative way to incorporate students into the school community. This is a great way for students to get to know their classmates they normally may not have met.

Library Use for Videos:

Animoto and YouTube are creative ways that can be used to promote the library. Here are a few ways that I can use:

-Create book trailers
-Showcase events happening throughout the library
-Library tours
-Showcase the Makerspace area
-Introduce the librarian

 

Book trailer:
I created this book trailer using the website Animoto. This was a very easy to use site that makes creating videos fun and professional looking. This site has many templates, videos and pictures to choose from. I chose this particular template because I felt it mimics the setting of the story. The book I created a book trailer on was I Was Here, by Gayle Forman. Once I created the Animoto video I was able to upload to my YouTube video and create a QR Code for students to scan and watch on their mobile devices.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman
Synopsis from publisher:

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, and some secrets of his own. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

QR Codes:
I absolutely love QR Codes. I use them all the time, whether it be in my personal life or at school. The use of QR Codes in the library are endless. Ways I would use QR Codes in the library is by providing QR Codes to access:

-Book trailers
-YouTube Videos
-Documents from the library such as a newsletter
-Directions on how to access various things in the library such as the copier
-Link to the library website
-Link to funny video or pictures helping to understand the Dewey Decimal System

Almost anything that you want patrons to have access to, a QR Code can be generated for it. QR Codes can be a fun and engaging way to get students to visit the library, become familiar and comfortable with it.

 

Screencasts, Instagram, and Flipagram

Screencasts, Instagram and Flipagram are three different ways students can present, or share, their work or projects in their classroom. To create a Screencasts, students can use the website, Screencast-o-matic. This is a website where students could explain a project, on a computer, they created to present to the class. Instagram is a social media app where students can take pictures and short videos to share their work with friends, family, and other classmates. Flipagram is another digital media sharing app. Students can take pictures of something they created from start to finish, and present it in a way where it looks like a movie.

Screencasts: A screencast is a website that records what the students are doing on the computer screen, and it also records their voice. Screencast-o-matic is the screencast website I used to create a screencast. Screencast-o-matic was simple to use and very user friendly. This website is free, but only allows a certain amount of screencasts with the free version. If the students want to record their voice, they need to make sure to have a microphone. Screencast-o-matic also allows for various ways to create your screencast, such as, a YouTube video, a movie file, or upload it to the Screencast-o-matic website.

Instagram: This social media app allows students to take pictures and video and upload them on the app as a "post”. They can add filters, text, music, and other creative things to enhance their post. This is a free app and users can add friends on the app to see their pictures and videos they post. This app also allows for students to create a live video. This pictures I took on my Instagram account are of “Fall” displays from several grade levels and departments at the elementary school. Here are a few posts from my Instagram account: (kxs056) https://www.instagram.com/kxs056/

First Grades’s Fall Display! #trees #season #leavesfalling

A post shared by Kelly (@kxs056) on Oct 24, 2017 at 3:35pm PDT

Library’s Fall Display! #apples #leaveschanging #coolweather

A post shared by Kelly (@kxs056) on Oct 24, 2017 at 3:36pm PDT

Flipagram: This is an app that students can download on their smart phones. Flipagram is an app that can be linked with Instagram. Being a novice with Flipagram, it took me several tries to figure out how to use it. This was harder to use than other digital media sharing apps and programs. Students can create movies out of pictures they took and add music, text, and other filters to make the movie more exciting. Here is my Flipagram account: https://flipagram.com/kkstarr2219

View on Flipagram

The one that I enjoyed working with the most was Screencast-o-matic. I appreciated the flow and ease of use when I was making the screencast. As I was creating the screencast, I thought about the various ways I could use this currently in my classroom for the students. A screencast is something I could also create to show parents how to access certain websites to assist their child in their education. There are many reasons why you could create a screencast.

Infographics-Graphics is the Way to Go!

An infographic is a visual representation of data and information. It is an easy way to make complicated data into easy to understand pictures and graphics. Infographics are useful in the library because it catches the patron’s eye and interest more than a poster or worksheet with information and data printed in essay form. This is a great way for students to present research, as well.

 Easel.ly- This is a site where students are able to create visually appealing infographics. Students can use pre-made templates while changing the look of the template. Digital media can also be used in the infographic. I enjoyed this site, but even though it was user-friendly, I believe the available options were overwhelming for a novice user.

Infogr.am- This is a free website that allows students to create charts, pictures and graphs. Students can import data from Google Sheets and Excel. This was an easy to use site, with a simple interface. I was able to navigate Infogr.am fairly easily, but the site did not have as many options as other infographic sites.

Piktochart-This is also a free site to create infographics. Piktochart has a limited number of options when selecting a template. Students can import Google Sheets and Excel charts into Piktochart as well. This site also gives the user the option to embed a video. Out of the other sites I explored, this was my favorite site to create an infographic.

Below is an infographic I created using Piktochart.