Videos and QR Codes in the Library

Scan.  View.  Enjoy!

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

This blog post explores my experiences with reviewing school library Youtube channels, the production of a book trailer using the cloud-based video maker Animoto, and the creation of a scannable QR code to provide ready access to the Animoto video in lieu of sharing a URL link. 

This was by in large one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had thus far in my Digital Technology for School Librarians course.  The professional, academic, and personal benefits of utilizing these tools can immediately be determined.  The wheels are turning and excitement is already mounting as I brainstorm an avalanche of ways my campus community can benefit from these tools. 

On a personal note, my children have just concluded their best swim seasons yet with two of the three being identified as top-seeded, lane 4, championship contenders.  I am in the process of creating an I-movie to document their journey from August 2015 until the end of the season this past June 2016.  I now plan to create a couple of Animoto videos including inspiring messages from their coaches, team members, and members of our swim family that were recorded throughout the season along with great still shots of them executing each stroke; my middle girl’s butterfly is a thing of beauty, I tell ‘ya! J  I’ll also create and laminate QR code tags to adhere to their swim backpacks labeled by year.  It’ll be a great video yearbook as they continue within the sport to document their growth and development.  Who knows, they may be able to share them with the media following their Olympic berths!

Youtube

Youtube is a virtual powerhouse jam-packed with informative videos and tutorials that only stop short of teaching human beings how to clone themselves!  This assignment called for the exploration of the channels of four school libraries:  Norman High School, The Unquiet Library, Pikesville High School, and Bonnie Branch Middle School.  After subscribing to the channels of each campus, my immediate summation was “Youtube = Library PR Department!”  Few better platforms exist to market library programs and archive successful partnerships and initiatives.  In the coming school year, I endeavor to put my library on the Youtube map to establish the worth and value of the library media program as a proactive form of advocacy.

Some highlights from the Norman High School Library Youtube channel included a research starter tutorial authored by campus librarian Calypso Gilstrap and the English I Guided Reading Partnership, but my favorite would have to be the “Freedom to Read” initiative video where members of the faculty showed their support of intellectual freedom by reading excerpts from banned books.  Check it out below!

The Unquiet Library provided a quintessential example of a learning commons.  With 150 videos posted by librarian, Ms. Hamilton, students presented reading extension activities, library life was highlighted in “Scenes from the Unquiet Library”, and staff members extolled the collaborative relationship they share with the campus librarian.  The “Pre-Search” persuasive research report collaboration featured below between 32-year classroom veteran, Deborah Frost, and Ms. Hamilton is intriguing.   

Pikesville High School librarian, Ms. Johnson, is a “Goodtime Girl!”  Her connection with the pulse of the students is almost tangible as many of the 26 videos featured on the library channel paint the library as both an academic and social hotspot.  A recorded Socratic Seminar roundtable discussion, student-to-student motivational videos on the college experience, and Hip Hop Day activities including a dance showcase and a Skype session with a recording artist illuminated the writing, research, performance, and production aspects of being a part of the Hip Hop Industry.  Fun times are to be had when visiting this lively library.  See for yourself…

Bonnie Branch Middle School librarian Mr. Yerken is a Boss!  In addition to boasting 137 videos covering topics ranging from creating database citations, retrieving lost passwords, and setting up student accounts for Web 2.0 tools, the creation of a ton of parody videos are absolute must-sees.  Take a look…

To conclude, the most helpful videos featured on each site are those that provide afterhours assistance on accessing resources like databases and research tools.  Those that would be deemed most enjoyable for students would definitely be those that involve elements of pop and tech culture including, but not limited to parody and dance videos featuring recognizable members of the student body getting loose and having fun!

Animoto

As mentioned in the introduction, Animoto is my new best friend.  I had a blast selecting images to tell the story of Poppy and Rune.  The site is incredibly user friendly and provides step-by-step support to insure the success of the finished product.  As an eighteen year tenth and twelfth grade ELA classroom veteran, YA has been my life for the dominate portion of my adult existence!  Strange, but true.  I found that in preaching the value of the classics, I also had to demonstrate mutual respect by test driving the contemporary literature that appealed to my students.  I have been hooked ever since. 

The text I chose to use as the basis for my Animoto book trailer is A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole (2016).  The following represents the publisher’s synopsis extracted from online bookseller, Amazon.com: 

One kiss lasts a moment. But a thousand kisses can last a lifetime. One boy. One girl. A bond that is forged in an instant and cherished for a decade. A bond that neither time nor distance can break. A bond that will last forever. Or so they believe. When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune’s heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come. Standalone Young Adult Tearjerker Romance. For ages 14 and up.

Hopelessly amazing!  Sigh…

QR Codes

I have used QR Codes in the past and was happy to have a familiar resource to return to within this task.  This year, I plan to download QR code readers onto campus I-pads and affix QR codes to the covers of popular new arrivals that will provide a direct link to author/publisher discussions or trailers.  Library aides and book club members will be commissioned to provide reviews of this year’s crop of bluebonnet texts to get their peers interested in reading the titles.  Finally, a “Trust the Experts” review board will be created to display QR Codes along with contributors’ first names, last initials and grade levels.  The videos will assume the form of book talks about texts featured within each library collection and/or an app recommendation on the “You’ve Gotta Try This…” wall near the computer lab.

The QR code below provides direct access to the Animoto book trailer I created for Tillie Cole’s A Thousand Boy Kisses.  Enjoy!

-         -  Johtell