Videos and QR Codes in the Library

There are so many great new technologies out there it can be truly exciting to see how some of them can be used to help promote the library.  What used to be boring and tedious is now something eye-catching, funny and most of all, memorable. 

One of the best videos I saw was of  the Norman High School mascot visiting the library and using some of the resources there.  It was cute, funny and very helpful. I am sure students will love this humorous little video featuring their mascot.  He found books on tigers and information on the database.  He also spent some time in the library studying, playing a game of chess, showing students where the nookbooks were and how to check them out.  When he was finished, he even put the books back into the book drop.  Good for you Tiger!





Another great video from this school was the Norman High School orientation video.  Definitely a lot more formal, but just as effective.  Students were given a chance to hear about library times and resources.  Students were also treated to a view of what the library looks like, what resources are offered and what students typically do there.  I thought it was simple but effective. 

 

 

The Unquiet Librarian offers a definite change of pace.  Her website is filled with student interviews, minilessons on bibliographies, senior projects, embedding voice threads, embedding prezi presentations in wikispace and finding and citing images from creative commons.  With so many helpful links, it was hard to pick the best one.  However I would have to go with one of the student reflection videos because the focus is on the students themselves which will make it more interesting for their peers.  I also liked it because it will get students to think critically about their work and how they can improve in it. 

 



 

This next video was rather loud, but very engaging.  It was a simple video of students eating lunch and returning their books.  The librarian was hard at work with her cart for check-ins and check-outs.  The message was simple:  have your books ready, the librarian will be there waiting to check them in or check them out for you.  The idea was genius.  What is usually a downtime is now a chance to take care of some housekeeping.

 

 



 

 



The library at Pikesville High School is very busy.  Students are studying, reading, presenting, researching, tutoring and preparing for projects.  Each video has high tech music and graphics, highlighting the technology being used in the library.   Each are equally effective and engaging because of the many students featured.  Students will be sure to try out some of the resources and look to moments when they might featured next. 

 

 

 

 

The last website, from BBMSmedia, was filled with hilarious videos, (mostly about overdue library books).  Each one was highly creative and done completely by students. They had songs with special lyrics, skits and great singing.  I went with Bring Them Back, a Frozen spoof.  This song is highly popular with elementary through high school age.  I think it would give kids a laugh and interest them all the same time. 

 

 

 

Another great video from this website was a teacher book review.  He talked about strong female leads in books.  It was informative and interesting.  I think kids would enjoy hearing and seeing their teacher on film and would probably investigate further into it.   

 

 

 

QR Codes and Book Trailers

 

From investigating some of these creative websites, I got to noticing some of the great book trailers out there.  I looked further into and found that animoto.com has some great tools that can make a book trailer in relatively little time.  With beautiful pictures, video clips, styles and music to choose from, it becomes fun and easy to make a riveting book trailer.  Below is a short synopsis taken from the book, "If I Stay." 

 

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; 

she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.


You'll have to check out my minute and a half book trailer.  I am completely new to the idea of book trailers, however being a novice, I made a little trailer in about an hour.  With some practice, I could see myself getting faster at it and I'm sure with some time I could get pretty good at it.  Addicting and fun, you'll have to try animoto.com.  In a way you will feel like you are creating a mini-movie. 

Of course what better way than QR codes to get the book trailer out there?  One of the newest ideas out there, QR codes are becoming more and more popular.  They are being used for remind apps, voice threads and now even embedded videos.  You can quickly generate a code through QR generator. com, and voila! You're ready to go!  Students, teachers and parents can check out the latest book trailer from the library and get a feel for a story they may have heard about, but want to hear more about.  Students can create their own, perhaps as a final project based off their favorite book.  Other students could scan the code and see the book trailer for themselves.  It becomes a great tool for captivating students and interesting others in books. 

I looked into how libraries around the country are using QR codes and found that many do book displays with QR codes.  You would think it would only be used for high school, but I found libraries that also use it for elementary age students. Another interesting idea I found was that librarians have used them as a quick orientation for students.  This could be great for students who are new to campus, or maybe started midyear and would like to know more about where things are at.  Another innovative idea I heard about was doing a scavenger hunt with QR codes to find materials in the library, a quick little way to orient students as to where to find materials in their library. 

 

Students love technology, no matter the age.  With a little time and some know how, (from a media specialist), a book can take on an exciting new perspective that will have all students talking!



Saving Time with Blog Readers

 

 

Technology has us connected more than ever before.  While there are some wonderful ideas out there, most people may not know about them because they simply do not have the time to find them.  Perhaps you may want to find some great ideas for you to use, but you need an easier way to bring the ideas together.  That's where blog readers can come in handy. 

 

Blog readers serve as a tool to unite the current blogs you like to keep up with and perhaps even help you find some others you may like as well.  There are some great ones out there such as:  Bloglovin', Feedly, Bloglines, NewsBlur, Digg Reader and Newsvibe.  While these blog readers all serve the same purpose, I have to say that I found Bloglovin' to the most user friendly.  It had a nice simplistic feel to it.  It listed only the blogs I chose off to the right-hand side, a few featured posts and one advertisement.  The blogs that I was choosing to follow were listed in the orders they were published.  They each had a nice bold title along with a picture as well as an option to like, share, save and mark as read.  If you're into finding new blogs you might enjoy Digg Reader or NewsBlur better.  Personally simplicity is what I am interested in and Bloglovin' had it. 

 

 

 

One of the best blogs I found was called the "Busy Librarian."  Besides it being beautiful to look at it, it had direct links to podcasts given by the "Busy Librarian," (a.k.a. Matthew C. Winner) and featured authors.  It made me think that it could be a great link to let students listen to so that they could hear more about how real authors think and develop their work.  Another great thing about his blog is that he relates books to how they would work best for students, whether by learning something new or just finding an extraordinary story that will excite new readers.  The best part is that it is completely free! In addition to podcasts he likes to write features on books entitled (Best Book Ever!-This Week) and has presentations linked to his site.  He frequently hosts webinars for the ALA,  Teacher Librarian (TL Virtual Cafe) and EdWeb. 

http://frame.bloglovin.com/?post=4529807402&blog=5044589  

 

 

Watch.Connect.Read was another great blog to check out.  I liked it because it specializes in book trailers.  Book trailers are something that students really enjoy.  While we may not always have the time to create book trailers for our students, what better way than to connect to some that are already on the net?  This is what this blog offers.  When I looked into it, "Mr. Schu," the teacher-librarian in charge had a trailer on Katherine Applegate's Caldecott winner "Crenshaw," as well as a transcript posted of his interview with Mr. Sharp (3rd grade teacher who hosted the author's visit).  The teacher  and his class were the winners of a nation-wide contest based on collecting canned food items for hunger.  As winners, Ms. Applegate visited their school and talked about her various works and authorship.  Truly exciting!  http://frame.bloglovin.com/?post=4540229927&blog=2300157

 

If you're interested in high school librarianship the "Unquiet Librarian," is for you.  Between pictures loaded with ideas for best utilizing your library and even some student interviews based on lessons and tools they have used, you get a real sense of what this librarian is all about.  She enjoys facilitating and supporting her students to a higher level of understanding by getting them to reflect deeply on what they have learned as well as getting staff input as to what direction they would like the library to go in for that year.  She offers some deep, critical-level thinking of her plans and invites you to do the same.  All in all in makes for quite an enlightening experience. 

http://frame.bloglovin.com/?post=4521992420&blog=3674205

 

 

The Librarian in Cute Shoes is a great website.  The librarian, Mrs. Alaniz shares some of her newest favorite books.  Several stunning books were featured, "Waiting,"  by Kevin Henkes, "The Girl Who Could Fly," by Victoria Forester and "The Night World," by Mordecai Gorstein.  There are loads of great books to check out here as well as her take on some of the newer books. 

http://frame.bloglovin.com/?post=4475201814&blog=9859577

 Last but not least is a great blog that is not only beneficial to librarians, but to the staff they serve as well, "Free Technology for Teachers."  I have to admit I had no idea a blog like this even existed.  It offers tutorials for putting quizzes online, youtube videos for learning more about Writer's Workshop, where to find free passes for students to national parks, glossaries of educational/technology language and even help with how to publish and market some of your teaching ideas.

 

With all of the great stuff there is online, it's great to know that you can now keep altogether in one place, in a place called Blog Readers! 

 

 For Tumblr likes:



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Teens, Technology and Friendship

 

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/7953000-teens-and-technology

 

Meeting, Hanging Out and Staying in Touch: The Role of Digital Technology in Teen Friendships. (2015, August 6). Retrieved September 17, 2015.

 

I can remember being a teenager back in the 90's, having fun at school, going to football games, pep rallies and even hanging out afterwards at the McDonald's, but today's teens now hang out in cyber space in addition to the time they see each other at school and in clubs.  Technology, in its many forms (Snapchat, texting, Facebook, Instagram, gaming) is now an unseen means of connecting, talking to and even meeting new people.  Since the advent of the internet and the smartphone everything has changed.  Teen interactions are more technological, more instant, more connected, but maybe less personal than ever before? 

 

In a study done in 2014-2015, it's found that 57% of all teens (ages 13-17) meet new people online with 29% saying that they have done so in at least 5 different venues of social media.  Older teens are more likely than younger ones to do so and boys are more likely than girls to do so.  Boys also tend to make friends through online gaming sites while girls tend to make friends through social media.   

Admittedly, I can say I never saw this coming way back when I was in high school.  I have two daughters, one 16 and the other 12.  The older likes Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook, although Instagram seems to be the most the favorite.  My 12-year old also seems to like Instagram as well, but she also likes to Skye with friends that have moved away.  I knew from being with them that these were sites they really liked using, however I didn't know how involved it really was or even could be.   

 

Sounds weird right?  But when you think about it, it does fit in with the age.  At this age teens are looking to become more independent, find out more about the world around them and make friends of their choosing.  If technology is there and you're using it, why not try out the voice-over along with the new Call of Duty?  It could be that you play really well with that new guy so why not friend him and find out when he'll play again.  Or maybe you sort of know that new girl who's in your Bio class and you really liked that T-shirt she was wearing and maybe she knows where you can find some of those-and oh look she's already friends with your friend on Twitter, so why not try following her?  It's all so convenient now, it's easy to see how and why so many teens are so involved with social media. 

While the numbers are high for meeting new people online is high, meeting them in person is low, 35%.   Most teens choose to FaceTime or videochat beforehand to ensure it is really another kid they are talking to.  After meeting many choose to stay in contact via text message.   

 

Then of course there are the people you know really well because you see them everyday in class, at practice afterschool or during lunch.  Technological use increases in correlation to that.  88% of all teens use texting to connect with friends, but more than half (55%) say they text on a daily basis.  In addition to texting, 79% use instant messaging, 71% use social media, 64% use e-mail, 59% video chat, 52% video games, 42% messaging apps.   While these numbers appear high, they use these venues only occasionally, not on a daily basis.

It was encouraging to note that friendships between close friends entailed more time spent together at school, in the neighborhood or at each other's homes rather than through some form of technology.  While this is true a majority of teens say that social media better connects them to their friends' feelings and lives.   A whopping 83% say this is true, while blacks and Hispanics are more likely to say that they feel "a lot," more connected than whites. 

Smartphones offer near constant access to friends and social media and not surprisingly those with smartphones also say they feel more connected, while only 25% of non smartphone access people report the same degree of connectedness.  Some things teens said was that they felt they were helped by friends through tough situations, about 68%.  While this is true, 88% said that they believe people overshare, and 53% said they see events posted that they were not invited to and feel negatively about it. 

While technology can sound overwhelming and a bit scary, it seems to be that most teens have a pretty good handle on it.  While technology is great, it must be talked about between parents and children.  It's important to ask questions and stay cognizant of what they are doing in their free-time.  As an educator we should stay informed of what teens are doing and how they choose to get their information.  If this is a widely used way of communicating we should use it to our advantage to expose them to information and ideas that will teach them something in the long run. 



 

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