In today's world, videos are huge when it comes to helping anyone (not just kids) learn. When I want to do something for myself, one of the first places I go for help is YouTube. People have actually made careers out of explaining how to do things on YouTube! Our students are no different. In fact, they are making their own videos as well! This week, I had the opportunity to explore some YouTube channels, Animoto, and created a QR code for my Animoto video. I felt somewhat confident that I'd have a pretty easy time with this assignment, since I have a little experience with YouTube, Animoto and QR codes, but I did run into a few bumps. All in all, I got to see some pretty great videos, add to my list of ideas for things I want to implement in my library when I become a librarian, and I got a little more comfortable with different aspects of technology.
I explored a few different YouTube channels used in libraries. I've included two videos from each channel that I visited. For each channel, there is a video that I think students would find most helpful and a video that I think students would like best. Exploring these YouTube channels gave me some helpful ideas for the future.
The most helpful video for students: I think this channel had a few good helpful videos. The video that I think is most helpful is the Getting Started with the NHS Library Website. This video does a lovely job of touring the website so that students know what is available and how to access different resources.
The video students would like best: I think one video students would probably like best is the Tiger Visits The Library video. The school mascot visits the library and uses various resources. It's funny and informative, as it shows different aspects of the library and resources available.
The Unquiet LIbrary channel
(found at: https://www.youtube.com/user/theunquietlibrary/videos )
This channel had so many good videos! There were so many helpful videos to choose from, it was hard to pick just one that would be most helpful! I like that they covered a variety of subjects for tutorials. The most helpful video would depend upon what type of project a student was doing.
The most helpful video for students: I think copyright issues are such a big issue, I chose one of the videos tutorials on how to find creative common images, in the video Finding CC Licensed Images in Advanced Flickr Search , using Flickr.
The video students would like best: I think the video students would like best is the Scenes from The Unquiet Library because it high lights students in the library and happenings.
The most helpful video for students: This channel had a lot of helpful videos to choose from, as well. I think one of the most helpful videos, for the library, is the Snapshot of The Panthers Library because it does just that, gives a snapshot of all the things the library has to offer.
The video students would like best: I think one of the videos students would like best is the The Panthers Library in Action- Fall 2013 because, again, it shows students in the library and what they've been up to that year.
Bonnie Branch Middle School Library YouTube channel:
(found at: https://www.youtube.com/user/bbmsmedia/videos )
This channel might be one of my favorite of the four that I explored. It's also the most updated.
The most helpful video for students: There are many Noodle Tools tutorial videos on this channel. I like Noodle tools because it's a great citation generator and I think this will really help students with copyright and intellectual property issues. I picked the Noodle Tools- How to Create an Account because that is where one would need to begin, in order to use Noodle Tools.
The video students would like best: This channel has a number of parody videos about various problem issues in the library (mainly overdue books) that I think are entertaining and funny. I think one of the best videos is the Overdue Games video.
I would use videos in various ways, to promote my library. I love the idea of using book trailers! I think this is a great way to get kids reading books they may have not ever picked up, otherwise. When I was exploring YouTube channels, I saw that one library used videos as a way to do book reviews. I like this idea, as well. I also think that video tutorials are beneficial for students and teachers, alike. I believe that videos are a great attention grabber, as well as an easy way for people to learn, rather than having to read through various directions and look at still pictures. I feel similar to videos as I did the screencasts in my last blog. I thought the YouTube videos where the students were involved (especially the parody videos, were so funny and creative. That could be a fun project for the future). There are so many ideas for how to use videos in libraries, as shown on the many YouTube channels I explored this week. I'm excited to try out some different things, when the day comes that I am a librarian.
I decided to make a booktrailer for Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. This is one of my all time favorite books, and one I've enjoyed using as an ELA teacher.
Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:
"Ten-year-old Annemarie JOhansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemaries is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life."
Exploring QR Codes:
You can scan the QR Code below, to view my booktrailer.
I would like to use QR codes in the library for various things. I could lead students to booktrailers I've created (or other students have created), there could be a QR for a direct link to the library website, a QR code for upcoming events, or one that leads to a bio about me or other teachers and/or administrators at the school. When I was reading about how to use QR codes in school libraries, I saw ideas like, using them for a scavenger hunt, embedding author information, and guiding students to curated material.
Using YouTube, Animoto, and QR Codes in the library really has many benefits. I think the students and teachers will appreciate all three (and teachers will probably use these techie tools in their own classrooms, after they see how fun and influential they can be, in the library!)
This past week, I was required to explore the social media platforms Instagram and Vine. In addition, I needed to make a screencast. Working with Instagram seemed like the easiest task for me, because I have a personal Instagram account that I use pretty regularly. I feel pretty comfortable with Insta. But then I started to sweat a little when it came to creating a Vine account. This is going to sound so lame, but I honestly have not heard of Vine before. Perhaps this is because I'm not a huge Twitter user? I truthfully only started using Twitter for my technology course. So I had to do a little reading up on Vine. Lastly, the screencast definitely made me sweat because it requires me recording my voice and essentially making a little video... thankfully where you don't have to actually see me sweat! I am not a huge fan of hearing my recorded voice, but more on this later, when I review my screencast experience.
So first off, I created an Instagram account that I can use as a librarian, in the future. For right now, I made it as kind of a "family library" account, where I've posted about books that I like for my own kids (since I'm not actually a librarian yet... and I'm not actually in the classroom right now, since I'm staying at home with my baby).
A photo posted by W. Seewald (@seewaldslibrary) on
I think Instagram would be a great tool to use in the library, in various ways. I can see it being used in similar ways as facebook or twitter. I think it would be even more beneficial in secondary libraries, as ways to really draw students into the library. I read a few articles online about ways to use Insta in the classroom, that I REALLY liked. There were suggestions for projects, like making an account for certain characters (like, what would you find on their accounts, if they had Instagram), showcasing student work (you could definitely showcase books of the week/month or student picks, in the library), how famous people in history would use Insta... I think there are a lot of possible ways to use Instagram in the library. I'm not too sure how many views an elementary library account might get, with students who most likely won't be using Instagram yet, but perhaps it could be useful for parents? I know that many parents ask about book recommendations for their kiddos and this could be a way to make such suggestions. Also, it could be used as a way to showcase ideas of how to keep kids actively reading during the summer.
Next, I played around with Vine. Like I said earlier, I had to read up on this outlet. And then I wasn't exactly jazzed, because your videos are limited to 6 seconds. It's kind of the same reason I don't exactly love Twitter- I'm a verbose person naturally, so I don't like for my words and thoughts to be limited. BUT I do understand the positive side of having to get a point across quickly... especially if your audience is a kid- those short attention spans need info in a short and sweet presentation sometimes. The funny thing about my first experience with Vine is that I had to use my husband's phone, because mine had died. I asked him if he had Vine on his phone and he literally downloaded it yesterday! Ironic? He's a teacher/coach and stays pretty up-to-date with technology, as he uses it with his students and athletes. He uses Twitter WAY more than I do. I think it's because it's a very popular form of social media with his students and athletes.
Here's my first attempt at creating a vine (emphasis on FIRST ATTEMPT... I will be playing around with this, in the future, for ways to use it more effectively in the library....)
Obviously, this isn't exactly what I would use, it was just my first attempt at playing with the app. I really liked an article I read on 8 Ways You Can Use Vine To Teach Reading Comprehension, where it listed ways one might use Vine. Again, just like with the other social media outlets I've played with, I think Vine could be used in various ways in the library. It could definitely be used to bring attention to a certain book, it could be a little teaser for a certain book, Vine could be used to video library happenings, or display certain book collections available in the library. Like with Instagram, I think this form of social media might be more beneficial in a secondary library, than an elementary library- especially because it would have to be parents that logged into the app. The minimum age for Vine is 17, so elementary age students would not actually have access to this outlet. In that case, Vine could be used to show what students are doing in the library (as long as student's faces are not shared, or there is permission for their faces to be shown on websites...) In the secondary setting, I think students could really have some fun with this form of media, for various projects. Librarians could use Vines to bring attention to books student's might find interesting, or to display other aspects of the library that some students might not be aware of. Again, this form of media is going to take some getting used to, for me, but I think it has a lot of potential.
Lastly, I explored screencasts. I was introduced to screencasts in my first grad school class. I've found since I began grad school, that screencasts are pretty popular among professors. And I am EVER so grateful! As I began my online grad-school experience, I was fairly anxious about having online classes where I don't get to be face-to-face with my professors and peers. I was especially worried that I would not understand explanations of either assignments or information, because I'm a pretty visual person, and learn much better by seeing something explained, and not just reading about it. Screencasts have been a HUGE help! Now, I LOVE watching other people's screencasts, but actually creating my own screencast made me feel a little uncomfortable. I am so critical of myself when I hear my recorded voice! And I don't want to sound like a robot reading off a script, but I don't want to fumble my words and make zero sense either. Basically, I'm insecure when it comes to public speaking (unless it's in front of 5-10 year olds) and apparently my brain feels like voice recordings are a form of public speaking. So I sweat it! I TOTALLY see the benefits of screencasts, and I'm glad that I've been stretched and made to actually create one, so that I can get over my anxiety. I think this is an incredibly helpful tool for students and parents alike! I know that as a teacher, parents are always asking how to do certain things or for help with certain things. Creating a screencast would be a wonderful way to explain things for parents, or even for students to reference for a reminder, if say, they got home and forgot exactly how to access something on the computer or the exact process of completing a task for homework. They could simply visit the screencast and then complete the task they need to complete at home. I love how this tool allows you to be with your students at home, in a way. I can imagine that this would be incredibly helpful in difficult math classes in high school, for explaining how to complete certain equations... I think I would have been a little more successful in high school math, had I had access to screencasts and my teachers taken advantage of such technology. As for using screencasts in the library, I LOVE the idea of using them to help remind students how to access certain parts of the library website, like how to put a book on hold or search the catalog. For younger students, this can be difficult to remember, and having to explain it to 22 second graders, every time they come to the library, could get old quick! Also, I think screencasts are a great tool to use to help teachers! I've moved around a lot and I feel like I've had to teach myself about the library in a lot of the schools I've taught in. It would be insanely helpful for new teachers (or teachers who suffer from pregnancy brain and constantly forget little things... like ME), to have a place to find screencasts on how to navigate the library site and ways to help students, as well as screencasts that inform teachers what all the library and the school technology has to offer.
For my screencast, I used screencast o matic, which is what many of my professors have used. I've found that there are actually quite a few websites that you can use to create screencasts. I'll probably be playing with other sites, in the future, just to see what all is offered, out there. This was my first screencast to make, and as I was simply experimenting, I kept it short and simple. (Also, I have a very hoarse voice right now, from a horrible cough, so I'm sorry about that)
(A note about this particular screencast: I noticed, after viewing it in my blog, that it is blurry and not exactly easy to see, so this is something that I am going to have to troubleshoot in the future)
All in all, I've found that when I'm required to actually create accounts and really use the technology I've been learning about, I get a little more comfortable, even though at first I may have been stretched a bit. I like the idea of using Instagram and Screencasts, but Vines are going to have to grow on me. My goal is to be an elementary school librarian, and lately I find myself struggling to figure out how to use some technology (mainly social media platforms) for the age range I would find in such a school. I can see using the technology to reach parents and the community, as well as new teachers. Of the three mediums I experimented with this last week, I think screencasts might be my favorite, simply because of the way they can help ANYONE who might use the library cite (students, teachers, parents, admin, community...).
I chose to create my infographic using easel.ly because I found that their free templates lend themselves to the data I wanted to use. Infogr.am seemed pretty similar to easel.ly, but easel.ly appeared to be easier to use (perhaps because the demo video I watched, explained the site a little better for my understanding). I liked Piktochart, but I didn't find that the templates would be useful for this particular data, at least not the way I pictured it in my mind. I think I might like to use that site in the future, though.
I could see myself using infographics in the library for things like introducing genres, detailing what each section of the library holds/where you could find something in particular, and displaying book collections (i.e. Bluebonnet books or other award winning lists that students like to read from). In addition, I think this is a great tool to use in the classroom, because it really helps students digest information found. All in all, this was a useful assignment because I think infographics really catch students' eyes and portray information in a quick way, rather than giving out long winded informative literature.
Below is the infographic I created using data found from Pew Research Center.
I chose this data to use for this assignment because we started out talking a lot about social media use in schools, namely Facebook and Twitter. We've also discussed Tumblr briefly. I found the percentages for which social media sites were most used, helpful, because it lets me know which of the sites would be most effective, when reaching my students, in the future.
Pew Research Center data found at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
