Videos
YouTube videos are a great way for teachers and librarians to share information with students. With the simple search feature, it's quite likely that you can find an already-made video to use; if not, it is easy to make and upload one yourself. In addition, students can make videos of their own in order to demonstrate learning. Group projects provide social interaction and collaboration opportunities as well as exposure to technical utilities; not to mention, they are fun! Before using YouTube with students, be sure to check your district's policy and ensure that students/parents have signed the Acceptable Use Policy. If the videos are going to be available for viewing by the public, you might consider disabling the comments option.
I plan to use instructional videos in my library for students and for teachers. I will definitely hold in-service training in person, but including videos on the library Canvas page will allow teachers to refresh their memories at the point of need. In addition, if someone is absent during a training, they will be able to access the information when they return. When collaborating and co-teaching with teachers, videos can be made for students to help them along the way with assignments and research projects as well. Also, a library orientation video that can be shown in classrooms and viewed from home is a must. I already include numerous videos on this blog, so I will continue to do so to promote books and the library.
Here are some example videos from various YouTube channels which demonstrate video types that might be helpful to your students or that they might really like. Hopefully, this will get your creative juices flowing with ideas of videos that you might create!
The Norman High School Library Channel (Calypso Gilstrap)
Students can watch this video to learn how to find accurate and reliable information for research projects.
Hee hee! Who wouldn't love watching the mascot tour the library and interact with friends.
The Unquiet Library Channel (theunquietlibrary)
This video helps students understand Creative Commons licenses. Such a great resource when students need to use images in projects.
Students always love seeing their work displayed. How exciting!
Pikesville HS Library Channel (pikesvillehslibrary)
I think students would watch an advisement video repeatedly through their years of high school as they choose classes.
This video is FUN! The students will never forget making it and can always watch it to reminisce.
BBMS Media Channel (bbmsmedia)
An orientation video explaining the library policies and procedures is extremely helpful to the entire school community, especially to 6th graders who are new to upper school
Students enjoy seeing themselves and their friends in fun videos.
Awesome, right?!
So, what if you work at a school that does not allow access to YouTube? Thankfully, there are other options for educational videos such as School Tube, Teacher Tube, and Next Vista. Richard Byrne's blog post, Alternatives to YouTube, provides additional information about each of these resources as well as some tips for preventing inappropriate advertisements from popping up while using YouTube.
I was able to get a free trial of the utility by going to the Animoto website and entering my email address, name, and a password. Teachers and librarians can apply for an Educator's Account in order to create videos that are longer than 30 seconds, but they must renew the account twice a year to keep it active. Otherwise, in order to make unlimited videos and remove the trial watermark, you must upgrade to a paid account. The cheapest plan is $8 per month. So, apply for the Educator's Account. ; )
Animoto was very easy to use. The utility walks you through the process step-by-step. Simply choose a style, then add blocks which are like individual slides in PowerPoint or Google Slides. Each block can contain photos, video, or text. You can change the background color and font or adjust the size of the text. Choose some background music from Animoto's library and, voilá, you have a video!
Here is my book trailer created with the trial version of Animoto:
QR Codes
Quick Response Codes, otherwise known as QR codes, are machine-readable codes that appear as an arrangement of black and white squares. They are digitally linked to URLs or other information such as text, videos, or files. When scanned by a QR reader, the information magically appears. Since QR readers are available for free on mobile phones, it is very easy to utilize QR codes in education. I use QR Reader from the Apple App Store on my phone.
The good news is that QR codes are perfectly safe to use in the classroom. Teachers can use them in scavenger hunts at school, on homework assignments to provide a way for students to access helpful information, at stations for self-directed learning, and more. They can also be used in the library on books to link to book trailers, around the library for directions on accessing eBooks, and on Chromecarts so that teachers can view helpful information. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to using QR codes!
QR codes are extremely simple to make, too. I use QR Code Generator to make mine on the computer. All you have to do is select the data type (URL, YouTube Video, PDF file, etc), add the content (URL, file, etc), and click on the Download QR Code button. You can then download the code, print it, or even email it. Fun!
Here is a QR code for the booktrailer I created with Animoto. Scan the QR code to view the trailer.
Synopsis:
Thirteen-year-old Bee realizes that she is a fairy who has been switched at birth with another girl who now wants her life back.
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