05.+Video

= 05. Video =

Name of Technology Tools:
[|Animoto] [|YouTube]

What are These Tools?

 * __**Animoto**__ is a web application that produces videos from user-selected photos, video clips and music. Animoto produces TV-quality music videos using your photos, video clips, or [|Creative Commons] content.
 * __**YouTube**__ is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. Videos created using Animoto can be exported to YouTube where they can be shared with larger audiences and embedded on websites, wikis, blogs or social networks.

===When These Technology Tools Can Be Used & Why:=== The use of video such as Animoto or YouTube is a phenomenal way to promote library services whilst supporting its civic duty to provide resources that meet the interests and information needs of the whole community which it serves. Over the past couple of years, public libraries have reported a surge in use correlating with economic hardship and unemployment many patrons currently face. Communities, particularly those with significant low income and minority populations, are rediscovering their local public libraries and the services and resources they offer in a downturn economy which is still part of a web-connected world. Job seekers who have given up their internet accounts to save money flock to their local public libraries as a place to apply for jobs since many jobs can only be applied for online. People of all ages are opting to borrow books, DVDs, and other media as an alternative to buying them simply because they have less disposable income.

The only thing people need to access library services is a library card. Though a seemingly simple task in the eyes of a librarian, this may be a daunting task to the already economically discouraged. A library card could be the ticket that opens doors to a place where an unemployed single parent can seek a job or a haven for the young adult who needs a safe place to read a book after school. Though many are recognizing this 'renewed' value of the public library, it is the civic duty of the librarians who provide these services to provide public outreach to those in need of services who are unaware of the free services public libraries provide. Using services like Animoto and YouTube is a free way to provide public outreach. By linking catchy videos that send a message of services on the public library home page, children and young adults may access them in K-12 school libraries and perhaps relay the messages they send to family and friends. Public libraries are often perceived as an extension of the greater school community. Once a video is created using the Animoto web application, the video can be exported to YouTube where it can gain exposure to a larger audience via sharing on websites, wikis, blogs, and social networks.


 * Here is an example of how Animoto can be used to promote getting a library card at your local public library: [|Library Card: GO GET IT!]
 * Here is an example of how this same Animoto can be exported to YouTube so that the message you wish to deliver can reach a wider audience due to its ability to be embedded on websites, wikis, blogs and social networks:

media type="youtube" key="lytPOXeBWOM" height="385" width="640"

===Rationale for Using These Technology Tools In School Libraries:=== Producing video using technology tools like Animoto and YouTube in the school library can fulfill curriculum requirements under the [|English Language Arts Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks]. Specifically, Strand 27 of the frameworks states, "//Students will design and create coherent media productions (audio, video, television, multimedia, Internet, emerging technologies) with a clear con­trolling idea, adequate detail, and appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and medium.//" Librarians can collaborate with teachers to help students meet this learning objective by using technology resources like Animoto or YouTube in the school library.

===Scenario in School Library Setting:=== A high school film studies elective taught by the English Language Arts department seeks to have students create their own mini video as a group project based on things they have learned about perspective, style, and genre. However, the school budget is short on funding and can't afford to repair damaged video and camera equipment, property of the English department, typically used to complete this assignment each year. The teacher seeks out the school librarian in hopes that the needed equipment will be a resource available to her there. Much to the teacher's dismay, the school library is in a similar situation regarding budget, and does not have the specific equipment she is looking for.

The librarian, being the service-oriented problem solver that she is, presents a creative solution and whips out her handy technology toolbox. The librarian recommends to the teacher using Animoto as an alternative tool to the traditional technology needs of the assignment so that students can meet the learning goal as originally intended. Unfamiliar with this tool, the teacher intially hesitates on the idea, but the librarian offers to collaborate on the assignment by demonstrating to the class on how to use Animoto in the context of a library lesson on using [|Creative Commons] licensed content and images for use in film making. The teacher, aware of the librarian's good reputation for providing outstanding resources and service to the social studies department, agrees to collaborate and the traditional lesson takes on a new direction using emerging technologies. The students benefit from innovative lesson planning by using 21st century learning skills in the library to create films using new web technologies, and meet both the objective of the film studies assignment and the requirements of the ELA curriculum frameworks.

Submitted By: Jen Goldberg