Over the past several weeks I’ve been teaching an online course for YALSA called Connect, Create, Collaborate. The focus of the course is on technology in teen services with a strong focus on how to integrate technology into traditional programs and services for teens – collection development, programming, outreach, readers’ advisory, and so on. Over the past five weeks students in the class have been creating lots of content in order to explore the possibilities.
Here’s a rundown on some of the topics covered in the course and what was discussed about and/or developed each week:
QR Codes
During the week that focused on how to create great teen services using tech, one of the topics discussed was QR codes. The QR code conversation brought out a lot of great ideas including ideas about adding codes to:
- a goldfish tank in the library that when scanned leads to web content about goldfish.
- posters in the teen area in order to find out more information about the person, event, etc. shown in the poster.
- plaques or art hanging in the library in order to connect teens and others to more information about the person or organization named in the plaque or who created the art.
- tshirts for the library staff, the shirts could have links to the library homepage, activities, a favorite book, a book trailer, etc. Teens could also make their own customized QR tshirts.
There was also the idea to have teens dress up as QR codes that will scan to characters in books. A “Who AM I?” program.
I think the QR code discussion took off in class because these codes are so easy to implement – free or low cost – and don’t take a lot of skill to create. If you are starting out with some new tech ideas for your library those two aspects of QR codes are probably important to keep in mind. I also think that QR codes took off in class because a multitude of library services can be integrated into use of the technology -readers’ advisory, collection development, outreach, programming, and so on. QR code initiatives can encompass many traditional areas of teen library service.
Google Maps
As a part of student investigations related to technology and collaboration, class members worked on a Google Map together. The map, shown below, visually highlights across North America what’s going on with teens and technology and libraries.
View Teens, Tech, & Libraries – Making the Connection in a larger map
During conversations about using Google Maps with teens, students came up with a host of good ideas including using maps in summer reading scavenger hunts, as a way for teens to map events in a favorite book, or to chart historic events of teen interest. We also covered some ideas related to how teens can collaborate on Google maps across the world – from library to library.
Xtranormal
During the week of class when the focus was on how technology supports text-based literacies, students explored the use of