Skip to main content

SLIS 761 Dig if You Will the Picture

As soon as I read about HP Reveal (previously Aurasma) I got super excited.  I envisioned a teen wandering around her school library.  She isn't sure what she should read next, so she's just scanning titles to see if anything catches her eye.  Her gaze lands on the cool mint spine of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.  She's heard of this one; wasn't her friend Emma reading it awhile back?  She pulls out her phone, pops open HP Reveal and points her phone at the cover.  Suddenly, Emma is right there on her screen, gushing about how much she loved Fangirl.

"Oh my god, this book is life," Emma says, sitting cross-legged on her couch, waving the book at the camera.  Her hair is long, she must have recorded this Aura before she cut it.  "I feel so seen.  Oh, and if you like this, you have to read Carry On and Wayward Son which are basically the slash fic Cath is writing the whole time in Fangirl."

Back in the library, our teen puts her phone away, confident she's found a good read, and two others after that besides.  She gathers all three books and goes to check out.

Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash

HP Reveal allows users to link images to videos, animations, or other images.  To engage with the video, animation, or image all someone has to do is turn on the HP Reveal app and point their device at the trigger image (a book cover for example).   To make an Aura all someone has to do is take a photo with the app, upload a video from their phone, and share.   It's so simple.  The only thing I wish you could do is record the video in the app.  Just one less step would make the whole process so user friendly. I imagine a whole library augmented this way.  Students could read a book, and if they love it or hate it, leave behind a quick video for their friends.

HP Reveal is a free app available on any tablet or device.  Simply download the app from the app story and your ready to go. App permissions include location, camera, microphone, and storage. I made my first Aura in less than 5 minutes (in fact, the app opens with a quick tutorial).

While I originally envisioned this app being used in more of a guerilla style, there are plenty of guided lesson out there.  Common Sense Education  has some decent ideas.  And Librarian on The Loose outlines a whole 4th grade lesson plan, in which students use Chatterpix to record a book review and HP Reveal to share it.   However you choose to use Augmented Reality tech like HP Reveal, I think there is a lot of possibility there.

References & Resources

Bristol, J. (2019). HP Reveal. Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/hp-reveal

HP Reveal. (2019). HP Reveal: An Extended Reality Platform from HP. Retrieved from https://www.hpreveal.com/

Meyer, L. (2017). Virtually There: Kids are using VR to explore worlds and create new ones. School Library Journal.  Retrieved from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=virtually-kids-using-vr-explore-worlds-create-new-ones


Waldron, S. (2019).  Cool Tools for Schools, Tool 13: Augmented and Virtual Reality. Librarian on the Loose [blog]. Retrieved from
https://librarianontheloose.com/2019/04/18/cool-tools-for-schools-tool-13-augmented-and-virtual-reality/

Comments

  1. First of all, I love the title of your post. Gosh I miss Prince...Anyway, thanks for talking about HP Reveal! I looked at this app as well, but honestly, I had a hard time with it. But after reading your post and looking at the other resources you shared, I have a better idea of how to use it, and I will definitely spend more time with it. You're right - there are a wealth of options for how to use HP Reveal and AR in general in the library and in the classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a great post--I really love this idea of how to use the features to solve a real-world library problem... how to get great books into the hands of readers! I tend to think of AR and VR as things that work better with geography and science, so I really appreciated this perspective. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post! I didn't think about using the app for book reviews, or as mentioned in one of your resources, for a biography book report. Our staff was introduced to Reveal last year, but I don't think anyone is using it in the classroom. I will have to get it going in the Media Center, to introduce it to the students.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love everything about this post! Your description at the beginning is so vivid it immediately makes me interested in the app - even without knowing anything about it! You make some great suggestions for ways to use the app in the classroom - and I think Rachel also makes a great point above about using AR and VR in less traditional ways and how helpful that can be when engaging students.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SLIS 761: On the Flipgrid Side

I recently got the chance to visit a local elementary school's Literacy Night.  Students rotated through a series of literacy-themed stations: a book tasting, the local library, 2 real-live children's authors (!), and Flipgrid book reviews.  Before this night, I had heard about Flipgrid, but hadn't seen it in action.  Students sat at computers and browsed book recommendations their peers had made using Flipgrid.  The effect was both charming and incredibly engaging.  Students were delighted to see videos made by their friends and to show their own video to their families.   https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-watching-video-using-laptop-821948/ by Bruce Mars Flipgrid is accessible online at  flipgrid.com .  Flipgrid is free to use.  Educators need only sign-up, then provide their students with a Flip Code.  After entering the Flip Code, students can make a short video based on a prompt recorded by the teacher. Much like popul...

SLIS 761 Makerspaces

A few years back the school district I taught for decided the school needed a Makerspace.  They bought a big cart, some Littlebits , and some  Code and Go Robot Mouse  sets.  The library was the natural home for this cart.   Unfortunately I was in only my first or second year of being a school librarian and hadn't started my MLIS yet.  I had only really heard of Makerspaces in passing and didn't have a lot of extra time to figure it out.  I wish I had access to Teach Outside the Box back then. So You Want to Start a Makerspace Educator Brooke Brown recently published a gloriously extensive intro to Makerspaces.  Having begun hosting a Makerspace five years ago, she recently decided to share all that she has learned along the way.  The post begins with a definition of a Makerspace and why they are important.  The rest of the blog is broken down into her 5 S's of a Successful Makerspace: Space, Stuff, Schedule, Structure, ...

SLIS761: Turn and Face the Strange

"Being a connector is like being a weaver of a learning web for students." (Cromartie & Burns, 2019). By I, Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3626879 Cromartie and Burns' article in the May 2019 issue of  Knowledge Quest  acknowledges that the role of librarian has been different in the past and calls for school librarians to shift their mindset for the present. Though written about the AASL standards, this article could easily pertain to the ISTE standards.  Both sets of standards focus on supporting learners by helping them create knowledge instead of feeding it to them.  In the past, librarians have been keepers of knowledge, collectors of materials, and enforcers of rules.  The AASL standards, and ISTE standards alike, require more fluidity from educators.  It is the educator's job to provide tools that encourage inquiry, creativity, and exploration.  The ISTE standards for educators ...