I spoke to a middle
school media specialist about video distribution at their school. She smiled
and said that their system was very outdated. When TV’s went digital and were
no longer analog, it reduced the system’s capabilities. They have a total of
three channels that can broadcast. One channel shows scrolling announcements
and the student produced morning news. Another channel is GA Public Broadcasting,
and the last channel, she had the staff vote on what the channel should be.
They decided on CNN.
The first channel
shows the school TV news that is run daily. The student news crew does it in
the news production room in the media center, but the media specialist is not
in charge of it; two teachers are. After the student news airs during homeroom,
the rest of the day there are scrolling announcements that are made on a Power
point. Teachers have some input into what is put on the scrolling
announcements. They can email a Power point slide to the media specialist, and
she puts it on the scrolling announcements.
The other channel
is GA Public Broadcasting. She said that few teachers watch it. They usually
use United Steaming. All of the teachers have the code for using it, and the
media specialist promotes it a lot. When teachers request a particular video,
and the media center does not have it, she encourages them to check United
Steaming to see if they can find a video on there related to their topic, and
they usually do. She also said that with her school district recently
unblocking Youtube videos for teachers only, that a lot of teachers show
Youtube videos if they cannot find what they need on United Streaming.
The last channel is
CNN, which the teachers voted on. There are a few times a year when she plays a
video for the entire school to view, or an entire grade to watch. When the
weather is bad, she will air the Weather channel for teachers to watch.
Otherwise, the channel is always on CNN.
Although the media
specialist would like to do more with the video distribution system, as far as
having more channels, it serves its purpose in the school. The school tv news
is aired every morning, announcements are seen by everyone if needed throughout
the day, GPB channel is accessible, and there is one cable channel available.
She is currently working on having more channels added.
My TV in my classroom does get GPTV as one of it's channels and has one closed circuit channel along with one channel for showing DVDs and VHS tapes in the classroom. Sometimes we can get another channel or two. It seems to change alot. I do not know why exactly, but sometimes we can get public and local channels, other times we have no channels at all. As classroom teachers, we only use the TV for the morning announcements (closed circuit) and to show VHS tapes. We show DVDs on our projectors. We should really move the morning show from closed circuit TV to streaming on the internet.
ReplyDeleteOur school does not use any TV channels in the classroom, including GPBTV. There is a television in the cafeteria that receives some cable channels, because I've seen the Weather Channel and ESPN displayed when something newsworthy is on (like today's Frankenstorm forecasts). One intention of that TV is to broadcast school basketball games to that location, as it serves as our concession area and food is not allowed in the gymnasium. However, its location makes it not a good use for either a school news program or broadcasting channels that might be appropriate for supplementing the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteOur teachers use United Streaming for their major video content, but some also make use of Discovery Channel's programming. We also have a BrainPop subscription that our elementary classes use. Others find just using videos from TED talks, YouTube/Teacher Tube, and other video sites to be fine for their classroom needs.
With limited funds and resources many schools are not updating televisions because of streaming capabilities. All teachers in my county now have a SMARTboard and projector which gives them the capabilities to share online videos (that aren't blocked), DVDs and online activities without ever having to leave the classroom to retrieve this information or request a paper be signed for permission for viewing. I feel televisions in the classroom are headed out and will soon be considered antiquated and a thing of the past. Thank goodness for online resources and streaming websites ....especially those that are CCGPS/GPS correlated.
ReplyDeleteEvery classroom has a TV in it at my school however, when the channels went digital we lost everything except the ability to show a DVD/VHS tape or a closed circuit video run by the media center specialist. Honestly, I don't turn my TV on except to watch the book fair video and maybe a skit by the PE coaches before the CRCT. We use Unitedstreaming most of the time at my school. Because of funds and the fact that it is rarely updating the TV circuit has not been a priority.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first began working at my school three years ago, I had never heard of a video distribution system. Since then, I’ve found that even with older technology, there are many ways we can utilize its qualities. Our system runs similarly to the one you discussed with your media specialist, Sundi. We have three channels that are constantly running. Channel two is programmed for the school news in the morning and then runs announcements throughout the day. Channels four and six are available for teachers to view videos or DVDs and/or school-wide programs. If a teacher or grade-level wants to view a video, a form must be completed and submitted to the media specialist two days prior to the viewing date. The form includes a space for an objective and standard. Our media specialist will also often show school-wide programs for special events like the book fair or fundraising information. This week she is showing election commercials all week prior to our voting day (next Tuesday) for everyone to vote on our Christmas program (with either the Gingerbread Man or Gingerbread Cowboy).
ReplyDeleteWe also have access to all cable channels through our Smartboards and have United Streaming logins. I use United Streaming pretty often for videos for units we are learning. We do not have access to You Tube, but I recently started using a program our district purchased called My Big Campus. It works similarly to a Facebook account; we have the capability to upload You Tube videos to our wall to view at school (as well as follow our coworkers to gain access to videos the upload).
I find it very interesting that the media specialist is not in charge of the news production at this school. I think it is interesting that they have the capability to have the announcements scrolling on the channel throughout the day. I guess you never know until you go to an individual school as to what they have to offer their teachers and students in the way of technology and broadcasting.
ReplyDeleteI also like that the media specialist can show school-wide programs and that teachers can request a video for viewing on one of the channels by contacting the media specialist two days before they need it aired.
This is a good and informative post. Thanks for researching this.
Marilyn Richardson