In my current school, the Video Distribution System is working at about
75 percent. The media specialist used to use it to do the morning
announcements, but now he streams it on Ustream.tv so that everyone can make
sure to see it. There are four main hallways of my elementary school and three
of the hallway’s closed circuit work. Sadly, my hallway does not. The media
specialist, Mr. Ashley, used closed circuit a lot during February as we had
many Black History Month presentations, including Ruby Bridges, a play called
Minty, and a one man performance called The Long Walk. It was nice that
everyone (well, almost everyone) could turn on their televisions, turn to
Channel 3, and watch the same thing (those of us without working televisions went
to another room to watch). The addition of Ustream.tv to watch the morning
announcements has been great! In January, the Kindergarten, first, and second
grade teachers got projectors (and we LOVE to use them), so this works out very
well! Third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers have Active Boards (something I
truly envy them for). Every teacher in the school has a television mounted to
the wall and a VCR/DVD combo. The control panel for the closed circuit is in a
closet in the media center.
The media specialist at my school loves to use Georgia Public
Broadcasting (GPB) Resources. Every week, he reads a story to my class (either
through digital story telling or the old fashioned way) and then he plays a
show from the GPB resources. He particularly likes Word Girl, a short 30 minute
cartoon where she used two or three new words and explains the new vocabulary.
He also likes Cyberchase which is another short, 30 minute cartoon about
students who complete missions with science, math, and technology. He does a
great job of collaborating with us to show resources that correlate to what we’re
learning in the classroom.
I love the fact that the media specialist in my school is leaning
towards more digital streaming. In my experience, using something like Ustream.tv
is much easier to use and the teachers can control it through their own laptop.
I think there are less kinks involved. I definitely think schools will be doing
away with televisions in classrooms altogether soon. With sites like UnitedStreaming.com,
GPB, and YouTube.com, we can basically find anything we need at the convenience
of a click!
I have never heard of Ustream.tv until I read your post. Now I am searching for information about the system. I like to stream from my computer as well. I might want to stop and pause and talk for an hour or so. Seriously, I think it is important to us technology in any form in the classroom and broadcast as much as we can from the outside world. YouTube is a big yes in our county now and I am so happy about that decision. However, I have used my Netflix account to watch a clip of a movie for myself but as far as for classroom use I am scared. UnitedStreaming is my safety net, I can’t go wrong with them. I am happy we don’t have those huge televisions in the corner of our classrooms anymore. But I surely do miss my VHS player.
ReplyDeleteBrittany,
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to read that your school still has TV's mounted to the wall! I worked at a school five years ago in the Savannah Chatham district that had very old technology and not very much of it. I left teaching for a little while and then got hired at a brand new elementary school with state of the art everything. It is so nice to have technology that actually works and is up to date. We have Promethean boards that I have gotten very dependent on. So much so that the other day, when mine was not working properly, I almost had a stroke! It is very nice to be able to project the morning announcements on it so that all of my students can see and hear them.
At our Elementary school we have school video distribution system also. We have one channel that works consistently. We used to have 3, but the system is so old that a lot of the technology is wearing out. Each classroom has a television mounted, but they are small and student often complain about not being able to see. We are very fortunate and all of our classrooms have ActivBoards, so teachers would much rather be able to watch things on the ActivBoard. I would love to find an option so that we could stream videos to the teachers ActivBoards, maybe even live.
ReplyDeleteUStream sounds like a great option, definitely something I will look into!
Our teachers love Discovery Streaming and GPB. Right now Youtube is blocked at our school and we can not access and websites with streaming video. I am hoping that next year when we move locations the new bandwidth will allow us to visit and use even more websites in the classroom.
At my last school, the teachers had a video distribution system that I could stream things on from the media center, and we also used lots of digital streaming such as Discovery Streaming. I agree that it is so much easier for teachers to be able to control what is being shown through their laptops which also gives them more control in their classrooms. I agree that pretty soon tvs wont be necessary in classrooms anymore especially as we can pull so much up from the web.
ReplyDeleteJust to start out…does your media specialist find it easier to use Ustream instead of recording the videos? I think the live streaming would add more of a “real touch” to the morning announcements, and allow for up to date information. It’s amazing to have those resources available to us and then to be able to quickly utilize them in the classroom. I’m sure it allows for your media specialist’s creativity to shine! I think it’s so important for us to use the most relevant technology available in our libraries. I also agree that televisions will become outdated. It’s one less item to repurchase and considering everything you need can be watched with a phone and a smartboard…televisions are not necessary. Excellent post!
ReplyDelete