Video distribution systems, Georgia Public Broadcasting education resources, school TV news

Blog 4 Original Post (team 4) Melissa Gooch

Using the site GPB I was able to explore the educational resources that are available, I wasn’t aware that there was a professional development section available. The weekly planner that is available for use is really handy, and list out for a week’s worth of Georgia History happenings, you can also navigate to last week and the next week from this page. This resource tool would make a great resource for lesson planning needs.   

When viewing particularly the GPB Digital Education area, there are many resources available here as well, Common Core, DEN Network, Discovery Education, GPB Education Newsletter, GPB Family Blog, Passion for Learning, PBS Learning Media, PBS TeacherLine Southeast, Southern Education Desk, and the Ignite Show. The PBS Learning Media does require a login, but seems to hold a wealth of resources, with instant access to numerous classroom standard-aligned content (videos, games, audio clips, lesson plans and more!). From this portal you have the ability to search, save and share content. And this resource is available FREE to educators!

I am not familiar with the Discovery Education’s streaming videos, but I looked into them from the site. Looks like the discovery education offers professional development as well as another standards-aligned content of digital library media for educators available via an online portal.  I was able to click around without having to sign up or provide any log in credentials. I really liked this post on Lively Lessons: http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2015/02/22/lively-lessons-lyrical-genius/

I sent out four personal email messages to different school media specialist, below I have pasted the answers to the questions and answer session with one person that responded to my request. If I receive any other feedback, I will post it out in a reply to my original post, that way we have more than one school and level of answers on video distribution systems and Georgia Public Broadcasting resources.

Does your school have one (Video distribution system, some schools call this the closed circuit cable system), and is it working? 

Yes. We have a closed circuit cable system that was installed when the school was built 15 years ago. Unfortunately, as new classrooms have been added, the original system doesn't have a strong enough signal to reach 100% of classrooms clearly. I've had several work repairs done to try to amp up the system, but the signal is still kind of blurry in some wings. Still negotiating on this.

What gets sent out over the video distribution system? School news? Cable and/or broadcast programs? Channel One? 

We do school news in the morning. It's a pretty quick newscast since our school doesn't have very much time in the morning. The kids go over announcements, sports, and future activities. I've begun to have a couple "sports anchors" pre-film interviews, and we've done sports "specials" before announcements. The kids have enjoyed that. :)

What else is it used for? 

We also use distribution for movies for entire grade levels, multiple classrooms, and/or whole school reward videos. We subscribe to movlic.com licensing so that we can show certain movie studios for entertainment.

Do teachers have any input or control into the distribution system and if so what (for instance, some video distribution systems let teachers control what is sent over the distribution system through the number pad of their telephone!). 

I wish our system was this sophisticated! It may be time for an overhaul, but funding is *extremely* limited. As of now, teachers just make requests, and we play whatever they need within our license and fair use.

Does your school use a digital system, transmitting TV content over the data network? 

No. I've been interested in getting this set up though...it would be SO much easier (if you are collecting info from other schools, I'd love to know what other schools around are using)! 

How does your school and district use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources? 

Teachers search and use GPB for various curriculum needs. GA Studies, for example, uses tons of different GA resources.

Have any of you ever used this resource for school movies movlic.com? What about using a digital system to transmit TV content via your network? Do any school systems currently utilize this? Since the SLMS was so gracious to allow me her time for questions, I’d love to be able to provide her some feedback from other professionals out there.

Resources

DEN Blog Network. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/

Education Help | Georgia Public Broadcasting. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gpb.org/education

Pals/Jefferson City Schools, L. Interview by M. Gooch/Student.


----------------------------Updates received from additional feedback: 

Does your school have one (Video distribution system, some schools call this the closed circuit cable system), and is it working?  Yes it does work, we use it every day for our newscast but we hardly ever use it to show videos.

What gets sent out over the video distribution system? School news? Cable and/or broadcast programs? Channel One? School news is mostly the only thing we show on our closed circuit.

What else is it used for?  Nothing

Do teachers have any input or control into the distribution system and if so what (for instance, some video distribution systems let teachers control what is sent over the distribution system through the number pad of their telephone!). No teacher control.  However we are mostly using mediacast to show videos that go along with content.

Does your school use a digital system, transmitting TV content over the data network? MediaCast

How does your school and district use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources? We use discovery education through GPB a lot.

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Does your school have one (Video distribution system, some schools call this the closed circuit cable system), and is it working? yes

What gets sent out over the video distribution system? School news? Cable and/or broadcast programs? Channel One? DVD movies, VHS movies, Morning news

What else is it used for? nothing 

Do teachers have any input or control into the distribution system and if so what (for instance, some video distribution systems let teachers control what is sent over the distribution system through the number pad of their telephone!). no. They can request a video to be shown but they have to fill out a form and have it signed by an admin.

Does your school use a digital system, transmitting TV content over the data network? no

How does your school and district use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources? We don't have a satellite anymore.

  

References

Barber/Jackson County School System, M. Interview by M. Gooch/Student.

Lancaster/Jackson County School System, C. Interview by M. Gooch/Student.

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