The distribution system at Mableton is a closed circuit type. We are able to get very few channels through the head end unit. Unfortunately, the closed circuit is only accessible in the building and not connected to the portables. We use the distribution system to view the school news, a few channels such as Disney, the Weather Channel and CNN, and other school wide broadcasts. There is a computer connected to it as well where we also use it to show the PowerPoint that has information about school policies, staff members, and upcoming events. As the media specialist, I update it once a month so that the parents and visitors who view it are able to plan ahead for the upcoming events. The TV in the foyer of our school is set to the closed circuit channel and remains on at all times for updates.
Teachers have limited input as to what is on the Distribution System. I know there are some things I can do to override and add a few more channels for our access, but I haven't had a chance to look through the information we received from our new provider. They are able to make suggestions as to what we air over the closed circuit channel, but they are not able to suggest additional channels or contorl what is sent over the system. It would be nice if they could access channels that they know are beneficial to the students and their learning from their classrooms, but unfortunately we have not been given that access as of yet.
We use many of the resources from Georgia Public Broadcasting. We use the website to access many of the games from the shows, like Sesame Street and Between the Lions. We also use the United Streaming videos to give students additional ways to look at the information they are learning. I use it in the media center to teach lessons on elements of a story and how to do research. We also locate images and speeches from people we are studying about so that the students are able to hear the voices or put a face with the name they hear about.
We are able to use our Closed Circuit to view videos and other items school wide. It would be beneficial for the portable classrooms to have access to it so that the classes would not have to move to a location inside the building so that they are able to view it. However, many times we are able to send much of it to the portables after the classes in the building view it. Hopefully, when we have our new building everyone will be able to view everything and no one will feel slighted because of their location.
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ReplyDeleteThe way that your school uses the video distribution system is very similar to mine. Things that are sent over the video distribution system are (1) the school news each morning, (2) the clock to display the time consistently from one place in the building to another, (3) VHS and DVDs that are broadcast to more than one classroom at a time, (4) occasional special announcements during and at the end of the day.Teachers don’t have a lot of control over the distribution system—it is managed by the media specialist and of course supervised by the principal and central office tech staff policies and procedures.
ReplyDeleteUsing GPB to teach research lessons in the media center is a great idea!
Linda Dixon
The distribution system at your school is set up and utilized in a very similar manner to the way my school uses it with a few exceptions. Much like you, we only get 12 channels through our head in unit. Two of those 12 channels pull double duty. Channel 4 is utilized for our scrolling announcements during the morning and then reverts back to WGN 9 for the remainder of the day. For the majority of the time Channel 5 broadcasts as Peachtree TV with the exception of Wednesdays when it features our video production class school TV program Wildcat TV, which loops all day. The biggest challenge our media specialists face with the managing our video distribution system is that the head in unit is not located in the media center or the server closet, but in a classroom! Recent budget cuts and the impending increase in class sizes forced administration to reclaim the room from the media center and convert it into a classroom. Obviously, this makes accessing the distribution system on a regular basis difficult.
ReplyDeleteI have found that not only do our teachers have little input as to what is on the distribution system, but neither do our media specialists. Although our media specialists do survey our staff for channel recommendations and relay that information to the county, typically the final decision on which channels are featured ends up being a budgetary one. The vast majority of instructional programming, such as Discovery and the History channel, are only available on the higher priced digital cable plans. Additionally, unless I am mistaken, each TV in the entire school would require a digital cable box in order to view these instructional channels. In the end, the cost far out weighs the instructional benefit to the classroom.
Joanne, to begin with, I am impressed with how much your school uses United Streaming. I do feel that it is a wonderful resource, however there are some aspects of the website that I have never even heard of. You wrote about using games from Sesame Street and Between the Lions. I had no idea that GPB even had games! Additionally, I have found it difficult to get a number of the teachers to regularly and effectively use GPB as supplementary material for a lesson, however it sounds as if your teachers are taking full advantage of the resources, which is awesome.
ReplyDeleteWith my school being a technology magnet, the media center has nothing to do with the tv news or even running powerpoint slides or various tv stations over the entire school. The workroom located in the media center does contain a tv/vcr/dvd station. From this system, we are able to broadcast a dvd or a vhs on a specific channel for a teacher (or a number of teachers). I have never thought of broadcasting a powerpoint slide as a means of news or highlighting activities/programs. This function, along with the tv's that your school has in its foyer, serves as a wonderful tool of communication for parents!
In Madison County, the teachers do not have individual control over the Channel One Distribution System. They do, however, control MediaCast, but only for their classroom purposes. There is not an option for it to go out to everyone at the same time without the other teachers queuing it up from their home computer.
ReplyDeleteGPB resources are used by individual teachers on demand.
Kristin