Video Distribution and GPB Resources

At my school, we do have a closed circuit/video distribution system.  We lost many of our cable television channels last month when Comcast went to a digital signal.  Until Comcast installs a box at our school, we are reduced to a handful of channels.  My school does not currently have a school run news show.  We don’t have Channel One.  We use our closed circuit system to show things like: movies, teacher training, webinars, and to facilitate presentations school-wide, like fundraising promotions.  When I say school-wide, I mean that when videos are being shown, the closed circuit must be shut off to the rest of the school.  No television can get cable reception when any movie is running. My school is the only school in the county with this setup.  My media specialist says that two different opinions developed as to a fix.  One guy claims he can fix it for two hundred dollars.  The company who apparently has the county contract for the networking system doesn’t know how to fix it and says it cannot be done.  If the first guy touches it, it voids the county warranty.  Why nobody has put these two together to get it fixed is beyond me.  We use the telephone to call the media specialist to start and stop videos which have been scheduled.  If a teacher plans to watch a television show without checking the video schedule with the library, they may be out of luck when they turn on their t.v. Most classroom teachers use their own classroom VCR/DVD players.

            I was surprised to learn that some schools in my county do have some control over their system.  First, the teachers can find and select videos via the school internet.  Once they schedule a block of time for their video with the media specialist, they have control to start, stop, pause, rewind, etc. during that block of time.  This allows flexibility for the teacher.  It also keeps all of the videos within the library.  The teachers are required to give a day’s notice which cuts down on last minute demands to the media specialist.  When the e rate changes, we are supposed to get this used system and the Title I schools will get upgraded.

            My schools system does let teachers know about United Streaming.  They gave us a school code to sign up for it and have a link to it on our county teacher website. It is up to teachers to use it as they decide.  I rely on United Streaming heavily since I don’t have a smart board and so much content is blocked on the internet.  I can show videos with my scan converter on my tv.  I was shocked at how much was available when I took the time to look for this assignment at all that is available from GPB’s education area.  I found all of the following resources for administrators, teachers, parents and students within the site:

Education news

Educational Games

Benchmarks

RTI

Research

Professional development webinars

Educators blogs, forums, events

resources technology setup

Videos and lesson plans

Puzzle makers

Clip art

Worksheets

Science curriculum

STEM activities

Read to succeed Six Flags Challenge

Brainboosters

Math

Science fair central (too late for me)

Hands on science experiences

Safe driver

New teacher central

Digital storytelling

Health

Environmental lessons

Web 2.0 presentation tools

Contests

Homework help by subject

Motivational / emotional support

PTA tool kit

Math help

Interactive videos by subject

The Social Network!

The Social Network! by Gem Butterfield (I just couldn't resist the title!)

Social network technologies are software that let people connect, collaborate, and form virtual libraries through the computer or internet. Sites that allow visitors to send emails, post comments, build web content or take part in live chats are all social networking sites. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) defines social networking in Teens & Social Networking in School & Public Libraries: A Toolkit for Librarians & Library Workers as “in the online world, this refers to the ability to connect with people through websites and other technologies like discussion boards”.Several Networking tools are defined in the toolkit such as blogs, podcasts, tagging and wikis. In another article by YALSA, Teens & Social Networking in the School & Public Library ties to literacy are given.Social networking tools give teens meaningful ways to use and improve reading and writing skills. All social networking software requires teens to read and write. When a teen:
• Creates a profile on a social networking site,
• Posts or comments on a blog
• Adds or edits content on a wiki
• Searches for social content
• Consults peers online as a part of research
reading and writing skills are required. This is why these technologies are often referred to as the read/write web.
The National School Board Association (NSBA), National School Board Association published survey results regarding social networking in July 2007 reported Patricia Deubel (Deubel, 2009. Social networking in Schools: Incentives for Participation). In the results, 52% of the districts interviewed prohibited the use of social networking sites in school; however it was found that about 60% of students who use social networking are talking about education topics and more than 50% specifically talk about school work. District leaders and teachers find the common social networks to be too global and scary. They also need evidence that social networking adds strong educational value and purpose. Some evidence is tied to providing a 21st century global education including project-based learning. This connects the social network to the curriculum and standards. Another challenge is that of accountability with the current mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Fiehn reported on the use of Social Networking and Your Library OPAC. Fiehn introduces several OPAC products which work within your OPAC. Some of those mentioned were of course Destiny by Follett; Fish4Info, and Agent by Auto-Graphics. She also discusses SirsiDynix and Mandarin which have enhanced their OPAC capabilities to include social network type formats. In Fiehn’s discussions and interviews she found that the “top 10 books” was the most frequently used feature of the OPAC. Further responses from library media specialists regarding the use of social networks and the OPAC were met with hesitation as to how it would really work in their schools. Despite the hesitation, there was still a willing enthusiasm (Social Networking Through Your Library Automation System: What Librarians and Vendors Have to Say).

The Secure Social Network by Gail Junion-Metz (2008) offers some great sites and resources for teaching students and children how to be safe online. There are tutorials on how to set up your privacy settings on Facebook, MySpace and Xanga as well as a video about the privacy issues which can be encountered with a social networking site and resources for dealing with these issues. I dare say this may be an article to print and link to parent tabs on a school website.

What a fabulous resource the teacher librarian community TLNing is!It really has a wealth of information and resources. Love the way the blog is arranged to be grouped by latest, featured and favorites. The topics are great ones also, such as bullying and suicide.

Through researching this topic, I still found no mention of edmodo. Edmodo is a social networking tool that is provided through the Discovery Channel and is free. It gets through the filters in my district and is reportedly secure and safe. We have begun using it at my school and it has become fairly popular. You are able to post handouts, links, pictures and more. Not everyone at the school is on yet but we are getting there!