Video Distribution & GPB

The school I work at, and others I have visited within Gwinnett County, are fully equipped with a broadcast room, which includes accessibility to “Closed Circuit” or video distribution systems.  Of course the level of activity and what it is used for will vary from local school to local school, but the county has provided us with the equipment needed to successfully utilize the Video Distribution System. 

Most often within our school this system is used for:

         Daily morning news broadcasts from the broadcast room.

         Grade level video viewing

         School wide live recordings (School spelling bee or Cultural arts programs)

There are levels of decision-making and control over what is sent over the CC system.  Our administration will decide what events (spelling bee, cultural arts, etc.) will be broadcast live from the building.  The administration in conjunction with out PTA board have in previous years jointly decided to host PTA meetings through this system as parents are in their students classroom for a Curriculum Night presentation.  This seems to be at the comfort level of the PTA board in being in front of a camera, but the option has been available to them for several years.

Next, the SLMS has the authority over the channel distribution and what material is played to support the curriculum.  Often teachers of a grade level would like a movie shown to their entire grade level at the same time.  If this is a DVD that is in our collection, having passed the media committee’s approval, the SLMS works with the grade level on timing and channel.  If the DVD has not been approved by the Media Committee, the SLMS either requests it delay until approval can be gained, or that teachers acquire signed parental permission slips prior to playing.   Fortunately at the school I am at, there is a mutual respect and professional collaboration between teachers and our SLMS.  They both respect that each may have responsibilities that are unique to their position and work together to assure that those responsibilities are met.

Lastly, the CC system used for Holiday presentations.  Being in an elementary school, often each grade would like to view a holiday classic or presentation.  For these types of situations, a schedule or “loop” is put out so teachers can tune in at a time most convenient to their schedule.  For example: MLK day at my school is always a day to view  “ Our Friend, Martin “ an animated classic that has a running time of approximately 60 minutes.  This will “loop” on a designated channel every hour on the hour giving all teachers and students an opportunity to view.

Moving on to the second part of this assignment, I have to say that as a school we do not utilize the GPB nearly to its capacity.  From the media center, there is little to no direction or school wide interaction with the site.  However, I know that as individual teachers and grade levels, many teachers use various elements of what is highlighted through their webpage.

Many of the upper grades frequently utilize Discovery Education.  This is a resource that if often suggested by our SLMS if we are seeking an A/V material to support our curriculum that the collection does not meet.  When time permits, our SLMS will preview materials and send teachers requesting the support links to a variety of grade appropriate options.

Many of the lower grades utilize many of the PBS programming offered through the GPB site and Discovery Education.  Again, this is an individual teacher initiative, not a Media Center initiative.

I am curious to know if others found their media center using the GPB resources as a initiative led by the Media Center, and if so how it is promoted and incorporated into the students learning.  I look forward to reading any information about this in others blogs and responses to this one.