Eureka!

I have been trying to figure out how to broadcast video throughout my school ever since one of the IT admins mentioned it to me as they surveyed our school. I have tried asking every person at my school if they have any idea how it works or where it is even located. No luck there though, apparently our school was outfitted with television broadcast equipment and it has NEVER been used. I can not believe how true this is for so many things. I guess the old saying is true, if you want something done, do it yourself.

Today I decided to try a hands on experiment. I found where the equipment was located looked it all over and tried a simple test of playing a vhs tape. And what do you know it worked, it just had to be turned on...doh. I tested it on several televisions throughout the building and they all received the video on channel 8. This means we can do all sorts of crazy and fun technology stuff. We can do tv announcements, have a digital events calendar constantly playing or even play a movie for the entire school. We could also display student work as a slide show. I am very excited, though I can tell already that I am the only one at my school so far that finds this remotely fascinating. I hate to see materials wasted and unused, especially one as cool as this.

My next step is going to be to figure out how to get the video onto the multiple interactive whiteboards throughout the building so we don't need a tv in every classroom. Plus it would look much better on a 70 inch whiteboard. I also want to start looking into video production software, I think my fourth graders could handle some basic introductions to this area of technology. They could definitely help form a small tv news crew for morning announcements and weather. I can see this being a huge motivating tool for our students who seem to respond well to hands on real life lessons.

In more classroom related news, my fourth graders had a reduced class due to an assembly which sets them behind on our launch date. The rest of my classes are going smoothly. The students are getting the hang of how printing works. It is great to see them understand that they can "copy" what is on their screen to paper. The best part is that they are young enough that it is okay that it comes out in black and white, it means everything they print is a coloring page!