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Atkinson Elementary School has an active school news broadcast. TNN or Tiger News Network is a daily program and auditions at the end of each school year are a big deal. The TNN studio is in the video room with a secondary, features computer and camera in the Narnia reading room.
The video distribution for the school is controlled by a box where the cable comes into the video room. This box has a switch (and my mentor didn’t know what the box was called) where the media specialist can choose between cable television and closed-circuit television. This box had the words Blonder Tongue on the side of it. TNN is run over closed-circuit broadcast, obviously. Switching the box to A runs the cable television input, and on B the closed-circuit is accessed. Cable to all schools in Coweta County is provided by NuLink Digital communications company.
The closed-circuit system in the school definitely works because of every morning’s school news broadcast. But it is also used in other ways. Primarily, teachers will ask the media specialist to put in a VCR tape or DVD to play for certain units or for special occasions. A few weeks ago, a teacher asked the media specialist to run a DVD on Christopher Columbus and several classrooms watched.
Special events are also broadcast over the closed-circuit system. This past November and January, prior to the Presidential Election and Inauguration, the TNN students staged a mock-election and then a mock-inauguration. Everyone in school got to vote in the election, and the results were announced by the TNN team over a school broadcast. Also, the day before the Inauguration, some of the TNN students filmed a mock-inauguration, which was shown the day of the inauguration to let students see and better understand what they would be watching. The TNN crew had a “President” and the media specialist was the Supreme Court Justice doing the “swearing in.” I think the students enjoyed the mock-inauguration better than the actual one.
However, because the school has the capability of watching cable, all of the students were able to see President Obama’s inauguration. Some of the TNN and gifted students even got to watch in the media center and they discussed everything that was happening.
NuLink and Newnan Utilities (who sold the cable distribution holdings to NuLink) also sponsor a local educational channel – channel 7 on NuLink listings. Schools can also access this channel if there is something showing that teachers want their students to see. All of the schools in Coweta are covered by channel 7, and the programming primarily consists of special events that have happened in the various schools. For example, next week there will be a great many Veterans’ Day programs shown on channel 7 because most of the schools in Coweta hold one. If any school’s have Thanksgiving pageants, these are played, as are holiday chorus concerts. One year a Read for the Record guest reader at Atkinson was interviewed by the countywide school information officer on channel 7. And end of the year awards ceremonies are always playing on the local channel.
The media specialist is in charge of the video distribution, but she is very open about the system. If a teacher asks her to play something in the video collection in the media center; she almost always obliges. The only time she has to say no is when another teacher has something scheduled. Then, she ususally invites the classes who can't watch over closed-circuit to come to the media center and watch the video together, in a bigger space, over the ActivBoard.
Atkinson does not use United Streaming or any of the Georgia Public Broadcasting resources. But we are going to discuss the possibilities more next week!
Personally, I enjoy GPB broadcasts and my nephew likes the children’s programming; so I want the school to use as many resources as possible too! And while looking at the many resources online, I got hooked going through the “Georgia Stories.” My favorite was the one about Mordecai Sheftall, who was called a “Revolutionary War hero.” Personally, I just knew him as the father of Sheftall Sheftall, an infamous character in Eugenia Price’s Savannah quartet of novels. I’m so thrilled to learn even more about this fascinating figure in Savannah’s history!
The video distribution for the school is controlled by a box where the cable comes into the video room. This box has a switch (and my mentor didn’t know what the box was called) where the media specialist can choose between cable television and closed-circuit television. This box had the words Blonder Tongue on the side of it. TNN is run over closed-circuit broadcast, obviously. Switching the box to A runs the cable television input, and on B the closed-circuit is accessed. Cable to all schools in Coweta County is provided by NuLink Digital communications company.
The closed-circuit system in the school definitely works because of every morning’s school news broadcast. But it is also used in other ways. Primarily, teachers will ask the media specialist to put in a VCR tape or DVD to play for certain units or for special occasions. A few weeks ago, a teacher asked the media specialist to run a DVD on Christopher Columbus and several classrooms watched.
Special events are also broadcast over the closed-circuit system. This past November and January, prior to the Presidential Election and Inauguration, the TNN students staged a mock-election and then a mock-inauguration. Everyone in school got to vote in the election, and the results were announced by the TNN team over a school broadcast. Also, the day before the Inauguration, some of the TNN students filmed a mock-inauguration, which was shown the day of the inauguration to let students see and better understand what they would be watching. The TNN crew had a “President” and the media specialist was the Supreme Court Justice doing the “swearing in.” I think the students enjoyed the mock-inauguration better than the actual one.
However, because the school has the capability of watching cable, all of the students were able to see President Obama’s inauguration. Some of the TNN and gifted students even got to watch in the media center and they discussed everything that was happening.
NuLink and Newnan Utilities (who sold the cable distribution holdings to NuLink) also sponsor a local educational channel – channel 7 on NuLink listings. Schools can also access this channel if there is something showing that teachers want their students to see. All of the schools in Coweta are covered by channel 7, and the programming primarily consists of special events that have happened in the various schools. For example, next week there will be a great many Veterans’ Day programs shown on channel 7 because most of the schools in Coweta hold one. If any school’s have Thanksgiving pageants, these are played, as are holiday chorus concerts. One year a Read for the Record guest reader at Atkinson was interviewed by the countywide school information officer on channel 7. And end of the year awards ceremonies are always playing on the local channel.
The media specialist is in charge of the video distribution, but she is very open about the system. If a teacher asks her to play something in the video collection in the media center; she almost always obliges. The only time she has to say no is when another teacher has something scheduled. Then, she ususally invites the classes who can't watch over closed-circuit to come to the media center and watch the video together, in a bigger space, over the ActivBoard.
Atkinson does not use United Streaming or any of the Georgia Public Broadcasting resources. But we are going to discuss the possibilities more next week!
Personally, I enjoy GPB broadcasts and my nephew likes the children’s programming; so I want the school to use as many resources as possible too! And while looking at the many resources online, I got hooked going through the “Georgia Stories.” My favorite was the one about Mordecai Sheftall, who was called a “Revolutionary War hero.” Personally, I just knew him as the father of Sheftall Sheftall, an infamous character in Eugenia Price’s Savannah quartet of novels. I’m so thrilled to learn even more about this fascinating figure in Savannah’s history!
Holly,
Thank you for the very in-depth look at video distribution in your school. It is fortunate that your administration and teachers take advantage of the ability to watch cable and the local educational channel. My children's school doesn't seem to take advantage of the same capabilities there much at all, which is a shame to miss out on special events such as inaugurations, teaching points that would surely interest students. I am not sure whether United Streaming and GPB are utilized much either. Mainly, the system is used for morning news broadcasts and video usage by teachers. We have three channels and DVD/VHS payers that can be utilized by different teachers at once, a definite benefit. Your media specialist takes a great approach in her openness and willingness to accommodate classes, even for viewing in the library. She sounds great!
Good luck on obtaining those GPB resources for your school!
I hate that your school can't get United Streaming, there are some wonderful videos on that site. They also have lesson plans that go along with the videos. United Streaming also has Georgia Stories videos.
You said the media specialist will show a teacher requested video as long as no other teacher has already scheduled something...my question is, does your school not have multiple channels to show videos on? At my school, I have 5 DVD/VCR players that play on different channels allowing me to show several different movies at a time.
I like that you are able to view a local cable channel. To me, this helps the students and teachers connect to the community. Our school has Directv which does not offer a local channel.
Hi Holly,
I found the fact that your school has the option to choose between closed circuit television or cable television amazing. What great options! It is brilliant to take advantage of the educational programs that are often shown on your local channel 7 on NuLink. I was wondering can your school access Georgia Public Broadcasting during the school day? I believe it is cable channel 8. It offers many educational programs that could enhance instruction. You mentioned in your post that your school does not use United Streaming or any Georgia Public Broadcasting resources---you have struck my curiosity! I was wondering why??? Does the school dislike the programs that GPB and United Streaming offers? The programs are free, I believe, so it can't be because of financial reasons, right?? What do you think??