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Category: Video Streaming

Four Ways to Use Video Streaming and Recording in Schools

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Four Ways to Use Video Streaming and Recording in Schools

As a tool for education, video has a powerful one-two advantage – it’s both engaging and versatile. Students respond well to video and video can be used in an amazing variety of applications. That means schools can adapt the technology for nearly any purpose.

Here are four popular video streaming and recording applications, and how they can improve the learning experience for students.

The Ultimate Study Guide: Recorded Videos are Excellent References for Students

At the college level, distance education has long been driven by video streaming and recording. This approach has matriculated down to K-12, where teachers can use technology to record or stream their lessons. There are a couple of obvious, but extremely effective benefits of capturing video in this way:

  • To support remote students – Video streaming allows remote students to watch along during a live class. With additional collaboration technologies in the classroom (like an interactive flat panel), they can even contribute to the discussion. If your district is still operating on a hybrid model, video streaming makes those hybrid classes possible.

In the past, if a student was out sick, they had no way of participating in class. With video streaming, they can learn from their home.

  • To support studying outside of live classes – For any number of reasons, some students just learn better outside of the classroom. In-school stressors can be intense for many, making it difficult for those students to focus on their lessons.

Some of those students just need a different environment to learn in. By recording video content and making it available through an online (secure) platform, students can access class content when they’re ready to learn. By giving students agency over their own learning, it’s easier for educators to engage their classes.

With video streaming and recording, schools empower their students to learn whenever and wherever they can. Young people have gotten used to absorbing information in this way, so it’s an approach that students generally embrace.

A How-To Helper: Use Video to Guide Students Through Labs and Other Hands-On Lessons

Video goes well beyond a traditional classroom setting, too. For example, for lessons that include hands-on activities, video can be used as an in-class instructional tool.

Labs can be tricky, and it’s common for students to disengage if instructions aren’t clear. Video can make those instructions clear, using a how-to format that combines visual and aural information.

Even better, by deploying video in this way, instructors can roam around the room and provide additional assistance where needed. It’s also an opportunity to introduce additional concepts that would otherwise be impossible to, for time reasons.

Some schools scale this idea up. In a STEM lab, for instance, schools may install multiple displays around the room – one for each student group. Video instructions can be relayed to all displays at once, providing each group with a close-up look as the teacher walks through the process. Teachers can also use a document camera to provide these instructions live, as anything that’s placed in front of the camera can be output to the room’s displays.

A Safety Assistant: Video Can Demonstrate Proper Safety Procedures in Shop and Lab Classes

While video is typically used in an active role in schools, it’s also effective as a passive teaching and messaging tool. For instance, in labs or in shop class where safety procedures are paramount, video can provide safety reminders and demonstrate equipment handling processes.

In a woodshop class, small displays can be installed close to each machine. Here, they can output short video loops of people using the equipment properly and pointing out important safety features, like an emergency cutoff or guard. When shop or lab instructors start talking about safety, they typically lose at least some of their audience. Video can reinforce those potentially life-saving concepts by keeping students engaged.

Creative Collaboration: Video Can Support an Array of Creative Learning Experiences

Video’s versatility lends itself to an array of creative applications. Most schools already let their students handle the morning announcements through video streaming, but this only scratches the surface.

The AV clubs of old are no longer around, as they’ve been replaced by something better – modern AV setups that allow all kinds of students to unleash their creativity. With video streaming and recording, K-12 students can do the following:

  • Practice a range of occupational skills, including AV installation and production, journalism, and law. Have students give a mock weather forecast, pretend they’re in a job interview or deliver a professional presentation – the kind of skills they will need to excel in the workforce.
  • Expand their creative aptitude. Tons of creative skills are required for high quality video production. Hardware and tech skills, cinematography, set creation, wardrobe/costume design, video editing, graphic design, writing, elocution, production management – all skills that can enrich a student’s creative toolbox.
  • Work as a team toward something great. Video production requires a diverse set of skills, so students will need to collaborate to bring their AV ideas to life. And because there are so many roles to fill for video production, there’s room for every type of thinker on the team.
  • Break free from traditional classroom experiences. Many students thrive when they are allowed to learn outside of a typical classroom setting. They don’t want to sit at a desk, they don’t learn well through lectures, they’re just flat bored – and experimenting with AV gives those students an alternative to traditional classroom learning.

Video Can Be One of Your School’s Most Valuable Teaching Tools

The above list is by no means comprehensive. There is practically no limit to what the technology can do for K-12 schools, and no matter how your school decides to use video, it will be an easy sell for students.

And if your school is considering video, talk to the experts who know it better than anyone else – certified AV integrators. A certified integrator has seen it all when it comes to video, and they will be able to connect your school’s vision with the best hardware and software solutions.

Effective Strategies for Teachers to Engage Remote Students

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Teachers have continued to educate children through all odds as much of the nation’s students became remote or virtual learners during 2020 and 2021. The challenge for most educators became developing effective strategies for teachers to engage remote students, and doing so on the fly. Almost a year into remote and hybrid learning, there are signs that virtual education is here to stay in one capacity or another.

Why Remote Learning Offerings May Become A New Educational Standard

Prior to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, remote learning was something primarily offered in a limited capacity for college students. Now, not only has this trend transitioned from serving a small group of people to students from age four to twenty-four, there are strong signs that remote/hybrid learning is the new normal.

Some of the benefits of a school or teacher continuing to offer remote learning capabilities include:

  • Absentee learning. When a student is absent for more than a day or two, teachers are often tasked with rounding up all the work they have missed and assembling it into a packet for the parent to pick up so a student can work on it as they recuperate. With a library of remote lessons ready and waiting, students can access, review, and complete the lessons they missed. This keeps a teacher from getting bogged down in absentee homework packet requests and it provides students with more online instruction than a worksheet alone.
  • No more inclement weather days. If the weather turns ugly and transportation to or from school becomes too risky, instead of closing the school and adding a makeup day elsewhere in the year, students may still be able to hop online to complete work without falling behind.
  • Connectivity. Some students who are shy to participate in class enjoy the connectivity offered by remote learning. It may spur them to ask more questions or get involved in a way they would not when in a crowded classroom environment.

Platforms That Can Help Teachers Facilitate Remote Learning

One of the biggest obstacles in setting forth a remote learning experience that facilitates learning and encourages participation with next to no time for preparation, is doing so without having to reinvent the wheel.

Building a remote or hybrid learning experience from the ground up takes time, which is a resource that many teachers simply do not have the privilege of with the sudden and overwhelming switch to long distance learning. Educators need the right preestablished tools to create and implement an online curriculum that is user friendly, efficient, and academically strong.

Some of the most current and effective technology strategies teachers may find beneficial for engaging remote students are:

Audio Enhancement’s VIEWPath

Also called the Video Interactive Education Window, Audio Enhancement’s VIEWPath includes a classroom camera integrated with computer software that enables teachers to create digital content for in person, remote, and hybrid learning environments. It allows educators to record their lessons from a classroom camera, webcam, mobile, or mobile app and share it with students.

Barco’s weConnect

This real-time option can be perfect for high school and college level teachers and students. Barco’s weConnect is designed to make virtual students feel like they are still in a classroom environment with their peers, and it is easily accessible by students via a computer and the Chrome Internet browser. Classroom set up is intended to be straight forward and expandable as needed for teachers. With integrated stimulating participation strategies such as polls, quizzes, and silent questions, weConnect can be an easy and user-friendly way to engage students in a lesson.

Microsoft Teams

This digital hub creates an educational platform that incorporates apps, assignments, conversations, and content in one central location. This program is set up to help students and teachers communicate via live calls, create a collaborative virtual class space, assign and complete work, and use a OneNote Class Notebook.

T1V

This technology specializes in hybrid collaboration software that offers a wide variety of capabilities based on a user’s specific needs. It was created to support various learning styles including in person, remote, and hybrid. T1V can be used for lectures or group work and allows content sharing.

Zoom

This modern platform facilitates the connection of users via the Internet or a smart device app. Teachers can have real-time conversations with students and can share their computer screen with them. Zoom allows each user video and audio capability, however, teachers may choose to mute users during a lecture or presentation and then unmute at the end for questions. A chat option also lets users communicate with the teacher and each other as the settings an educator sets allows.

Considerations for Choosing Your Audio-Visual Integrator

When it comes to choosing the right AV integrator to work with for effective strategies for teachers to engage remote students, there are some key things school districts and teachers will want to keep in mind:

  • Knowledge of multiple audio-visual technologies. Select a provider that offers clients a wide range of AV technologies instead of only one or two products. This enables them to tailor an AV system to exactly what you need and still stay within your budget.
  • Budget. Choose and AV partner that has experience in working with budgets of all different sizes. This is critical to designing a solution that is cost effective.
  • Availability. Choose an audio-visual provider that is able to assist with technology set up and training. It is important to work with a company who is invested in the client and not just the technology.

If you are looking for effective strategies for teachers to engage remote students, there are a wide range of audio-visual solutions at your disposal. Take away some of the stress of remote learning and connect with a reputable AV integrator today.

How To Host A Professional Webinar Using Zoom and Discover Video’s DEVOS Platform

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How To Host A Professional Webinar Using Zoom and Discover Video’s DEVOS Platform

Secure, private and flexible distribution of digital content is the most important aspect when businesses and educators think about how to host a professional webinar using Zoom and Discover Video’s DEVOS platform.

In diving deeper into the benefits of these platforms, there are many factors that are specific to the host and recipients alike.

Business Applications

It doesn’t matter whether your business is small or large and whether your clients are across town or around the world, you want to be able to present information and interact as though you were in the same room.

There are several solutions to help keep your business running smoothly:

Zoom webinars –

Zoom has several great features that add a level of professionalism to the presentation. For instance, with so many people working from home, you may not want your viewers to see that you are working from your kitchen table. Zoom offers virtual backgrounds, so you can take a photo of an office like setting and upload it to make it the background that people see on the screen. You can create studio effects if you are making a presentation and want to add some pizzazz, such as your brand colors or logo.

Zoom phone –

Not every communication can be done using video. Zoom phone is just as effective as video Zoom calls. It can be uploaded to a mobile device or desktop as an app. It allows you to transcribe, record and connect with multiple users and has superior voice quality. Of course, if you needed to, you could also easily switch over to video or chat if needed.

Scalability –

Webinars on platforms like Zoom or DEVOS each have the ability to reach thousands of users. One of the many benefits of the Discovery Video’s DEVOS platform is that it can measure viewer behavior. You can deploy polls, chats, interactive questions, and receive instantaneous feedback while your webinar is in session. Plus, you’ll get comprehensive data analytics to see how effective your webinar was to your viewers.

Library storage –

Both platforms allow you to record your sessions. You may want to build a library of webinars as part of your ongoing sales and marketing strategy. You can organize your webinars, place them in ether public or private portals, and allow access from users whenever they want.

Educational Applications

Teaching students as young as kindergarten and through university level each has its own requirements and challenges. So, depending on your needs, there may be specific criteria in how to host a professional webinar using a Zoom and Discover Video’s DEVOS platform.

Let’s break it down:

Primary School –

If you teach young children, you know how hard it is to keep their attention for a period of time. It doesn’t matter whether you are teaching in the classroom, virtually, or in some kind of hybrid situation. Teaching via Zoom can be helpful because you can share your screen, play videos, and you can allow the students to see one another. Zoom effects is a game changer when it comes to teaching young students because you can have fun with your lesson plan. You have the ability to change your background, so you can set the mood for a good story or history lesson. You can add funny effects to your face or others, so your students can become a pirate, or a bunny and play the part during story time.

Middle School –

Young adolescents often forget or zone out while they are in school. With both the Zoom and DEVOS platforms, they can access recordings of the lesson if they need to go back and review what you were teaching. It is great for reference materials, homework reminders, and invitations to other sessions, such as assemblies, meetings with other educators, and parent/teacher meetings.

High School –

As students enter high school, the need to really buckle down and think about what they plan to do after their K-12 education ends becoming more important than ever. You may want to begin to mentor students in making presentations of written reports. Having the ability to allow students to share their own screens, ask questions, and interact with other students during class discussions becomes vitally important in teaching them the skills needed to succeed in higher education and the real world.

Regardless of the techniques used in how to host a professional webinar using a Zoom and Discover Video’s DEVOS platform, the objectives are still the same. You want to make sure the connectivity is seamless without any disruption to the streaming service. You want to have the option to use voice only or add a video option. There needs to be a function to scale up or down with the number of participants.

Those are all of the practical requirements. It is also really important to have flexibility in the presentation itself. Streaming video has evolved in its features. Now, it is possible to really make your presentation unique and engaging. The level of creativity to bring your viewers into an environment, rather than just a meeting or classroom, makes the entire webinar more meaningful. Enabling viewers to interact in real time helps to personalize the meeting. Finally, having the ability to record, transcribe and store your webinar means you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Plus, you can gain insight and analysis of how engaged your viewers were during the session, which will help in how you approach future webinars.

Are Your Students Really Paying Attention to the Video You Are Teaching With

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Technology is part of our everyday lives, however, with so many virtual and hybrid learning environments, the challenge for teachers becomes how to make sure students are really paying attention to the video they are teaching with. It can be a challenge, especially with all the other obstacles teachers have faced in educating students during the age of a pandemic.

While it is true we can’t help grade papers or take attendance, in an effort to provide support for already overworked and overextended teachers, we’ve done some leg work and put together a short guide on how to keep students engaged and paying attention when watching an educational video, whether it is in person or virtually.

Define Your Expectations for How Students Should Pay Attention

While it is ideal for students, especially those that are virtual to have access to an environment that lends itself to learning, not all students have control over the quality of their internet connection or their ability to sit in a quiet room.

However, if a student is able to be in class or be present virtually to watch a video, there are things they can do to better pay attention for the duration of the lesson. Some practical tips teachers may choose to offer students to help them focus more clearly can include having them:

  • Sit properly in a chair with feet on the floor and with proper back support
  • Put away or turn off all distractions including screen-based technology outside of what is being used to watch the video
  • Keep eye contact with the screen
  • Use headsets or earbuds (if available) to limit distracting noises
  • Be aware of the reason the video is being shown, important points, and where they might likely see this information again

These suggestions can come together to make a student more successful in learning from a classroom video, whether it is in person or virtually. With this said, helping equip students to pay attention is only part of the equation. The other part is keeping students engaged with an educational video for its duration.

Ways to Engage Students While They Are Watching a Video

Since the pandemic began, many schools have engaged in virtual or hybrid learning. Educational videos have become a visual aid of choice as some children are working without the aid of textbooks.

Although videos have the potential to be engaging all on their own, a student’s specific circumstances such as health worries or lack of sleep may hinder them from engaging with and learning from a classroom video.

Some suggestions for keeping students paying attention to and engaged with an educational video are:

  1. Making your own videos. Sometimes the unpredictable is more exciting. Consider making a charismatic video of your own when addressing concepts. Students tend to take more of an interest in a video that features someone they know and is geared to specifically what they are learning.
  2. Have students make predictions about the video before watching based on context clues such as the title. This requires a student to focus some on the topic at hand as they think about what topics and concepts a video may address.
  3. Using short clips or breaking up a longer video to avoid monotony. A video that is thirty minutes with no breaks leaves ample time for a viewer’s mind to wander. Consider working in frequent breaks in the form of questions or lively discussions to help engagement.
  4. Embedding quiz questions throughout a video to ensure understanding. Students will likely pay more attention to the information presented if they know they will be quizzed in five-minute increments as a video progresses.
  5. Opening a chat for questions during the video. Teachers can post a discussion question to a chat and have students answer them privately or discuss as a group on the forum.
  6. Taking a poll. Let your class know you are interested in their opinions. Consider posting periodic polls about the information presented to increase engagement and create a platform for discussion.
  7. Have students look or listen for something specific in the video. This could be the number of times a certain word is said, or the number of times the life cycle of a butterfly appears in the background.
  8. Having a live review discussion following the video. This could be done in real time as a class or teachers can divide their students into smaller groups and have them discuss a certain topic from the video and then present their findings back to the class.

Set Yourself Up for Success

Perhaps one of the most important things a school district can do to set their teachers, students, and families up for success is to equip them with the technology they need to succeed. It is well worth the time to establish a relationship with a reputable audio-visual integrator with a variety of solutions for the modern-day classroom.

How To Keep ZoomBombing From Disrupting Your Video Conference

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The ongoing Coronavirus outbreak is pushing businesses, schools and other organizations toward video conferencing, and the sudden surge in volume has resulted in instances of “ZoomBombing.” ZoomBombing refers to an uninvited person crashing a Zoom meeting and disrupting it, sometimes with offensive or obnoxious images and audio.

These disruptions can be stopped with features already available to Zoom users. With some basic protections in place, you can ensure secure meetings with other video conferencing platforms, like Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx.

Continue reading “How To Keep ZoomBombing From Disrupting Your Video Conference” →

ARCUS Makes Streaming Live Events Simple Enough For Everyone

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Streaming live events, whether to a few or a few hundred thousand, is a challenge for many. Much of the difficulty has to do with delivering the stream to the desired audience, as a lot can go wrong. Discover Video’s ARCUS delivery system removes these potential hiccups and gives users the power to reach who they want, when they want. As such, ARCUS can be a primary video delivery option for nearly any event, including town hall meetings, K-12 morning announcements, training sessions and secure corporate meetings. Continue reading “ARCUS Makes Streaming Live Events Simple Enough For Everyone” →

Live Morning Announcements For Education

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School Video Wall Display

A proper start to the morning

Live morning announcements for education are a mainstay, as they offer schools a chance to reach students before class even begins. They’ve been around for decades, in one form or another, and they remain a powerful teaching, creative, motivating, informing and unifying tool for schools. Modern video streaming and display technology allows educators and administrators to do much more than blast garbled audio over the PA system. Schools can now do some impressive things with their video technology, creating morning announcements that will draw attention. Continue reading “Live Morning Announcements For Education” →

Understanding The Basics Of Video Streaming Hardware

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When handled carefully and creatively, video streaming represents an enormous opportunity for businesses of all sizes and industries. It can radically improve a company’s internal and external communications, representing a hyper efficient approach to training and an engaging branding method. It’s truly difficult to overestimate the power of video streaming in the right hands, but it’s also difficult to relate some of the technical concepts involved in the process. Fortunately, those concepts shouldn’t be something that most business leaders concern themselves with, just like executives shouldn’t concern themselves with the nature of network traffic. It’s entirely possible to set up effective video streaming without making a huge time or financial commitment, and A/V integrators can guide their clients through the process, ensuring production quality and usability are fully optimized. Continue reading “Understanding The Basics Of Video Streaming Hardware” →

Benefits That Online Video Streaming Can Provide To Businesses

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Online video streaming is so ubiquitous at this point that people expect to see it when they visit an organization’s website, whether that organization is a nonprofit, a school or a business. With the widespread adoption of broadband and intuitive media editing programs available, any organization can produce media for its audience. Continue reading “Benefits That Online Video Streaming Can Provide To Businesses” →