WHY Video Wide Area Network?
From one classroom to any or all classrooms THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, student activities, classroom projects and experiments, special event speakers, and guest artists can all be broadcast LIVE with the use of the SmartSystem® Live Broadcast Cart and the Wide Area Network (WAN).
AUTHOR VISITS! Spend more time visiting and less time traveling!
Guest authors are able to remain located at one site while speaking to students throughout the district! Classes interested in “visiting” the author see the author on their classroom television sets and call in their questions. Put the Classroom Control Panel (CCP) on the telephone setting to hear questions called in from other locations. The caller’s questions are amplified through the speakers and picked up by the camera microphone so that viewers hear both the questions and the answers.
ACADEMIC PLANNING! Get a peek at classes at other schools!
Students are able to view actual classes that they will be able to take in the future, and representatives from those classes can explain what the future students can do to prepare. High school students can encourage eighth graders to prepare in advance for the challenges of high school, and elementary school students can learn what kinds of opportunities they may find in middle school. Teachers also gain insight into what their students will be experiencing in the future so that they can plan appropriate lessons and activities.
DISTANCE LEARNING! Share resources throughout the district!
The high school social studies class is the perfect resource for your fourth-grade project. Forget about busses and permission slips. Use the Wide Area Network to take a virtual field trip to the high school! Select the high school’s channel from the Global Resources menu, and the high school’s Live Broadcast Cart will provide a virtual tour for your students. The high school students share their knowledge; the fourth graders gain important information for their project, and everyone learns a valuable lesson in collaboration.
REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS! Reinforce skills learned in the classroom!
Students at one elementary school are learning American Sign Language. By using the Wide Area Network, they can observe the morning announcements from another elementary school whose daily live announcements are signed by one of the interpreters working with students in the building. The students of sign language learn the basic skills in their own classroom and then see the language in use at another site.
STORY TIME! Read a story here while they listen over there!
Share that special book found only at your school. No need to worry whether the book will find its way back to you. Just set up your broadcast cart, and students at other schools can select your school’s channel from the Global Resources menu. While you read the story, they enjoy your reading from the comfort of their own classrooms. Use the camera’s Zoom feature to share the pictures too!
VIDEO PALS! Just like pen pals but with video instead of pen and paper!
Students at each location set up their own school’s Live Broadcast Cart and then select the other school’s Global Resource channel on the television. Students will be able to see each other and communicate ideas. Older students can serve as mentors or tutors for younger students, or students involved in certain activities or clubs can share ideas with students from other schools. Did the students in your dance club learn some new moves? Let them share their choreography with students at other schools! Does your broadcast club need some fresh ideas? Borrow ideas from clubs at other schools!
RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS! Share your group’s activities with future members!
Broadcast a rehearsal or a meeting so that other students can learn what your organization does and what daily participation might involve. Let them see what your group does and how much fun it is! The high school band might send a broadcast to the middle school music classes, or the middle school broadcast club might encourage elementary school students to get involved when they get to middle school.
AWARD CEREMONIES! Recognize special achievements!
Schools are able to share their successes with other schools in the district. If the high school debate team wins a trophy at a competition, their recognition ceremony can be broadcast via the Wide Area Network. Other schools can watch the ceremony and celebrate with the debate team.