Tools for Schools: Streaming Helps Teachers Reach More Students

But why streaming? Why not distribute video to schools on DVD discs? Well, disc distribution is a logistical nightmare for the content providers and the educational institutions, says Schabes.

In fact, the whole reason why United Learning created this streaming service in the first place (back in 2000) was to ease the videotape distribution problems that were plaguing its client schools, according to Schabes.

Many schools districts had trucks driving United Learning’s VHS tapes between school buildings, like old-fashioned bookmobile lending libraries, says Schabes. A teacher would have to request a tape ahead of time, wait for it to arrive, preview the video, find a way to isolate clips, work them into a lesson, and find a way to display them in the classroom. "It was a big ordeal," says Schabes. In contrast, getting instant on-demand video from unitedstreaming requires just a few mouse clicks.

Benavidez says DVD isn't a good alternative because unitedstreaming is constantly adding clips and updating content--trying to manage updates to the DVDs would create huge disc-management and version-control hassles for schools. Plus, DVDs can get damaged, he points out.

Benavidez believes the unitedstreaming service's biggest advantage is its scope. "There's so much video content available. And it's centralized; everything you need is in one place."

The only negative feedback Benavidez has heard from Olive Vista teachers who used the service has been content-related—requests for videos that are more targeted to specific topics. Another problem was that some teachers didn't have a firm grasp on how to incorporate video clips into their lessons. To help alleviate this problem, the school, with help from unitedstreaming, will conduct teacher training sessions this fall.

Benavidez says that the experiences with the service during the statistical evaluation study were so positive that the administration has decided to purchase a full subscription that will start in the fall. This will "open up everything to the whole faculty," he says.

And that will cure one of the biggest headaches he'd encountered over the study period--envious teachers not involved in the study complaining about lack of access to the service. That was because the study required control groups, and that meant that all the teachers but the participants had to be "locked out" of using the video-on-demand service.

Benavidez says he got tired of hearing "When can we get access to this stuff?" from the other teachers. He's glad the whole school will now have access and is looking forward to a less-demanding fall semester.