Not content with enrolling nearly one-third of school and university students, eTV is launching Version 3.5, a major update to its content services, features and functionality.
“We’ve been working on eTV version 3.5 for much of this year”, said General Manager Gresham Bradley. “We’re refreshing the look, feel and functionality of the site. Teachers will find it easier to discover engaging content to use with their students.”
The new eTV site boasts a simpler login process, a faster search engine and better management tools. There’s a new player that enables clipping of programmes and also gives an embed code. Students can then view only the edited part, assisting them to focus on their learning.
“Focusing students’ learning is one of the most awaited smart features eTV users have been asking for”, said Campbell Downie, Manager Learning Resources. “The ability to visit content and resources time and time again is of immense value. No longer will you have to search through a programme for those two minutes you need to watch, it will be there waiting for the student”.
The new eTV 3.5 will also have search and play integration into N4L’s ‘Pond’, making its video library discoverable through the portal.
“Only eTV subscribing schools will be able to actually view embedded TV Recordings or Curriculum Collections content on Pond,” explained Campbell, “but the library collections and Live Channels are available to everyone for free”.
In addition, there are some major additions to the content eTV makes available.
“Primary schools have been increasingly interested in eTV but we’ve been limited in our offering. In 3.5, we’re launching ‘Curriculum Collections Primary’ with a starting line-up of over 300 titles available, with more coming in Term 4.”
Adding live and recorded channels
“Viewers will be able to pause and rewind any channel up to 10 hours earlier, even if they’ve just started viewing,” added Bradley. “This brilliant new technology means that our viewers will be able to quickly check out interesting programmes, especially those on International channels for which little or no advance information is available in TV listings.
“These 30 channels are recorded 24/7 and programmes are kept for 14 days. This means we can subsequently permanently capture anything a teacher requests.”
eTV has over 30,000 TV and Library recordings. The Live Channels are part of eTV’s Free service, available to teachers in all schools. For more go to etv.org.nz
