From the seamless set up to fantastic support, signing up to eTV and Zaption is bringing a wide range of benefits to Shirley Boys’ High School, says Richard McLaren.

Why did you choose to use eTV?

Firstly, it’s not just an alternative to YouTube but offers some serious added benefits, such as knowing that the content is not going to disappear because of a copyright claim. Also, if I can’t find anything related to a topic, the eTV curators will try and find things for me!

Secondly, it’s a lot faster than using streaming video services, especially when they are based outside of New Zealand. Thirdly, it has a great number of programmes that staff are interested in personally, which means they access the service outside of the classroom and become comfortable in using it.

How are you using the eTV service?

Whole class watching of videos is the main use at this stage, though a number of teachers are using videos as they plan units.

What do you see as the main benefits?

The students always enjoy a change from the teacher’s voice and it’s great being able to use a fast video service that allows jumping to any point in the video. The support from the curators means that content is sourced that relates to chosen learning outcomes, with less having to shoehorn things to suit the ‘best’ video you can find on YouTube.

How are you using Zaption and what difference is it having so far?

A number of staff have picked it up. The two main uses are for flipping some learning before class and for reinforcement in the student’s own time. Teachers really like the analytics. Being able to see which students have or have not engaged with the material is so powerful, especially when it’s flipped work to free up class time for higher order activities. One thing I hope to have us doing next year is getting Departments looking to set up collections and really try and integrate it into their planning.

What would be your advice for making best use of eTV and Zaption?

Make use of the fantastic support that Campbell and the eTV staff give, and don’t hesitate to ask any question. They walked us through the rollout process so well. Set up was seamless and we haven’t encountered any problems.

What would be your advice to schools thinking about signing up?

Take advantage of the free trial and just get staff to experiment. You’ll be really surprised with the initial use.

Richard McLaren is Director of eLearning at Shirley Boys’ High School in Christchurch.

eTV IS A VIDEO SERVICE OFFERING MORE THAN 35,000 TV AND LIBRARY RECORDINGS TO SCHOOLS.
FOR MORE GO TO etv.org.nz