Video Streaming to Enhance Lessons and Engage Students

"Recognizing the need to engage a new generation of students who are visual learners... Baltimore County Public Schools--the nation's 25th-largest school system--has installed video servers and a video-on-demand system in all of its 169 schools. Although the use of video on demand is nothing new for schools, what distinguishes Baltimore County's effort is that the district has formed teams of teachers in each school to brainstorm ways of using the videos to their fullest potential across each subject area...

The system, SAFARI Montage by the Library Video Company, will allow teachers to access and play more than a thousand video programs from leading publishers such as National Geographic and Scholastic. It also will enable Baltimore County to expand not only its curricular offerings, but also its professional development, according to school district officials.

'The vision is to make the curriculum more 21st-century and engaging,' said Della Curtis, coordinator for Baltimore County's Office of Library Information Services (LIS). "