(Not) Reinventing the Wheel

by Dirk Fischer, Educational Technology Consultant

Since I come from a television industry background I was very excited when my friend and co-worker (that would be Ria) returned from the OELMA conference with information on two gentlemen, Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy, who have excellent credentials for television from YOUR point-of-view as teachers. Their web site http://www.schooltv.com should be a favorite of any teacher doing student video projects, K-12, and especially those of you doing daily school news programs.

They have written four books on educational TV and media production including The Educator's Survival Guide to Television Production Equipment and Set-Up, which should be on the shelf of anyone who has to face the daunting task of setting up a studio environment for a school news show, and Television Production: A Classroom Approach, a complete three-year television curriculum.

Their books carry video project lesson plans, equipment guides, how-to guides and many reproducible forms useful when doing video projects. The site also has columns that Keith and Chris have written for Florida Media Quarterly on a variety of topics.

The information available on the site will not only get you started producing video, but it will also help you improve an existing program by adding an inexpensive teleprompter for your student newscasters; non-linear editing capabilities for those budding editors; and special effects through a video switcher to take your live presentation up a level.

They have done a wonderful job making video production accessible to teachers and students. I am happy to see I do not have to "reinvent the wheel" and I plan on learning from their experience, adding it to my own. Surf on over, look around and tell me what you think.