TEACH / LEARN
On-demand servers provide teachers with video supplements to help teach their students

BROADCAST / SHARE
Share events with the entire district by broadcasting over the network

MONITOR / REACT
Monitor current events in the classroom and react together

VBrick Products
> EtherneTV
> WM VOD Server
> EtherneTV Portal Server
> EtherneTV NVR
> Dual-channel VBrick WM encoder

VBrick Partner
IDSolutions, LLC

Links
> More Case Studies

Challenge
Design intelligent classrooms that supply live television, on-demand video libraries and supplemental learning materials for an entire school district.

Meade County school officials wanted to update their basic video technologies and create intelligent classrooms that would engage students and revolutionize the way that teachers use video as an educational tool. The current system of sharing VHS cassettes and DVDs had become outdated. When the district began construction on a new elementary school, officials decided to update this system district-wide and create 'smart classrooms' wherein all video resources would be made available through the network.

Solution
Centrally located EtherneTV equipment that delivers high quality digital video over a gigabit fiber backbone.

"This is a very exciting time for us. With the help of this technology we can greatly enhance the educational experiences of our students."
Gary Grant, Technology Resource Teacher
Meade Schools

Updates began with the installation of a VBrick EtherneTV system that would provide live television feeds, on-demand content, and school events across their entire internal network. Television programs, VHS tapes, and DVDs encoded and stored on an on-demand server became available for use immediately. Teachers no longer had to depend on the availability of video resources. EtherneTV’s low bandwidth usage allows multiple classrooms to view the same content but also allows them to scale the resolution of video to ensure maximum efficiency.

Combining Smart Pads with the system, teachers can write notes or diagrams directly over the videos, which are shown on seven-foot projector screens.

Benefit
Intelligent classrooms increase learning by providing new and exciting methods, empowering teachers by bringing limitless media capabilities into their classrooms.

"Teachers can access video and television programs whenever they want, and they can manipulate them in ways that would have been impossible before."
Jerry Pile, District Technology Coordinator
Meade Schools

With EtherneTV fully integrated, the Meade County School System can now provide video assets that were at one time scattered and subject to scheduling conflicts to any teacher at any time.

The county also updated the way broadcast television is distributed into their classrooms. Instead of using traditional RF connected television sets, 14 cable channels are streamed through EtherneTV. Choosing this system over traditional RF in the newly constructed elementary school resulted in a savings of $30,000.

EtherneTV gives faculty members the opportunity to integrate video into their lessons in meaningful and innovative ways. Mandatory teacher training videos are now stored on VBrick VOD servers, allowing faculty members to watch them on their PCs at times that are convenient for them.