Storming
ahead in broadcasting? You BETT!
January
14th 2002
Ultralab, Anglia Polytechnic University
Four
students from Colbayns High School, Clacton, Essex pioneered the way
in internet broadcasting at the BETT show (British Education and Training
Technology) at Olympia, London (Wednesday 9th to Saturday 12th January).
Donna Taylor, Donna Cassidy, Lisa McCormack and Becky Hazell broadcast
live video footage produced daily by visiting schools and art groups.
The BETT event, which has been running since 1984 was attended by 22,000
visitors from all over the world and is attended by key dignitaries
within the education field for this country. The eight hour daily broadcast
entertained visitors at the first-floor stand and also in the food court
downstairs with work created hourly by children filiming and editing
at the show and live cameras showing the visiting school and community
groups at work. The software used for the broadcasting,
LiveChannel,
is newly developed in Israel by ChannelStorm (
http://www.channelstorm.com/)and
is tipped to revolutionise and democratise the way students broadcast
moving video image. Ultralab (
http://www.ultralab.net/),
the leading learning technology research centre, based at APU in Chelmsford,
responsible for organising the broadcasting event for the show is extremely
proud of the achievements of the Colbayns pupils as was Phil Langshaw,
Head of Creative Arts & Media at Colbayns school. After a short
training session at Ultralab, no more than one hour, the four pupils
were technically competent broadcasters and having started, they can
confront all the issues facing professional broadcasters - a challenge
they savoured. This software has much potential, including the opportunity
for schools to quickly and easily set up their own broadcasting TV stations
using the Internet to reach a worldwide audience. Richard Millwood,
reader and Apple Distinguished Educator at Ultralab said "The main
purpose will be to act as focus for tv and radio broadcasting on the
net which requires a different, quick thinking, decision making, on-the-fly
mentality compared to the more considered composition with iMovie. Also
it will provide a series of deadlines for broadcasting events which
we intend will stimulate creativity for iMovie compositions, not to
say the ability to cut between two live cameras, an audio input and
a titling overlay to add life to the whole shebang!"
Richard
Millwood and Phil Langshaw intend to develop the use of LiveChannel
in a joint project between Ultralab and Colbayns High School to be carried
out in the summer term and subsequently throughout the academic year
2002-2003 and are currently looking for sponsors to enhance their proposals.
- BETT
Goes to the Movies was the feature stand at BETT 2002
- It was
a partnership between BFI (British Film Institute) Education, Film
Education and Ultralab
- It was
sponsored and supported by Apple, Emap (BETT organisers) and Oracle
- the
event was active from Wednesday 7th to Saturday the 10th of January
- On
each day, visiting students engaged in a range of film making activities:
- Wednesday
- YCTV (Youth Culture Television)
- Thursday
- Film and Video Workshop
- Friday
- SEEVEAZ (South East England Virtual Education Action Zone) with
Ultralab
- Saturday
- WAC (Weekend Arts College)
- Throughout
the show, four sixth form students from Colbayns High School in Clacton
operated an internet broadcasting station
- They
broadcast using ChannelStorm's
LiveChannel software facilitated by Ultralab
- Richard
Millwood, Matthew Eaves, Hamish Scott-Brown from Ultralab supported the
stand and fellow Apple Distinguished Educator David Baugh also supported
the activities
- Staff
from BFI Education and Film Education developed movie editing material
based on the film Monsters Inc and on archive footage of the suffragett
movement
- The
stand also offered a showcase for BFI Education and Film Education
materials and products
Ultralab
contact:
Richard Millwood richard@ultralab.net
Colbayns
High School contact:
Phil Langshaw P.Langshaw@tesco.net
Read more here.
