We’ve all watched video broadcasts from No.10 with intent this past 18 months. Whether in agreement with the messages or not, the importance of video as a communication, education and entertainment medium has really hit home during this period.
“Lockdown led to a huge rise in TV viewing and video streaming. The pandemic showed public service broadcasting at its best, delivering trusted news and UK content that viewers really value..” - Yih-Choung Teh, Ofcom’s Strategy and Research Group Director
Video to engage, entertain and educate is in high demand and shows the career opportunities for students developing professional skills in this area. corporate tv is booming as multinationals set up their own tv studios to live stream to their community or train their employees globally.
In education we know of two multi-academy trusts that are setting up centralised broadcast studios to broadcast live CPD content to their own schools and generate revenue by selling their programs globally.
We have been supporting these changes by bringing technology and skills from the professional broadcast industry to education to add value. We are especially delighted to work with LiveU, whose technology is the solution of choice for global broadcasters, news agencies, sports and entertainment, streaming live video to TV, mobile, online and social media.
We’ve already witnessed the power of the LiveU technology, with our partner schools using it to resiliently live stream their events home to their communities. Music, drama and sporting events have all been live-streamed home to the delight of remote parents. Having watched Speech Day online at Oswestry School Bellan House, one parent said to Head Claire Belk that “the quality was fantastic, and it was just like being there.” Over an intense three-week period, Oswestry School used LiveU Solos to easily and efficiently celebrate through live-streamed video all of its students’ achievements online.
Claire Belk, Head of Bellan House, Oswestry School
Oswestry School Sports Awards online
Colleagues at Oswestry School live streaming out Speech Day 2021
Paul Smith, IT Manager at Oswestry School, sums up their use of LiveU Solos this term:
“It’s a simple one-click operation, and our video production is going directly to the school’s website; be it from the drama theatre over a WiFi connection or out on the sports fields over bonded mobile phone connections.”
Oswestry School’s Jessie Hinds, Director of Admissions and Marketing, has enjoyed seeing their parent’s reactions to the live streams:
“We’ve had hundreds of parents logging in securely to our events online wherever they may be. Parental engagement has been huge, and they have shown their appreciation online on their own social media to their communities as well.”
At Orwell Park School in Ipswich, the Head of Digital Strategy, David Horton, is nurturing students to be the school’s “Media Crew”. The team uses LiveU Solo units to live stream multi-camera productions to secure school website pages for their parents and the wider school community to watch. Students under 13 years old at Orwell Park have used the LiveU Solos with the school’s camcorders to provide coverage of various sporting and cultural events and the memorial service of Desert Rats Association that takes place each year.
Orwell Park Student with LiveU Solo and camcorder
Desert Rats Association Memorial Service
Impressively students at Orwell Park used professional video production equipment to capture and live stream the whole of the Orwell Park Motorsports Day online to its parents. Students mixed video from 12 video cameras located around the venue to show students being challenged by racing simulators, create interviews and carry out pit stop wheel changes against the clock. Students used the NS Caster X1 to mix video sources from wired and wireless cameras before being live-streamed using the LiveU Solo to a secure school webpage that parents had access to.
Car racing simulators in full swing
Live video mixing
NS Caster X1 Screen
Remote interview being sent back from outside
Malcolm Harland, LiveU UK Country Manager, commented:
“It’s especially impressive to see what these UK Schools have done already using LiveU Solos, they are not only celebrating all that their schools have achieved but so importantly developing the professional broadcast skills in high demand globally especially with events like the our own Commonwealth Games next year.”
Andrew Goff, reflects on the last few weeks:
“It is always a pleasure to work with our partner schools, their students and teachers, see all the amazing things that they do in their schools and support them in sharing those successes online with their communities to build self-esteem.