Thanks to Charlotte, Kimberly, Toby, Kenneth, Ann, Lisa, Kathy and Dorothy
for sending their experiences our way. I have tried to leave space between
responses and questions so you can browse.
1. Have any of you stopped buying videos?
I will continue purchasing Videos only if a DVD is not available.
Our district library has just stopped videos, but it's the budget crunch. I
have no intention of stopping buying videos. We now have a DVD player, and
I'm not really sure
what to purchase myself. They cost more, and unless a class watches in the
media center, the teacher would not be able to "stop and go." It can
broadcast, but does that mean that I have to man the remote???
DVDs are coming with our new language text books. I think we will see them
more and more. They are so much more flexible and more durable than
videocassettes that I can't imagine why people would choose a cassette over
a DVD
I have been purchasing DVD's when they are available.
If the program is available in DVD and VHS format, I
purchase the DVD always! DVD's are sharper, easier to
find that "exact" spot, and usually have additional
info not found on the Video. "To kill a mockingbird"
is a great example of that - there are interviews and
an additional 35 minute video on the making of the
movie, etc. And the picture is WONDERFUL!! At this
point I have quite a collection and my teachers and
students really enjoy them.
The only thing I am considering at this point is purchasing a DVD/VCR
combo to replace VCRs. I figured this would be a way to ease into DVDs
without pulling the rug out from underneath our vast video collection
our school uses both the DVD and VHS format. I do not have the machines to
record yet but am hoping to get one before school starts so I can't address
those questions however I can about the others. Yes, you can start at a
specific spot on the DVD. (I don't know about ones that you would record
off the TV because those would not have a menu) They have a menu and using
that menu allows you to start according to the menu I will continue to
purchase both formats due to the fact that when school starts we will only
have 3 of the DVD players for the entire school k-12.
I would suggest just buying new computers with DVD drives, and then hooking
them up to a video projector for viewing DVD's large screen. However, if
you decide to buy DVD players, chose one that also plays computer CD-R/RW
and MP3's to make it more versatile.
2. Have you found many curriculum related DVD's? Which subjects? Which vendors?
I haven't found many curriculum DVDs, but they are sure to begin producing
them. Primarily, what I have found are feature-length movies. PBS Home
Video is offering DVD on many items.
I have not yet seen curriculum related DVDs, but frankly haven't looked
extensively.
Yes, they do have school related DVD's not just popular movies. I can't
remember the name of the company that I order most of them from (prices
aren't much different from VHS format). menu I will continue to purchase
both formats due to the fact that when school starts we will only have 3 of
the DVD players for the entire school k-12.
.
I did a quick browse on Amazon's DVD's, and there seems to be a series
called "The Standard Deviants" which is educational, and of course, the
National Geographics and Discovery videos will all be available on DVD
soon, if they are not already.
3. Do any of you have a digital video camera that records on DVD format?
No
Digital video can be recorded onto DVDs with a DVD-RW drive on your machine
(right now they're about $500
(http://products.hp-at-home.com/products/category.php?high_level_category_id
=3&category_id=15)
Circuit City has a Hitachi DZMV230A digital camcorder that records on DVD-R
mini-discs for $999.99. The mini-discs sell for $9.99 for 30 minutes and
$24.99 for 60 minutes.
4. Do any of you use re-writable DVD's? Does a re-writable exist?
DVD burners are just coming out on the market. They are expensive right now.
I don't think at this point that you can record directly to DVD, but I doubt
it will be far off.
There are recordable DVD CD-ROM drives, which would allow you to take the
video and audio from an analog camcorder or VCR (via Belkin's VideoBusII)
or via a Firewire port from a digital camcorder, and burn it onto a DVD-R,
but there are a few problem with this last method-- first, you would need a
whopper of a hard drive to house the data that would fit on a DVD. (Rule of
thumb is that 1 second of video is about 8 megabytes.) Secondly, there are
a few competing DVD burner formats on the street right now, and no one
knows who is going to "win".
Keep in mind the advantages to DVD:
1. As you know, videos will stop being produced
2. The shelf life of video cassette film is about 15 years. In addition,
there is no wear and tear on a DVD like there is on a videocassette which
runs across the heads during each showing.
3. Unless you have a tape counter, finding the correct spot when showing
the same video can be difficult. DVDs offer the chapter selection.
I am putting off the purchase of some videos in hope that they will appear
in DVD format soon. I hope this helps.
5.(Joan's question)
If I use a DVD but I don't want to show the
whole film, can I easily find a place in the middle of the program like I
can with a video cassette?
I know that their is a chapter selection part, where you can start a DVD at
a certain part. This actually works much easier than trying to set a tape
where you want it.
This is Carol again :
After receiving these responses I went back to the Archives to look at a
previous (9/30/01) hit by Brenda Holbrook. There are links to various
vendors in her post. I looked at those links and reached three conclusions :
1. Most DVD's are for middle or senior high school
2. Most are literature based and not as useful for an elementary curriculum
3. They can be pricey. Some -- esp. the literature based ones were less
than $30. One company, Standard Deviants, offered all their DVD's for
$19.99. Others were $100 + each. National Geographic had 18 titles for
sale. Follett listed 42 pages of both curriculum and entertainment DVD's.
Prices were usually reasonable.
I looked at both the Sony and the Canon websites, but couldn't glean much
information about what you record onto -- there a "magic stick" and digital
8. Our school district limits us to the Sony. I have a digital camera on
order, but have never seen one. We have a DVD drive in one of our media
center computers.
So -- where will I go from here?
I will keep my eyes and ears open and hope that School Library Journal (and
other review magazines) mark videos that come in DVD format. Right not it
is listed in the SLJ bibliographic info, but difficult to spot quickly.
I will try to hook up my daughter's DVD player to our old TV -- the player
has a S video out, several RCA video plugs and a spot labeled coaxial that
looks more like an RCA. If our TV's are not compatible, do we want DVD
players that only one person can view or that needs to be connected to a
video projector or SMART board. That is a huge expense for each classroom.
Our TV cable is connected to our VCR's for convenience, but it doesn't
appear that a standard DVD player would have that kind of connection. Are
we going to throw out our TV's and "Cable in the Classroom"?
Our district may have decided some things for us by throwing out the video
collection, but I believe I'll approach it a little more slowly building a
DVD collection that matches the curriculum and buying one or two players
and by using the new digital camcorder to get a better feel for the format.
If you threw out your filmstrips last year -- or you still have filmstrips
as part of your collection -- you are probably not ready for DVD.
Thanks for reading and "listening" to me brainstorm this decision. If I've
missed anything, please let me know.
Carol
Carol Savage
Library Media Specialist
Hawk Ridge Elementary School
Charlotte, NC
c.savage@cms.k12.nc.us
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