I am currently the Media Specialist at my school. We use Safari Montage to manage our digital library. The district purchased a license to this site. We have access to thousands of videos from PBS, Reading Rainbow, Khan Academy and Disney, just to name a few. Safari Montage also acts as a "cloud" by allowing students and teachers to store and show over 50 types of files. Teachers and students may either search the site for videos on specific topics or search Destiny Quest. A Safari Montage app may be downloaded to most mobile devices.
Safari Montage is very new to me. The school district I previously worked for did not have a subscription to this site. I am really impressed because it can
include images and videos created by teachers and students as well. Recently, I uploaded our News Team's Halloween Broadcast. Students and teachers are able to log in to Safari Montage and view the video. I prefer this option over YouTube because it is a safe environment for us to include videos that portray our students. You must have a user name and password to view any of these digital resources.
In the next couple of weeks my goal is to stream our live news show broadcasts through Safari Montage. I have someone coming to help me do this. Currently, news shows are streamed through televisions. Streaming through Safari Montage would eliminate the need for televisions in classrooms. The news shows may be viewed on Smart Boards.
I also planned a lesson for my 5th grade classes on creating and using QR codes. For their assignment they must create a QR code for the resumes they create. My challenges are where can we post resumes safely on the web and how do we create a code that does not compromise the format of the resumes. I've decided to have students save their documents on safari montage. This will protect the students work from the general public and provide a URL for students to generate a QR code.
Unfortunately, this is an expensive option and not a realistic choice for an individual to consider using in the classroom. However, if you are looking for a digital resource library to use school/district wide, I recommend considering Safari Montage.
Amy: We too have Safari Montage within our school district. It is a great product to have. We have started something this year through Safari Montage called supetube where each of our schools can add student videos for all to be able to view. It is part of safari montage I believe which helps us to manage it or something. It is brand new so I am still learning about it. My teachers have loved Safari Montage and the sheer fact of being able to jump right to a certain section within a video has never been made so easy.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Safari Montage before reading this blog. I would love to know the cost for an individual school. One of the main points that stood out to me is the streaming of the newscasts. We currently do the news every morning and as you said in the blog, every classroom needs a television in order to view the news. I know there are some free sites out there that will allow me to do the streaming, but the Safari Montage would also be able to provide my school with a comprehensive technology solution to deliver a digital curriculum and have our children be a part of the process. You did not mention anything about home access. Is there a way for parents, students, and teachers to access these awesome videos at home or will there user names and passwords work anywhere they have access to a browser? I can see how this would eliminate DVDs and allow information to be delivered digitally. This would be much easier to organize as a Media Specialist and it would also cut down on lost or damaged DVDs. I know you mentioned that your district purchased Safari Montage. In the quick research that I did on this technology after reading this blog, it seems like the district would have to be on board to purchase this. However, in my district, some resources are purchased district-wide, but the majority of purchases for the Media Centers are made at the school level. I was just thinking ahead to see how my school might be able to utilize such a great resource.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first that I have heard of Safari Montage. I agree it is scary to post anything of your students to the web, but to have a safe password protected program is nice. I would love to learn more about the program and explore its features. We do not have this program, but do show our news/videos on our smart boards. When our smart boards were installed they removed all the televisions and hooked everything up through the Smart board. It would definitely make it easy to browse the program to find DVDs for the class.
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