Video resources at teachers’ fingertips

Teachers at Hobsonville Point Secondary School in West Auckland have enjoyed access to ETV’s eclectic range of video resources for many years.

Principal Maurie Abraham says ETV is an excellent resource for teachers and a useful tool in the classroom.

“It has a particular focus on New Zealand-based content, which makes it relevant across all curriculum areas, and it provides teachers with a range of content that you can’t find elsewhere.”

Maurie also values the interactive elements that allow teachers to insert their own annotations to any video.

At Forest View High School in Tokoroa, English and Social Sciences teacher Rachel Toy appreciates having the resources categorised by age level and subject.

“I love the way nothing is limited; if I want a particular documentary or programme from TV to be recorded, I can request it.”

And now, thanks to a new initiative between ETV and the Ministry, every school, kura and early learning service in New Zealand will be able to access ETV’s wide range of video resources to support teaching and learning.

ETV library

For 10 years ETV has captured and catalogued over 150,000 programmes from New Zealand free-to-air channels, Sky TV, some overseas channels, and legitimate internet channels.

“As a not-for-profit trust, providing the free library of resources is part of ETV’s philanthropic contribution to education,” says General Manager Martin Drew.

ETV has worked with the Ministry to set up every school and kura in the country with access to the free library. Early learning services should visit the website to find out how they can access the resources.

Teachers can add to the catalogue by asking ETV to capture any upcoming programme by using the Request Recording button that appears on every page. The programme will be captured, catalogued and uploaded to ETV, making it permanently available for all teachers to use.

Supporting teaching and learning

From early learning right through to tertiary education, there is a wide range of relevant content available to cover all curriculum learning areas at every age group. Navigating the website is straightforward, with resources categorised by subject and schooling level.

Martin expects teachers will find ETV’s resources useful to support curriculum content for Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories. There is a wide range of resources available at no cost from contributors such as Archives NZ, which has uploaded over 300 videos of historical value, and content from Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision will be available over the next few months.

“Teachers can also access a huge range of resources around student safety and wellbeing,” he says.

Martin points out that ETV resources align with flexible learning.

Learning through the Covid-19 lockdowns emphasised the importance of making learning resources accessible to students for anywhere, anytime learning. ETV is internet based, so any future Covid lockdowns will not prevent students from continuing to learn.

Making learning come alive

Teachers can manage the resources with tools provided by ETV. Using Enhanced Video Annotation (EVA), teachers can turn any video into an enriched interactive experience, with 17 different types of annotation and interactive tools that pop up while the learner watches the video.

“Today’s digital natives will readily engage with video. Audio visual content utilises sight, sound, colour and movement, inspiring deeper learning, better retention and reinforced motivation,” says Martin.

How to access ETV resources

ETV is the largest online video library for educators in New Zealand, with over 150,000 videos in the subscription catalogue and a huge selection of resources in the free library.

Every school and kura has been set up with its own sub-domain on ETV. In order to access all the free library resources, teachers need to register on ETV, as it is not a public platform. Registration is easy; simply visit etv.org.nz and click on the First Time Registration button.

Early learning services should visit the website to find out how they can access the resources.

Using the free library and the additional video annotation functions incurs no cost to schools, nor any obligation to use the subscription resources.

If schools, kura and early learning services want to access ETV’s recordings and online collections beyond what the library has to offer, they can request a free three-month trial by visiting etv.org.nz and completing the Enquiry form. There is no obligation to continue after the end of the three months, and access to the free library content continues permanently.

ETV has been approved by the Minister of Education and Screenrights to operate as an Education Resource Supplier under the Copyright Act S.48.