Students and teachers at Elda were able to watch our new president be sworn into office as well as his inauguration speech on Tuesday. Since the event actually happened around 12:00 we were unable to catch it live. 12:00 is right in the middle of lunch at the elementary. However, thanks to our principal, wireless internet, You Tube and a few other staff members the whole school gathered in the gym at 3:00 and we were able to take part in the historic and educational event.
There were a few challenges getting everything ready but our technology equipment and access provided everything we needed! It amazes me how far the internet and communication have come! Our first challenge was having access to the video coverage of the event. Elda does not have any access to television stations (no cable or antennas). We have TVs in every classroom, however we use them with DVD/VHS players and classroom computers (use a presenter cable to show the computer screen on the TV). So, there was the question of, "How can we record the event?" Many of the news stations provided a live video stream so online viewers could watch just as they would on a TV. This was great except for the fact that we didn't have software (or at least not that I am aware of) to record a live streaming video from the internet onto the computer or CD/DVD to watch at 3:00. This is where You Tube saved the day! Many of the news station websites provided clips of the president being sworn in, however I couldn't find any video clips of the entire inauguration speech until I searched You Tube. A helpful viewer recorded the CNN live video feed of the speech on their computer and posted it on You Tube. So, after setting up a wireless router to provide internet access to the gym we were able to use a laptop and projector to show the entire school our new president being sworn in and his speech straight from You Tube.
This was a great learning experience for our students! They were able to witness President Barack Obama's inauguration through the use of the wonderful technology we have in our building! The fact that the entire oath and speech were available to view online only minutes for the oath and a few hours for the speech after it happened live was amazing!
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