Over the past few weeks, I’ve had lots of conversations with classroom teachers and school leaders about the rapid shift to remote learning. Many of these conversations include questions around resources, and how to locate engaging, relevant content for students and families.
Finding high-quality resources is one big issue, especially when families are reaching out to schools to ask for advice around learning at home. So I’ve been on the lookout for platforms that lend themselves well to remote learning initiatives.
When I first connected with the folks at Swank K12 Streaming, the concept of remote learning was not front of mind. I was simply excited to learn that they were making it easier for teachers to locate and stream movies. They have a fantastic tool for classroom use that happens to lend itself really well to distance learning.
In this blog post, I’ll share how you can use Swank K12 Streaming to stream movies to students during remote learning. You’ll get a quick overview of their platform, hear about an offer they’ve set up for schools and districts, and I’ll even share some tips for using movies during a remote learning initiative.
Stream Movies to Students in (Virtual) Classrooms
If you haven’t heard of Swank K12 Streaming before, they provide schools, districts, and educational organizations with streaming access to thousands of movies and documentaries. Their goal is to support teaching and learning by providing easy access to multimedia content that is also educational.
Swank K12 Streaming has lots of options for educators. In the screenshot above, you can see just a few of the many documentaries users have access to. Their library is full of options for students in elementary, middle, and high school.
Sharing movies with an educational value to students might also include a musical, like one listed below. Whether you’d like to share an Arctic Tale with students learning about animal habitats, or choose to share Les Miserables with students studying the French Revolution, there are lots of ways to use these resources.
To get a feel for Swank K12 Streaming, I encourage you to head to this page. It includes their full collection of recommended K-12 titles. This landing page will give you a feel for their complete collection of educational titles. It gives you a chance to read a quick synopsis and even watch a trailer.
Strengthen Remote Learning Programs
Although Swank K12 Streaming has plenty of use cases for moments when students are together with their teachers in a classroom, it has the potential to strengthen remote learning programs, too.
Their platform allows teachers to connect content to a learning management system (LMS) you are already using. As you can see in the screenshot below, there are a few options on the movie screen. When you are logged into your account, you have the opportunity to copy a link from a movie to an LMS. This button gives you the option to share the link with students who can watch either part or all of the film on their own.
Students can easily access the content you’ve handpicked for them when you share it in a space you’ve already set up. So if you are using Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, or another LMS, this integration is perfect.
Tips for When You Stream Movies to Students
If you haven’t shared movies with students in the past, or are revisiting this idea in a remote learning environment, I have a few ideas to share with you. Here are three tips for making the most of the video content you are sharing with students.
First, determine your “why” by reviewing your goals for the remainder of the school year. You might know that your students are reading about a particular period in history or science concept and home.
Then, find the best piece of content by using a keyword or genre search. Once you’ve located the movie you want to share, decide on whether to encourage students to watch the entire video or a specific segment of the film.
Next, set a purpose for students by sharing expectations. You might ask students to write or record a reflection after watching the movie, or give them a list of things to “look for” as they watch.
Getting Started with Swank K12 Streaming
Since lots of schools around the world have made a quick switch to remote learning, the team at Swank K12 Streaming has worked to make it easy to get set up with their platform. They are offering immediate access to thousands of films to support remote teaching and learning for a set rate of $150. This offer lasts through the end of June, and you can learn about all of the details on their website.
Ready to stream movies to your students? Expand your remote learning resources by enrolling your school or district in Swank K12 Streaming!
