Teradek VidiU Go and Core Make the Perfect Streaming Bundle for Remote Newscasts
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Teradek VidiU Go and Core Make the Perfect Streaming Bundle for Remote Newscasts

While remote learning was a first for many teachers this year, shooting newscasts remotely is routine for student video production teams. When there’s breaking news at school, your news team has to rush to the area. There’s seldom time to set up a whole production system, and you can rarely count on a reliable internet connection. That’s where the Teradek VidiU Go and Core come in.

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Front Page News
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Front Page News

It started as a drowning call. We heard the code over the police scanner on Monday night. A backyard swimming pool. Three children. An unforgivable accident. Startling, obviously, but nothing out of the ordinary. We cover shootings and collisions and burglaries all day, every day. It takes a lot to get a newsroom’s undivided attention.

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Everything You Need in a Teleprompter for Student Videos
Production, Streaming Kreativ Alchemy Production, Streaming Kreativ Alchemy

Everything You Need in a Teleprompter for Student Videos

If your school uses Windows computers, listen up. All too often, school video production programs are forced to use equipment and software that’s designed for the pros. When this happens, students spend more time sorting through features they don’t understand than learning the concepts behind producing a newscast. The RUSHPROMPTER™ provides a simple and capable teleprompting solution that includes all the features students need at a price every school can afford.

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New Video System with Instant Replay for School Sports
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New Video System with Instant Replay for School Sports

Genesis-1 includes 3 cameras, 4 channels of instant-replay, slow motion, and a title generator that includes “score-bugs.” This turnkey video production system is designed to achieve a complete video production right out of the box. It includes JVC GY-HC500 4K cameras, an integrated switching system, a Clear-Com 2-Channel intercom, and an H.264 encoder for direct streaming to your favorite social media platforms.

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Sports Will Be Back Soon. Will You Be Ready?
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Sports Will Be Back Soon. Will You Be Ready?

The SportsCaster is a “one stop shop” for everything audio during a live event. It’s a 6-channel audio mixer with a built-in intercom system. In one rack unit, you can mix three on-air announcers who are using their Sports Pods, add sideline reports with the “field” input, plus ambient mics with the two “aux” inputs. Now, you have a fully built, well-rounded broadcast.

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Fortnite Event With Travis Scott Can Actually be Recreated in the Classroom
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Fortnite Event With Travis Scott Can Actually be Recreated in the Classroom

I enjoy Fortnite for a ton of reasons outside of the gameplay. I LOVE how they continue to force themselves to be a part of the conversation. On April 23, Fortnite completed their partnership with Travis Scott by doing a “Fortnite Event.” I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I heard that term in the videos I watched online for a week or so leading up to the event. I tuned in for the event and to say I was blown away was a complete understatement.

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Esports Keep Teams Alive Virtually
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Esports Keep Teams Alive Virtually

El Toro High School’s esports club started in 2016, but it didn’t take off right away. With a lack of advertising, students didn’t really understand what it was and struggled to move their gaming from hobby to team sport. By 2019, the club only had about 15 students, but the following year, they tripled in size. Now, they play League of Legends and Overwatch. They have jerseys, scheduled practices, and plans for expansion.

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TV Reporters and Social Distancing
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TV Reporters and Social Distancing

Reporters are faced with a dilemma in the current environment of social distancing. How can they capture clear audio during an interview while maintaining a safe separation? Parabolic microphones, used primarily for sports, may provide a great alternative. Parabolic microphones provide a mechanical amplification for the sound coming from in front of the dish. This allows a person speaking at a normal level to be recorded from six to ten feet using a parabolic microphone only nine inches in diameter.

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Middle School Teacher Keeps His School’s Newscast Alive Remotely
Teaching Resources, Production, Streaming Kreativ Alchemy Teaching Resources, Production, Streaming Kreativ Alchemy

Middle School Teacher Keeps His School’s Newscast Alive Remotely

Happy Valley Middle School’s Media Arts teacher Steve Oliver was quick to act when his school switched to the online model during the COVID-19 crisis. He runs the school newscast to help lift the spirits of his school’s community. With the help of teachers, he has successfully increased viewership, engaged fellow teachers and students, and provided a therapeutic outlet for himself and others. It is not too often that middle schools offer a media arts program let alone have a news cast. Stream Semester spoke with Steve about his unique middle school news cast.

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School News Gets Social
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School News Gets Social

When your students wake up in the morning, they probably check their phones before they even roll out of bed. Catawba Ridge High School’s news team was quick to take advantage of that morning routine. They post daily news updates on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat so followers know exactly what to expect for the school day ahead.

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Crafting Innovative Student News Stories During School Closures
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Crafting Innovative Student News Stories During School Closures

Since the state mandated stay-at-home orders went into effect, the students have been broadcasting their weekly news show and comedy special while virtually collaborating on story ideas and production. We spoke with television production teacher Elisia Harkins-James to learn more about how her students are staying creative with their newscast.

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Creating a Virtual Newscast with South High School
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Creating a Virtual Newscast with South High School

While moving curriculum online addresses student learning outcomes, maintaining morale is just as important. Coming to school gives students a chance to be social, explore new ideas in conversation, and fosters a sense of community among peers. Now online, having only a screen to interact with all day threatens that community. South High School in Bakersfield, California didn’t want to take that chance.

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Working from Home as a Student and Journalist
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Working from Home as a Student and Journalist

Who is running toward the fire and not away? I have asked myself that question a hundred times and I wanted, more than anything, to be included on that list. Which brings me to where we are now (roughly). On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, Cronkite News made history. After three days of trial and error with my friends and colleagues Tina Giuliano and Veronica Galvin, we released a completely virtual, at-home newscast with anchors, graphics, weather, commercials...the whole thing. I am still beaming just thinking about it.

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Esports: The New Sports Trend in Education
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Esports: The New Sports Trend in Education

I don’t make a lot of guarantees, but I can make one about esports. They aren’t going away. They aren’t going to fade. They are going to grow and now is the time to jump on board. If you are a video production instructor, this plays right into your wheelhouse. You most likely have computers in your control. You most likely have the best computers in the building. You have the ability to connect those computers to the internet and you have the kids who are already playing most of the games.

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Making Your Locations Read: Set Design Tips
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Making Your Locations Read: Set Design Tips

When shooting in a gym, try to have a section of bleachers or a backboard within your frame. Thinking about interviewing a teacher? Make sure there is a blackboard or some desks behind them. Choose your background wisely when you are interviewing someone in the field. It conveys information and authenticity, even if you have to add some touches to make reality look more real.

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What Bitrate and Resolution are Best?
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What Bitrate and Resolution are Best?

The higher the resolution and bitrate, the higher the video quality - right? Not exactly. What happens if you’re watching a video online and it starts buffering? You probably close the window. So there’s nothing stopping someone from doing the same thing to you if your video quality is poor.

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Scott Pelley’s Lessons for Aspiring Journalists
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Scott Pelley’s Lessons for Aspiring Journalists

I recently started the second semester of my junior year at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in Phoenix, Arizona and much to my surprise, a well-known figure in journalism welcomed me into this jam-packed half of one of my most important years of college. Insert Scott Pelley, journalist and author who has been a correspondent and anchor for CBS News for more than three decades.

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Esports in Education
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Esports in Education

New Esports in Education book shows how student broadcasters are finding careers in esports! Esports is an interesting new sport where students are competing at the high school and college levels nationally. At the high school level, esports players are not only competing to win tournaments but also to gain scholarships to prestigious universities.

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#SpaghettiGate2019
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#SpaghettiGate2019

SpaghettiGate2019 was on! We got a little bit of a pop of the first hit in the show, and when we returned after the Thanksgiving holiday, the full-court press was on! We did hits every day about SpaghettiGate2019, including one day where we did look lives from outside the office of every administrator in the building and a conference room where a "called meeting" was in session.

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