EnhanceTV, the educational service from the not-for-profit Screenrights, has rebooted for the digital era. It has brought on to the Internet a large number of educational programmes previously stored in other media.
The new web streaming service – called EnhanceTV Direct – offers educators access to more than 12,000 educational programs, with over 100 new programs added to the service each week, the organisation said.
The service brings three significant capabilities to educators and users alike.
Firstly, now that the programmes are on the Internet, they can now be accessed from a variety of devices, notably the growingly popular tablet PCs and even smartphones.
Secondly, the entire content becomes searchable. The content is also classified into subject areas.
Thirdly, educators can also create and store lessons using short clips or entire programmes, without the need for onsite storage or specialised equipment.
“EnhanceTV Direct is very much the sort of educational tool that we support. It allows teachers to be autonomous in what they choose to create for the classroom, yet align with the curriculum,” said Susan Mann, chief executive officer of Education Services Australia.
“It enables them to access material and create lessons as and when they want and it gives them access to a wide range of materials to use for their lessons,” she added.
James Dickinson, who heads EnhanceTV’s Licensing and New Business, told Anthill the group spent over $600,000 to convert the archives and bring them on to the Internet platform.
EnhanceTV Direct is available to Australian institutions that have a current copying licence with Screenrights. Subscribers get a weekly email with detailed recording guide of educational programs a week in advance of broadcast. The organisation also offers a customisable online TV guide, TV highlights and RSS feeds.
