Education is now a post-digital sector

Gareth Edwards is Business Development Manager ITNedu

The ‘flipped classroom’ and ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) have made mobile and online learning everyday for vast numbers of students, teachers and institutions. Add the huge growth in signups to Massive Open Online Course providers (MOOCs) such as edX, Coursera or the UK’s own FutureLearn platform and you are presented with a mature digital ecosystem.

The new strategic body EdTech UK launched in October 2015, described as a ‘front door to the industry’ has the express aim of accelerating the growth of the UK’s Education Technology sector. The challenge facing educators now is how to ensure their digital resources make the best of the learning opportunities created with this technology. 

‘Engaging and academically relevant video content is a core requirement for many new digital resources and platforms’

Engaging and academically relevant video content is a core requirement for many new digital resources and platforms. However, traditional sources are often encumbered with restrictive licence and pricing structures, including additional requirements on users such as third party clearances. So rather than attempt to shoehorn the needs of the education sector into a structure designed for the TV and Film industry, ITN have addressed this head on with the launch of ITNedu. This new resource draws on the unique archive of ITN Source, harnessing external subject-matter expertise, in-house production and research knowhow from the award winning news organisation. A simplified education-specific licence, with full indemnity allows educators to licence video content with confidence and with ease. 

ITNedu are keen to work with innovative educators and institutions and aim to be as accessible as possible. A recent agreement with FutureLearn allows institutions creating online courses on the rapidly growing platform to benefit from a bespoke licence. This collaboration ensures universities partnering with FutureLearn get the very best value from the resource, and the option to access to specialist research and content advice. 

ITNedu is able to utilise the ITN Source archive of over 2.8 million clips and can produce collections of videos on virtually any subject area, course or level. Clips are handpicked on the basis of quality and relevance, then indexed with education specific metadata, standards levels and usage ideas. For example, new content is currently being curated for language teaching around contemporary stories, scripted to specific learning levels (CEFR). These videos enable students to relate their studies to real world examples and situations. 

With tuition fees and the cost of University such a hot topic, students are looking to ensure their programmes of study represent the best value possible. Digital resources and additional study options that are rich in high quality visual content could prove to be vital for universities. ITNedu offers a suite of services for higher education from licencing single clips for existing resources to producing bespoke video collections, and API access to the whole collection. Through eduNews students can even benefit from daily education focused news bulletins. The most recent addition being daily news bulletins scripted to match different English language teaching levels. A resource like ELT News has the potential to be a valuable bridge between traditional study and the practical application of skills; a great example of what is possible in a post digital education sector.

W: www.itnedu.com