ERAC and the Future

ERAC is a natural leader to help BC schools and districts move forward with video streaming. Further, ERAC is uniquely positioned to create a coordinated, BC approach for districts and schools to license or purchase video streaming services.

Schools and districts have indicated to ERAC that a video streaming solution must include the following elements:

• Content: ERAC-evaluated and Ministry-Recommended; BC Curriculum and grade-correlated; Canadian and international; and includes the best of multiple producers and sources.
• Usability: Reliable access, simple and advanced search functionality, MARC records, ability to download, ability to add local products, teacher guides and professional development.
• Infrastructure: Responses to bandwidth challenges, reliable access, records management and licensing/copyright management.

ERAC’s reviewers noted ways in which teachers could become more engaged in video.ERAC will take these suggestions into account as it moves forward.

ERAC continues to investigate a variety of business models for securing digital video rights and service solutions with BC and Canadian perspectives. The consortium’s goal is to build on its database bundle and continue expanding its provincial umbrella of resources. ERAC is also exploring the many potential partnering opportunities with, for example, the post-secondary sector, public libraries, other provinces, non-profit organizations, distributors and corporations.

ERAC is also following industry discussions on some potential approaches, such as the educational video storage and distribution model deployed in the province of Alberta. There, libraries of approved videos are provided on servers known as content delivery devices (CDD) at the school or district level. This results in better network performance, without network congestion, by localizing network traffic to higher speed LAN connections instead of being delivered by the PLNet. Schools are able to add their own video content to the CDD in support of local priorities. Other examples are the successful pilot project the BC post-secondary sector has launched with a Seattle-based organization and the consortium formed through a public/private partnership in the Maritime provinces.

Clearly, the video streaming industry has matured from start-up and is on the cusp of several new directions. ERAC intends to provide strong leadership in building a provincial K-12 strategy. We will continue to consult with our members and industry leaders as we move forward. As schools and districts start to try out video streaming and teachers become more aware of its benefits, ERAC will be there building a BC solution.