Embracing MyVideoSpot in DeSoto County Schools
At DeSoto Central Middle School, MyVideoSpot helped students become the teachers—literally. To wrap up a semester of Cyber Foundations, Carol Houston asked her students to create instructional videos for next year’s class. They completed the task through MyVideoSpot, a video platform designed specifically for school environments.
Her students’ creations pleased her so much that she’s using them in next semester’s lesson plans.
“My students love the fact that they can create cool projects at school and home and share them,” Houston said. “It is a tool that is easy to use, and it has the power to capture the attention of your students.”
Increased Accessibility For Students, Teachers, and Staff
Horn Lake High School students used MyVideoSpot to record an after-school session of ACT Bootcamp, which News Broadcast teacher Marc Lewis then shared via a VideoSpot. This allowed students who couldn’t attend in person to view the session virtually.
The recorder tool isn’t limited to after school programs, as classroom teachers use it to help homebound students stay on track.
Differentiated Instruction
More video tools means more teaching options. First grade teacher Stacey Allen sometimes shares one video with a small group of advanced learners, which allows her to concentrate on the other students. Or if an individual struggles with math, she gives them a paper of QR codes to take home. They can scan videos tailored for their level, which allows them to review and catch up more easily.
“MyVideoSpot has made differentiated learning so much easier in your classroom,” Allen said.
Added Context
The video options aren’t just convenient; they serve as visual and auditory learning tools. When reading a book in class, Elementary English teacher Michael Baird assigns each student a role and records them reading it aloud together. Watching the recording afterwards is great feedback for the students.
“They love watching themselves and they can hear their pronunciation and errors. It’s been very motivating for them,” Baird said.
Shared Lesson Plans
With MyVideoSpot, teachers across the district can upload and share all kinds of media to one centralized hub: Videos, images, audio files, PowerPoints, PDFs, and more all live in the media library. They can also search for files by topic or grade, which is a game-changer for sharing resources across schools.
“I’m in a group with other first grade teachers and we all share the same content. We love it and that’s how we can find media, get ideas, and use media other teachers have already found and uploaded,” said Allen.
Maximizing Resources
Before MyVideoSpot, teachers had to acquire up to thirty copies of the same physical book. Now, Allen simply scans each book into MyVideoSpot and creates a QR code, and she has a digital library. Students can take the QR code home, scan it, and read the digital copy at home, offering unprecedented accessibility to learning materials.
Safe Sharing
MyVideoSpot has completely changed the way teachers use YouTube and Vimeo: The pure video viewer tool allows them to play the videos without ads, comment boxes, or suggested content.
“Our teachers’ lesson plans are going smoothly now that they can link to YouTube videos,” Streeter says. “Best of all, they don’t have to worry about unpredictable content popping up.”
Professional Development
Students aren’t the only ones learning. Staff use MyVideoSpot to make and share training videos with each other. It’s particularly useful for webmasters and tech coaches who need to teach the entire district how to use new tools.
Community Engagement
In an increasingly digital world, MyVideoSpot helps school districts reach their community through video. Instead of laboriously uploading long videos or creating custom code, webmasters simply use the MyVideoSpot tools to embed stream links or recordings. This makes school board meetings, game days, and important announcements available for viewing much more quickly.
“It’s really easy for our webmasters to embed videos into webpages, and it’s easy for people to find the videos to watch later. That’s been huge!” Streeter reports.
Parent Involvement
One video can make a parent’s day. To capture student progress, teachers make quick recordings and share them with parents via URL, QR code, or even digital newsletter.
Baird explains that “most parents and guardians can’t make it to the classroom, but you can send them videos! The parents have loved seeing their students and their progress.”
New Possibilities
DeSoto County Schools originally looked into MyVideoSpot just for its Pure Video tool, but students and staff have found it indispensable for a range of activities in and outside the classroom: planning lessons, keeping students engaged, and connecting with parents have all become easier and more enjoyable.
Better yet, anyone can unlock and enjoy each feature. “MyVideoSpot is easy,” Allen said. “Teachers might be scared to learn something new, but I just wish they knew how much easier it has made my life.
Learn how it can help your district here.