Five Ways to Live Stream Your District’s High School Graduation
Wondering what to do about video streaming high school graduation live? Yes, it is that time of year when superintendents are frantically turning to their technology staff and saying, “Help! We need to stream graduation this year! Can you get it done?” Of course, at this time of year, there is little budget to get the job done, so you have whatever funding is left over from the school year. The pressure is on!
While some school districts rely on an iPad with a Makayama Movie Mount kit, or a Macbook Pro laptop angled at the appropriate angle, hooked up to Google Hangouts, other districts are also using camera-equipped drones to capture graduations, or at least, the view as graduating students stream into the auditorium. Most solutions offer free live streaming that is advertisement supported, but you can pay to remove ads and obtain more views.
Reminder: Have you asked for permission to video/audio-record or photograph students?
An important question to consider if you’re going to stream is obtaining student/parent permission to stream video and post it online where it is publicly available. One approach that works is to include a media release in the student handbook that is handed out each year, as well as make it available on the District web site. School districts have crafted policies that assume all students can be photographed/videotaped, and parents have to opt their child out by a certain date at the start of the school year. This information is prominently displayed in the student handbook, as well as on the District web site.
Approach #1 — uStream.tv Gold Plan ($499 for 1 month)
We used it last year for both of our graduations (8th and high school) and are doing the same this year,” shared one Texas school district technology director. “We had around 30 people watching live. We have all of our students sign a video release at the beginning of the year that includes online streaming.” Looking for a quick, easy solution?
What one district did was to sign up with uStream for the month of high school graduation streaming, then discontinue the account shortly thereafter. That’s great given that uStream provides for “2,000 viewer hours, unlimited viewer storage, branded with logo, restricted embedding, live analytics.” One school district describes uStream in the following way:
“UStream is our choice for streaming any video content out of the district. Works great. Can be embedded into a school blog or website. Can turn off the chat by embedding. It has other benefits. Anything we do adds to the burden of the network. I can say that we successfully streamed 15 separate UStream sessions last year all day long with no issues for the several hundred folks using the network at the same time during a conference. Every network is different, though.”
uStream is a great solution and you can’t go wrong with this one.
Approach #2 — LiveStream Premium Plan ($399 + $495 for Broadcaster)
Similar to uStream, LiveStream also offers similar options for your high school graduation. However, the entry price point is a bit more expensive given the requirement for a broadcaster. Still, there is no limit for viewing hours, unlike uStream which has a limit of 2,000 viewing hours. You can also connect LiveStream to Facebook so that video appears on your District’s Facebook site.
Approach #3 — VLC Media Player (Free)
The VLC Media Player provides for a no-cost alternative to more expensive solutions. Unfortunately, it may be technically challenging for those new to media streaming, and you might want to have a backup plan in place. Or you could simply try it out first with elementary morning video announcements or basketball/football game streaming. One of the main benefits of VLC Media Player is that you have control over publishing your stream.
Approach #4 — TheCube
TheCube provides a video broadcasting service that works on all mobile devices and streams to popular outlets like the Web, but also Amazon, Roku, and more. And they also provide a helpful starter kit for school personnel who want to start broadcasting via their mobile device of choice.
Approach #5 — Facebook Live
Facebook now allows for video streaming. To accomplish this, you’ll want to have a video camera and microphone ready to go, and a robust Internet connection (wired, not Wi-Fi).
Conclusion
While approaches like these are geared towards mobile device users, with a relatively inexpensive video camera and microphone, you can capture the excitement of a high school graduation (or any school district event), then make it available as it happens or to your District’s YouTube channel. No doubt, parents will soon have camera-equipped drones (be sure to read this information from the Texas Education Agency and the FCC on drones) filming their graduating senior in the cloud up close. Whatever solution you decide on, remember the pressure is on to create an engaging experience for the remote viewer!
Need More Info?
Looking for more information? While the solutions featured in this blog entry have all been used by Texas school districts, they do not encompass every available solution. Consider reading this buyer’s guide of additional video streaming solutions that can be adapted for use in school districts for streaming graduation.
