July 20, 2008
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Agency for Instructional Technology Launches Video-on-Demand Service
Bloomington, IN—March 19, 2004—The Agency for Instructional Technology, in partnership with Magic Lantern Group Inc., recently announced the launch of The Learning Source™, an online video-on-demand service. The Learning Source features a rich collection of curriculum-based video content, correlated to K–12 state standards and accessible through keyword or state curriculum standard searches. Teacher’s guides, reproducibles, and other ancillary materials are also provided online as printable PDF files. AIT is offering individual annual subscriptions as well as licenses for the service to schools, regional media centers, and state education departments in the U.S. Free fourteen-day trial memberships are available at www.aitlearningsource.net.
Elaine Larson, Director of Education for AIT and project leader noted, “AIT’s premier content—the work of dozens of talented producers—is now available at a teacher’s fingertips. The resources in this collection represent the best instructional materials available to teachers. Each video is now correlated to all state curriculum standards, providing teachers with resources they need in standards-based lesson plans. The Learning Source is designed to save time for teachers as they look for the most appropriate video to supplement their curriculum. Right now content on The Learning Source is focused on math, science, language arts, social studies, health, and foreign languages. We soon will add resources in art, music, and teacher professional development.”
In addition to AIT’s own extensive collection of resources, they are looking to include other content providers in this initiative. Chuck Wilson, Executive Director of AIT, observed, “The launch of The Learning Source is part of AIT’s continuing commitment to bring useful technology to classroom teachers. We view this initiative as a true joint effort and intend to work with our fellow content providers to allow schools broad access to a wide variety of quality video.”
The Learning Source is a collaborative product of AIT and Magic Lantern Group, Inc. Magic Lantern built The Learning Source application and interface around the platform and design of their InSite™ online video product. Video content was digitized and encoded by Sonoptic Technologies, a 75%-owned subsidiary of Magic Lantern. AIT staff indexed the content, created metadata, and aligned it with curriculum standards for all states.
Magic Lantern Group President and CEO Bob Goddard stated, “Magic Lantern Group is pleased to be a partner in bringing this exciting service to AIT’s customers. The launch of The Learning Source will meet the increasing demand for the opportunities that streaming video technology can offer educators in the United States, an exciting untapped marketplace for Magic Lantern’s suite of streaming video solutions.
The Learning Source utilizes a unique and highly successful strategy for correlating content to state standards. Rather than relying on data-base driven correlation systems which often fail to account for anomalies or nuances in descriptive information, AIT chose to dedicate professional educators to the task of determining how materials matched up to standards. Larson explains why AIT chose this labor-intensive strategy: “We considered easier methods for doing correlations, but in every case, there were too many non-productive returns to a standards search. Since we know teachers need to look for resources that meet their state’s standards, we knew an effective standards’ search was critical. The only way to do that was the hard way, with experienced educators making those judgments. Simply put, we chose to be as efficient as we could without sacrificing the validity or reliability of the results.”
The Learning Source marks the emergence of new methods of media delivery for AIT. As Wilson states, “We are excited about the opportunities that open up for us and our customers—educators and students around the world—as we turn traditional, linear, analog video into digital content. As we create a wide range of digital resources we expand the ways we can deliver those resources. We can literally provide the same high-quality, educationally sound video resources any way and at any time people want them.” The Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT) is a non-profit educational organization that has been in operation for 41 years, developing, producing, and distributing award-winning quality instructional materials. AIT’s mission is to enhance student learning. Located in Bloomington, IN, the Agency is a leading developer of interactive media, one of the largest providers of instructional TV programs in North America, an experienced producer of print resources, a committed teacher trainer, an established distributor, and a pioneer in consortium development for the production of quality instructional materials.
Magic Lantern Group, Inc. (AMEX: GML) is a leading, global distributor of learning videos serving more than 10,000 schools, libraries and social agencies in North American and international markets. With 40,000 programs from 300 world-renowned producers, the Company’s educational products include: Magic Lantern InSiteª, a digital streaming video product for schools, libraries and universities and TutorBuddyª, an at-home e-learning product for students and teachers.
For more information about The Learning Source, contact AIT 800 457 4509, tls@ait.net or visit www.aitlearningsource.net.