But while the spotlight is on computers the footlights are on “the other technology” – video and cable.

Thirty years ago, as FCC Commissioner, I fought for community access channels. “Build it and they will come,” I thought.

Some cities, including Iowa City, saw the potential. An Educational Cable Consortium administers our Channel 11.

Cable subscribers help pay for it. Sadly, they’re not getting much for their money. Without Kirkwood Community College the channel would be dark more than it is.

How could the school district better use it? As Elizabeth Barrett Browning often said of her community cable channel, “Let me count the ways.”

Improve communication from the district to stakeholders. Start with bulletin boards of text. Notices, schedules, snow days, enrollment information, references to Web pages. Students could create them.

Move to video of high schools’ football games, concerts, debates and assemblies. A superintendent’s call-in show. Reports from principals.

Create distance education and a virtual school. Offer GED instruction. Or how about broadcasts from classrooms for stay-at-homes and interested parents?
 
This multi-million-dollar “TV station” could broadcast others’ programming designed for teens, toddlers, parents, teachers’ professional development, the community.

When video equipment first found its way into schools in the 1970s, it was very quickly put under lock and key lest some teacher or student find and use it.

Today we have video production classes and well-equipped labs. Digital video and editing equipment for students that the major networks hadn’t dreamed of back then. And it’s being used – but not on our channel.

Copyrighted music is no longer a problem on cable. Students can make soundtracks for videos from anything BMI or ASCAP owns.

So why don’t we broadcast more student work?

Speaking of Browning’s poetry, we have a video poetry unit in which each student picks the most moving poem they’ve read and puts it to video.

Of course, video is no substitute for books. But there’s a big difference between making videos and “watching television.” Hard-to-reach students often blossom when holding video cameras. That enthusiasm can carry over to the rest of their education.

Students prepared a video for a high school’s incoming freshman parents. There’s a well-attended “Academy Awards” film fest night featuring student work.

Student government campaigns are conducted on video and shown on the schools’ internal channels. It’s much less disruptive to learning than classroom visits or assemblies.

Students present research papers and other projects in video for art, science, social studies, language arts or foreign language classes.

Junior high students may prepare morning announcements, or highlights of a concert, dance or athletic event that’s shown on the school’s channel.

Like computers, student video production involves lots of peer learning. “How’d you do that?” one asks another, and the skills spread.

An art teacher says when students produce videos they learn much more than camera basics. Video cameras help her teach visual aesthetics, creating desired realities, visual communication skills and styles and the impact of lighting.

Why aren’t we sharing more of this student work with the community?

Some school districts carry it further. A Dearborn, Mich., high school has a student station, WDHS, that also offers 24-hour real time streaming video over the Internet.

One good example of integrating video into schools is outside Kansas City, in the Blue Valley District. Teachers, administrators and board members bought into the same vision. And because they are stakeholder-oriented in all they do, and focus on process, so did the rest of the community.

Our district is strapped for video support personnel. In Blue Valley, teachers get what they need.

How could we better use channel 11? Let’s stop just counting the ways and start demonstrating some of them.

Nicholas Johnson is an Iowa City School Board member. More information is available on his Web site www.nicholasjohnson.org.