ASHLAND — Ben Spieldenner, director of professional development for technology at Ashland City Schools, provided an integration update at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.
Since the closure of the 2020 spring semester, Ashland City Schools has been utilizing its YouTube channel to showcase a variety of school events to the public. It all started with the district’s Senior Farewell video as well as a livestream of the 2020 graduating class.
The school has also commenced livestreaming fall sporting events.
“It gives us the ability to be able to show others some of the cools things that are going on in Ashland beyond just the sporting events,” said Spieldenner.
It also includes virtual open houses for the schools.
“This is pretty big,” he said.
The school district’s YouTube channel, found here, has garnered nearly 500 subscribers and the videos have accrued over 18,000 total views.
According to Spieldenner, there have been over 100 individuals who have viewed the streamed games live. Some sports streams only stay on the channel for a few days for public view, until eventually it is added to a private site and archived.
“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from people about having this available,” said Superintendent Doug Marrah.
YouTube also allows community members to view football games from the comfort of their own home, which expands the audience past the normal 800 attendees typically allowed at Community Stadium for home contests.
Spieldenner also provided an update on Canvas, the software utilized for the district’s online learning methodologies.
The district has produced over 350 media recordings and created over 8,300 assignments since the beginning of the school year.
Spieldenner has also been holding one-on-one sessions with parents discussing issues with Canvas. There remains a select few slots open for Thursday between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“I can troubleshoot right there, and if it’s not something I can fix, we can contact Canvas and makes sure that it gets fixed,” Spieldenner said.
Spieldenner believes this technological advancement is only scratching the surface in the realm of future multimedia education.
Board member Zach Truax said introducing online education to students will only benefit them when they attend college, as most higher education institutions utilize online learning platforms.
