It’s that time of year again! Back to School season is an exciting time for students, parents, librarians, and educators that offers a fresh start and plenty of new opportunities for learning. It is a time of discovery and exploration when students and educators seek resources to enhance the educational experience.
Although Back to School season is exciting, it can also be overwhelming for educators and faculty. It can be challenging to pinpoint content that meets the requirements for a lesson while also targeting the diverse needs of your community. However, Kanopy is here to help. As your institution gets ready to welcome back students of all ages, look no further than Kanopy for enriching educational content.
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming platform designed for library patrons and educators. Through their library or school, users can stream thousands of high-quality films, including documentaries, independent cinema, and award-winning films.
Kanopy has a full range of materials for the upcoming school year, no matter what type of community you serve. Both academic and public libraries can be engaged by the unparalleled content provided by Kanopy as part of the Back to School season.
Academic Libraries
Kanopy offers plenty of foundational materials with higher education in mind. An excellent place to start is the Essential Campus Collection. This collection organizes films into subjects like Media Studies, Gender Studies, Math, Science, History, Visual Arts, and more. Additionally, the comprehensive nature of this collection allows students to explore interdisciplinary connections and approach their studies from multiple angles, enhancing their overall learning experience. The Essential Campus Collection would be an excellent place for faculty and educators to find engaging film recommendations and for students to find materials according to their major or field of interest.
Kanopy has recently published a free guide available to download aimed at academic libraries called, Enhancing Cinematic Diversity in Academic Library Collections. This guide helps academic libraries expand on their current offerings to help meet their students’ need for diverse cinema. The guide provides insight into how to reach a broader faculty base, resulting in a diverse and dynamic collection that can benefit everyone on campus. Enhancing Cinematic Diversity in Academic Collections demonstrates the importance of identifying faculty’s needs, providing curriculum-ready content that goes beyond documentaries, and following best practices according to your institution. This free guide is available to download here.
Public Libraries
Kanopy also offers a wide array of content for everyday learners of all ages in your public library community. An excellent selection for Back to School learning is the Great Courses series. These video lessons are crafted for learners of all ages, and taught by professors and subject experts. Recent releases like Unsung Heroes of World War II and Meteorology join fan-favorite titles like How to Draw and Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking. The Great Courses series provides public library patrons with interesting lessons that go beyond the lecture hall. Whether patrons are looking to acquire new skills or delve into fascinating subjects, The Great Courses series offers a platform for lifelong learning, aligning perfectly with the mission of public libraries to provide diverse and accessible educational resources.
Kanopy’s selection of documentaries is also a great place to start for Back to School learning. The collection includes Must-Watch and Newly Added Documentaries, promoting fresh voices and experiences. Students and library patrons can explore titles relating to different subjects like Art, Historical Perspectives, Nature & Technology, and Health & Wellness. Kanopy’s selection of documentaries also underscores their commitment to diversity, with categories like Ethnicity & Identity, LGBTQ+ Stories, and Women & Society. Kanopy documentaries can assist librarians in creating a varied curation of content that facilitates learning. These documentaries can bring engaging stories and viewpoints library patrons may have not explored before to life.
Public libraries’ youngest learners are not forgotten in Kanopy’s selection of Back to School content. Kanopy provides kids’ content in categories like Read-Along Storybooks, Fun Series for Kids, Explore Science and Math, and even Learning Languages. Even if your child is not ready to go to school, streaming content on Kanopy can give them the tools they need to create a foundation of learning. With a diverse array of educational videos, Kanopy nurtures children’s curiosity and cognitive development, making it a valuable resource for parents and caregivers to inspire young minds.
Now through September 30, Kanopy is supporting back-to-school initiatives by offering public libraries 25% off their total order when they buy 2 or more Kanopy PLUS subscription packs. Learn more here.
Commitment to Diversity
The role that academic and public libraries serve in supporting education and diversity is crucial. Libraries are hubs of knowledge, community engagement, and cultural enrichment. A Kanopy subscription can strengthen your library’s commitment to diversity by pushing it past the realm of books and allowing users to engage with new perspectives at a more immersive level.
By offering a wide range of films and documentaries that explore various cultures, historical events, and societal issues, Kanopy empowers libraries to foster understanding and empathy among their patrons. Through their curated content, Kanopy invites students and educators to embrace diversity, ultimately creating an enriching educational environment for the coming school year.
Conclusion
The streaming content available through Kanopy can be seamlessly integrated into Back to School programming activities, enabling schools and libraries to cultivate a vibrant learning environment. By incorporating Kanopy’s diverse selection of content into lesson plans, educators can captivate students’ interest and offer them dynamic audiovisual learning experiences that complement traditional teaching methods. This integration modernizes the learning process, fostering a more interactive and engaging atmosphere as students embark on their academic journey.
Through Kanopy's continual innovation, both academic and public libraries can play a pivotal role in shaping a bright educational future through unparalleled streaming content. The partnership between libraries and Kanopy does not merely provide streaming content, it fosters a holistic educational environment that nurtures curiosity and diversity. This Back to School season, meet your community’s diverse needs with Kanopy.
For general inquiries, please visit Kanopy’s Talk to an Expert page to discover how Kanopy can best serve your institution this Back to School season. We offer ongoing program support to aid librarians and faculty throughout the school year and beyond.