What is the difference between Explore and Explore Media?
Explore Media is a curated educational video platform delivering high-quality documentaries, films, television series, news archives, and screen education resources. A standard Explore subscription does not include the full range of films, television programs, and news and current affairs segments that are exclusively available through an Explore Media subscription. Likewise, all video-focused learning resources, such as Informit Screen Guides, Spotlight collections, and upcoming Media Perspectives modules are not available without an Explore Media subscription.
With both Explore and Explore Media, you can move seamlessly between video and text resources to enhance teaching and student research. Students and teachers can use both text and video resources to place topics within their wider social and historical context and stimulate wider discussion.
How does the new Explore Media product differ from TVNews ?
Explore Media is a curated educational video platform delivering high-quality documentaries, films, television series, news archives, and screen education resources. It includes access to the same new segments available in TVNews, alongside a complete archive of film and television programs. News and Current affairs programs often only touch on or summarise important historical, political, social and scientific issues. Meanwhile, the diverse range of documentary films and television series available with Explore Media provide greater depth and breadth of understanding on the issues that really matter.
Unlike TVNews, it also includes access to curated Spotlight collections, interactive Screen Guides, and forthcoming Media Perspectives modules focused on developing media literacy skills by analysing the news. Informit’s interactive Screen Guides have been developed in partnership with educational and media professionals from ACER and ATOM, and include teaching suggestions, interactive classroom activities, curated clips, articles and vidoes, and prompts that encourage students to consider the wider context of the movie’s themes.
Is Explore Media a replacement for YouTube or ClickView?
Explore Media has been designed in partnership with educators and media specialists for educational use. It provides curated, ad-free video content in a stable environment with searchable and citable metadata. While both Explore Media and ClickView serve educational settings, Explore Media is a modern, streamlined alternative offering a unified hub for both media and text content, and a curated, teacher-led experience.
Key features Explore Media offers include:
- Curated video and text content: Video content is curated on Subject, Topic, Spotlight and Screen Guide pages, and sits alongside supporting text content.
- Metadata: Unlike ClickView’s user-led archival approach, all Informit content is indexed with professional metadata, making it easier to search and cite.
- Simplified user experience: Explore’s "Media Hub" provides a single, intuitive starting point for all video resources, removing the multiple pathway confusion often found in other platforms.
- Integrated learning tools: Explore Media focuses on targeted, classroom-ready teaching and learning tools that integrate text and media content, such as our interactive Screen Guides and upcoming Media Perspectives modules.
- Seamless student access: As an integrated add-on to Explore, Media is readily available via institutional login, removing the need for individual student accounts and reducing barrier-to-entry in the classroom.
Can students access Explore Media from home?
Yes. Off-site access is available via your institution’s login method.
Are all videos suitable for all age groups?
All video content displays an Australian classification rating, but we also recommend that teachers and librarians take the time to review suitability before classroom use. Each school sets classification limits for their students during the onboarding process. These limits prevent students from viewing certain content, but school staff can view all content, provided they are logged into their individual teacher or administrator account.
What are Explore Media Screen Guides?
Informit’s flagship collection of interactive Screen Guides are available only on Explore Media within the Media Hub. They are scaffolded, classroom ready companions for key screen texts and include teaching suggestions, interactive classroom activities, curated clips, articles and videos, and prompts that encourage students to consider the wider context of the movie’s themes. Some key titles from our first collection include:
- Rabbit-Proof Fence
- The Castle
- Ten Canoes
- He Named Me Malala
- Charlie’s Country
The guides were developed in partnership with educational and media professionals from the Australian Council for Education (ACER) and Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), and will be produced by Informit on an ongoing basis. All screen guides can be integrated into your school’s Learning Management system, with links to the full movie provided in the guide.
How do I share videos with my students?
Links to videos that fall within your school’s classification limits can be shared by students and staff and integrated into your school’s LMS.
Some videos are only available to staff who logged in with an individual teacher or administrator account.
Only staff can share links to videos beyond the classification limits set by your school by creating an access link or by embedding a link into a white-listed LMS. Staff can set time limits and limits on usage using access links. More detailed instructions are provided in the Explore Media user guide.
Staff can also clip any video on Informit to share with students. If the clips are for a restricted video, staff will need to create an access link or embed into a white-listed LMS for students to view the clip.
Can I embed restricted content in my LMS?
Yes, once your school’s LMS has been white-listed by Informit during onboarding, all video content, including restricted videos, can be embedded without extra permission.
What is the difference between Access Links, Standard Links, and Embed Links?
Links to videos that fall within the classification settings defined by your school can be shared by teachers and students via a Standard Link. This a direct URL link to the video player on Informit.
Access links are shareable links for clips or programs that fall outside your school’s classification limitations and can only be shared by school staff who are logged into Explore Media with an individual teacher or administrator account. Access links enable staff to share restricted videos or clips safely with a defined number of views and expiration period.
An embed link is a link that can be created to place videos or clips directly in your LMS for seamless classroom access. These links can also be used to display restricted content if your LMS is white-listed.
Can I create clips from videos?
Yes, with an individual log-in, you can create and save clips on your Informit account. Use the Clip feature to select a portion of a video, save it, and share it with students or colleagues. All your clips are stored in your account under “Created Clips”.
Can I download videos from Explore Media?
No, videos on Explore Media cannot be downloaded. All content can only be played through the platform. Teachers and students can access videos online at any time, and can share content safely via access links, standard links, and embed links.
Who do I contact for training or support?
Your school librarian is the first point of contact for support and training. You can also reach out to Informit Customer Success for guidance on LMS integration, white-listing, and other technical assistance.
How often is Explore Media updated?
Explore Media is updated weekly with new content, including news, current affairs, and other curated educational programs. Informit curates Spotlight, Subject, and Topic pages throughout the year, while the larger database itself is updated regularly with new programs.
Still need help? Please reach out to support.informit@rmit.edu.au