Serendipity35

Unless you have a newer VCR with a digital tuner, those video tapes can go on the shelf with the records, filmstrips and Betamax tapes

DVDs replaced video tapes years ago at the rental stores, but the statistic I find online is that 72% of U.S. households with a TV also have a VCR. Based on my years in schools, that has to mean there are even more in schools where tech is almost always a few years behind the real world. Only 24% of TV-owning households have the current way to record with a digital video recorder (DVR). DVD recorders have been around for a few years, but are fairly expensive. They offer a more "permanent" storage than a DVR, so they are appropriate for archiving. DVRs usually are tied into your pay TV system (you don't own the unit) and probably have a recurring fee. If you have valuable VHS tapes (your own baby's first steps or the high school's 1990 graduation ceremony), you can transfer your VHS tapes to DVD.

If you bought the last wave of VCR models, it will have a digital tuner. Without that, you can't tune in and record a digital TV signal from either an antenna broadcast or from a cable provider.

Any way around it? Use a cable set-top or broadcast converter box to translate digital signals into analog ones that the VCR can understand. (You won't be able to watch one program while another is recording, and the converter device won't allow particular channels to be recorded at specific times.) You could also have a second converter box hooked up to the TV instead of the VCR, or splitting the incoming video signal. Shades of 1980...

The takeaway for schools (and homes) is update your technology and your media products. It's also time to clean off that shelf with the Betamax tapes and filmstrips. Hang on to those records - I'm still rooting for a vinyl comeback! And recycle electronic trash properly.