I recently had a (way too brief) conversation with PodCamp NYC 2.0 co-organizer John C. Havens, VP of Business Development at Blog Talk Radio and fellow Advisory Board member of the Association of Downloadable Media. (He’s on the right in the photo, with Chris MacDonald.) John wanted to talk about this PodCamp’s wider appeal to students and educators, and about how the organizers are putting the spotlight on new media and podcasting in education:
“One comment I wanted to add to [our interview with co-organizer Whitney Hoffman] is how excited I am that this year’s focus is on educators/students. Teachers have always come to PodCamp, but we really tried to reach outside of the standard audience for PodCamps to connect with people influencing students to such a great degree.
“Also, educators are some of the most forward-thinking people in new media. I think that’s often overlooked. So, selfishly, I wanted to learn from people whose voices are outside of strictly tech circles to see case studies of what they’re doing, to implement tools effectively.
“Basically, I think it’s vital to get outside of our echo chambers, whatever and wherever they happen to be. Nothing wrong per se with those chambers, except that innovation dies in a vacuum.”
Havens is also author of an upcoming book on the role of communications in promoting business transparency, which comes out later this year. In the meantime, the interviews for the book are being published as a podcast.
New research from comScore confirms one of the more important new media trends - that young people are abandoning newspapers for Internet media.
As a result, newspaper readership is getting smaller and older.
“That current generations are growing up getting their news online for free is an indicator that print circulations are likely to continue their decline,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore.
Younger News Consumers Less Likely to Read Print Newspapers
Heavy print newspaper readers show a strong skew towards older age segments, while the non-newspaper reader segments skew younger.
Those age 65 and older are nearly 3 times more likely (index of 296) than average to read the print edition of newspapers 6 times per week.
Those age 18-24 are 38 percent more likely than average to not read a print newspaper at all during a typical week.
Gravitas is a unique video podcast that pairs original music compositions with computer graphic simulations of the universe in motion.
Here’s the podcast description:
GRAVITAS is a visual and musical celebration of the beauty in a dynamic universe driven by gravity. Animations from supercomputer simulations of forming galaxies, star clusters, galaxy clusters, and galaxy interactions are presented as moving portraits of cosmic evolution. Billions of years of complex gravitational choreography are presented in 9 animations - each one interpreted with an original musical composition inspired by the exquisite movements of gravity. The result is an emotive and spiritually uplifting synthesis of science and art.
Astrophysicist John Dubinski combines a knowledge of cosmology, galaxy dynamics and computer graphics to create breathtaking portraits of a universe in motion. Composer-pianist John Kameel Farah merges the soundworlds of renaissance and baroque counterpoint, free improvisation, Middle-Eastern music, minimalism, techno and electronica to create a musical feast that crosses time and dimension.
The podcast explores deep ideas, expressed entirely through visuals and musics.
You can subscribe to the podcast by adding this feed URL to your podcast client software:
6th graders talk about what podcasting is and how podcasting builds on English/Language Arts skills, taking students beyond the confines of the textbook.
The New York Times has an interesting profile of MIT’s Walter H. G. Lewin, 71, a physics professor that has a new generation of fans thanks to his video podcast.
Professor Lewin delivers his lectures with the panache of Julia Child bringing French cooking to amateurs and the zany theatricality of YouTube’s greatest hits. He is part of a new generation of academic stars who hold forth in cyberspace on their college Web sites, via video podcasts and on iTunes U.Professor Lewin’s videotaped physics lectures, free online on the OpenCourseWare of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have won him fans across the country and beyond who stuff his e-mail in-box with praise.
“Through your inspiring video lectures i have managed to see just how BEAUTIFUL Physics is, both astounding and simple,” a 17-year-old from India e-mailed recently.
Steve Boigon, 62, a florist from San Diego, wrote, “I walk with a new spring in my step and I look at life through physics-colored eyes.”
“I had never taken a course in physics, or calculus, or differential equations,” he wrote to Professor Lewin. “Now I have done all that in order to be able to follow your lectures.”
“I walk down the street analyzing the force of a boy on skateboard or the recoil of a carpenter using a nail gun,” he wrote. “Thank you with all my heart.”
Dayton, Ohio-based Wright State University is among the first schools to make available rooms dedicated to podcasting.
“We wanted to bring what’s up-to-date, fun and common for today’s students to the library here at Wright State,” says Sue Polanka, who is the head of references and instruction for the Dunbar Library. “Myself along with a few others came up with the idea so students can create digital files, make Power Point presentations or create videos using our server at the library.”
While Wright State is not the first university to adopt podcasting on campus, they are one of the first schools to have a facility dedicated to the creation and consumption of new media. “We are definitely setting a trend for university libraries,” said Polanka. “By having our own separate room dedicated just to podcasting, we are able to give the students a nice place to come and try out the new software.”
The room itself is now open to users on a first-come, first-served fashion. “We plan to hold an open house for the students in the coming weeks, so we can formally show the room off and explain just exactly what podcasting is to those students who are unfamiliar with it,” said Polanka. The room will be equipped with computers and the necessary plug-ins for a student to come and get started with their very own podcasts. “One of the things that sets us apart is the sound walls we have in place that will allow students to talk or even make music in the most quiet environment we can provide,” says Polanka.
The podcasting room gets its official grand opening in November.
UNICEF has published the first in a series of podcast discussions on education in emergencies and post-crisis transition countries, with the participation of leading figures from the academic, development, media and humanitarian communities. Entitled ‘Beyond School Books’, the podcast series highlights the important role of education in countries affected by conflicts or natural disasters or those in post-crisis transition.
Gene Sperling, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations, previously served as National Economic Advisor to US President Bill Clinton, comments in the first podcast, ‚ÄúNo one ever sees a ‚ÄòFrontline‚Äô or a CNN camera showing a child dying of lack of education ‚Äì you never see that moment ‚Äì but there is no question that children die from lack of education all the time,‚Äù added Mr. Sperling.”
The UNICEF podcast series emphasizes the underlying belief that education is an integral part of emergency relief efforts. In times of conflict or natural disasters, providing children with schooling provides not just education, but also can serve as a reliable outlet for essential health and nutrition services, as well as providing a sense of predictable routine in the midst of crisis, as well as teaching essential life skills.
‘Beyond School Books’ is hosted by Amy Costello, a former correspondent for Public Radio International and an Emmy Award nominee for her coverage of Sudan. It is being taped at the United Nations Radio studios in New York and is available for downloading on the UNICEF website.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflicts, and Gene Sperling, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, are the guests of the first podcast. Upcoming podcasts will feature The New York Times award-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof, youth activist and best-selling author Ishmael Beah, and others.
The University of California, Berkeley, announced today that it is making entire course lectures and special events available, free of charge, on YouTube.
UC Berkeley is the first university to make videos of full courses available through YouTube. Visitors to the site can view more than 300 hours of videotaped courses and events. Topics range from bioengineering, to peace and conflict studies, to “Physics for Future Presidents”.
“UC Berkeley on YouTube will provide a public window into university life - academics, events and athletics - which will build on our rich tradition of open educational content for the larger community,” said Christina Maslach, UC Berkeley’s vice provost for undergraduate education. (more…)
Some forty years after it first revolutionized children’s television programming, Sesame Workshop (the makers of public tv’s Sesame Street) has announced the launch of a video podcast series.
The short weekly episodes focus on a single “word on the street” (literally, a word chalked onto blacktop). The recent podcast about squid featured grown-ups and children talking about and dancing like squid, and included a newsroom feature about squid by NBC anchor Brian Williams.
‚ÄúIn previous research, Sesame Workshop has learned that parents are eager to have portable educational media content that they can use with their young children at any time and wherever they might be — helping to fill time on a car ride or while waiting in line at the grocery store while building children’s literacy skills at the same time,‚Äù said Glenda Revelle, vice president for research and creative development, digital media at Sesame Workshop, in a statement.
The only fault we found with the podcast was Elmo’s annoying manner of speech, but that’s just our personal taste. We miss the olden Sesame Street days with the original Gordon, our pal Grover, and Cookie Monster when he was still cookie-obsessed.
I recently had a (way too brief) conversation with PodCamp NYC 2.0 co-organizer John C. Havens, VP of Business Development at Blog Talk Radio and fellow Advisory Board member of the Association of Downloadable Media. (He’s on the right in the photo, with Chris MacDonald.) John wanted to talk about this PodCamp’s wider appeal to students and educators, and about how the organizers are putting the spotlight on new media and podcasting in education:
Dayton, Ohio-based 
UNICEF
Some forty years after it first revolutionized children’s television programming, 
The only fault we found with the podcast was Elmo’s annoying manner of speech, but that’s just our personal taste. We miss the olden Sesame 
