A curious title you might think. Well, these are curious times, as it would appear that life-sized posters, DVDs, pamphlets and YouTube videos are not getting the message across to young people. It also appears that not everything we are telling young people about how to behave on the internet is connecting with them. Why is this do you think? Might it have something to do with listening to older people? Is culture getting in the way of keeping our young people safe on the internet?
According to research published in 2012, parents worry the most about their children being groomed on the internet. Actually, this is the least likely thing to happen to them of all the present dangers that our young people are exposed to on the internet. But that doesn’t stop adults worrying about the risk. Whilst the risk is relatively low, the potential consequences are serious enough to be life-changing. There is risk in everything we do, and there is an inbuilt desire to protect our young. But are we really protecting our young as well as we can?
The term 'podcasting' was added to The New American Oxford Dictionary in 2005, just a few days before the incredibly popular Ricky Gervais podcasts hit the BBC. In the space of just a few years, Podcasting has changed the world. Stand by for the next big thing as Radio 2.0 arrives. It’s also being referred to as live podcasting - the broadcasting of a live audio stream - and often the content is live, too, but it doesn’t have to be. Radio 2.0 is also what you would call Internet radio and it's being enjoyed by more and more people every day. There are plenty of opportunities for educators, too, as Radio 2.0 is easy, cheap and doesn’t require complicated licences. And by cheap I also mean FREE.
A successful and innovative broadcasting company are celebrating after launching a completely unique broadcasting system to the UK school market.
The Broadcaster Desktop, a self‐contained professional digital radio station, is set to revolutionise the way schools are able to teach literacy, numeracy and communication skills by allowing pupils to be able to operate and present their very own Internet radio shows from right in the classroom.
The product includes all the hardware and software to set up a professional broadcast, gives pupils the tools they need to get on air and has been designed specifically to meet the demands of young people’s learning needs, based on today’s fast‐paced and cutting‐edge technology.
These are indeed interesting times; the world has changed and shows no sign of turning back. The opportunities for our young people have also changed, to be successful in the 21st Century you need to be good in groups, be creative, solve problems and think quickly on your feet. Working well in groups is hard to measure and we don’t yet assess thinking on your feet as part of a GCSE award!
Nine years ago I embarked on a research project to find and identify some new, quick and easy wins for creative and collaborative uses of ICT for learners and educators. I looked at many technologies and could already see a gap developing between speaking and listening and writing skills. Learners were also showing signs of increased levels of boredom and reluctant and disengaged learners were being recognised. I knew whatever I was looking for had to be live, relevant and exciting, an element of risk was vital too and it had to demonstrate an immediate impact. I ran a series of workshops with young people exploring animation, photography, music composition, dance mat competitions and games based learning activities using Wiis and propriety group based games devices. None of these hit all of my objectives but were astonishingly fun and very engaging. In 2008 I had already started making podcasts for my teaching audiences to listen to advice and guidance about new technology. I thought that something along these lines would be good to do with young people but it had to be live and as you know podcasts are anything but live. Doing a live podcast on the Internet as a Radio Show with some children seemed like the right thing to try next. I tried lots of different equipment looking for the perfect solution, configured it myself to broadcast live on the internet, got a Shoutcast streaming account and started experimenting with different ideas. This had to be something schools could afford, have their pupils and students organise themselves and have the wow factor (now called the “X” Factor!).
A successful and innovative broadcasting company from South Northamptonshire are celebrating after launching a completely unique broadcasting system to the UK school market.
The Broadcaster Desktop, a self-contained professional digital radio station, is set to revolutionise the way schools are able to teach literacy, numeracy and communication skills by allowing pupils to be able to operate and present their very own Internet radio shows from right in the classroom.
The product includes all the hardware and software to set up a professional broadcast, gives pupils the tools they need to get on air and has been designed specifically to meet the demands of young people’s learning needs, based on today’s fast-paced and cutting-edge technology.
