15 posts tagged “edutainment”
By Chris A. Heidelberg, III, Ph.D., Publisher & Producer
I was sitting around enjoying the holiday when I realized that because of convergence technology like my cell phone,
As I sat here for a moment after being busted by Facebook for unknowingly adding too many friends too fast. Hey, I am a popular guy with a huge family and friends and they ought to set a limit and make it transparent. Yet I digress!
My good friend Jack Yan in New Zealand and I may live worlds apart physically, but we are definitely of the same mind. Jack recently wrote a scathing post about the practices of large bank in New Zealand. After reading Jack's post on Facebook, I was instantly re-routed to Vox where we are also friends and wrote a comment.
Think about that, I sent a message across the globe to comment on an article by a person who has become a friend all through the global village of the Internet as McLuhan (1968) predicted. Yes, the medium is the message, but I also believe that people are increasingly becoming the message. Jack's stance against the bank, and my current problem with Facebook, illustrates the power of the web for one to voice one's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with goods and services. While I have an issue with Facebook's policy, I wish when you receive a warning that it told you what the limit is. This is what I like about Apple, they give you the limits for computers upfront so that you can make an informed decision. Microsoft has a similar policy, so does Google, and so does Amazon.
Where am I going with this argument? The point that I am making is that ordinary people, even those of us with PhDs, do not fully understand all the agreements that we have to sign in order to use online services. I am a Facebook fan and they are by far not the biggest offender when it comes to being transparent, listening to your customers, and communicating with customer in non-legal language. What bothers me is that the law is supposed to interpret against the drafter of an agreement when there is a dispute according to my old contracts teacher Professor Korzack. The rationale is that when you draft an agreement, you know exactly what you want, but the other side may not understand the totality of this want.
So I guess I will serve out my punishment like a good cyber bad boy, but I want you to consider how the magic of the Internet has enabled us to literally have a freedom that was totally unimagined, yet hoped for by the Founding Fathers as we celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The Internet has provided us with wonderful freedoms, but if we are not careful to insist that the companies that we do business with are held to a high standard of transparency.
If we do not make our voices heard through cyberspace, we risk becoming victims of the same type of tyranny that the Founding Fathers did anticipate that is why we have a Bill of Rights. Even though the Constitution has been diminished in recent years by both corporate and government interests, often acting in concert together, we still have the right to question authority en masse to protect our privacy, our sense of fairness and our basic sense of human dignity. Which is why the embedded videos on this post are all people questioning authority and the policies of big companies. Some of these videos are classic! This will become a regular feature on Edutainment & Convergence so send me links or your video protest here or on my Facebook page.
In final analysis, when you deal with online companies it is a lot like the large bug trying to talk its way into your home from the extermination company ad: you never know what you are letting into your life and how much pain they can you once you let them into your life. Remember, freedom is not free, and it is not for free or for wimps! So while I am serving digital timeout based on no due process, you just remember that freedom is not free. Enjoy your holiday and never give up the right to protest or peaceably assemble for the redress of grievances! Fight back! Unless you love Facebook like me! If you like this post make it viral and send it out!
Now that's edutainment!
By Chris A. Heidelberg III, Ph.D.
As Apple CEO Steve Jobs presented the new iPhone yesterday in San Francisco, I had a "eureka moment" where the impact of the iPhone has really impacted two of my favorite things higher education and entertainment. For the purposes of being contrarian I will deliberately start with the field of entertainment.
Despite the fact that there is a real fight between Apple and NBC, the iPhone and the iPod Touch have enabled television viewers to view NBC, MSNBC, and USA Networks programming for free. NBC willingly gave up $15 million dollars in iTunes revenues from Apple because they wanted variable pricing from Apple which insisted on the old $1.99 download model (Apple, 2008; NBC, 2008). Ironically, Apple has begun offering variable pricing to the movie industry now, so maybe the two companies should mend fences for the sake of consumers. For NBC, this is really a lose-lose proposition because NBC and Fox just started the HULU network online to distribute their television and cable shows online (Apple, 2008; Hulu, 2008; Fox, 2008; NBC, 2008; Newscorp, 2008).
The iPhone changed the debate in favor of Apple because even iPodTouch owners can view NBC content for free rather than downloading. NBC may have created more iPhone and iPodTouch owners who can view NBC content and save money during tough economic times. The fact that many young viewers of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann are becoming very politically active and are tech savvy has benefited the Obama Campaign which has relied heavily on podcasts, blogs, YouTube and the Internet to campaign and to raise record campaign donations from ordinary Americans. The fact that the new iPhone will operate on AT&T's 3G network which will make the device a fully functional convergence device with less problems than its predecessor which operated on the notoriously slow EDGE network.
The iPhone and competing devices will make it possible for new entertainment content that can air on iTunes,
Amazon, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and the Zune Marketplace. Smaller content creators now have outlets for their program offerings, and major networks can also air programming on the third screen first and wait for programs to get popular before airing them on USA, MSNBC or NBC. The iPhone and the iPod have been critical to transforming the political process and the entertainment business from a revenue generating and a pure entertainment perspective.
However, the iPhone and the iPodTouch has already impacted the biggest entertainment business of them all: higher education. If higher education can extend the best parts of its NCAA model to the academic side, it will create a business that will rival the major networks, publishers, and music content providers. Furthermore, this organization would also be a major online player too, since most of the people from the tech world have higher edudational roots.
Finally, the most important reason that higher education will change higher education is the delivery of content. Apple delivers more digital content than anyone in the world, and the company has created a future gold mine with its free podcasts which inevitably will be branded with ads from NCAA corporate sponsors on the academic side. The day will come when Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon will all benefit from residuals of ads placed strategically within podcasts. Apple's new iTunesU has been extremely successful in its first full year of operation.
Did you hear that sucking sound? That is the
sound of big media publishers screaming when colleges begin to create
their own digital publishing outlets that will enable professors to
teach and publish online simultaneously.
Administrators are going to
have problems with the whole tenure process since they love hiring
adjuncts on the cheap! The real question becomes this: what will they
do when the first academic rockstar professors are born! Even if they
win the intellectual property war, which is not a given, many
professors will simply jump ship and sign better deals with
universities because of the new crop of intellectual property
attorneys. Stay tuned because I hear a storm coming!
Now that's edutainment!
For the past five years I have been researching, writing about and speaking about edutainment and convergence. Somewhere around 2005, I began to find that edutainment and convergence is all about creating a learner-centered environment (Heidelberg, 2007, 2008; McCombs, 2003, 2005). I may sound like my colleagues Dr. Bill Spady (2001), Dr. Barbara McCombs (2003, 2005) and Dr. Reid Cornwell (2008) but they are absolutely correct in their assessments that the currrent educational system from K-20 is n ot learner-centered.
Why does the military utilize gaming? Because they are relevant to young people and they work! Video games are relevant to young people because the y are interactive, exploratory, competitive and fun. Young people are digital natives with a natural affinity for all things digital (Gee, 2004, 2005; Prensky, 2001, 2006). Video games create relationships between the players, the game and the knowledge embedded in the game (Gee, 2004, 2005, 2007; Prensky, 2001, 2006). Finally, video games are full of the rigor that increases as the learner advances through the game, and video games can be played online and updated for the gifted students (Gee, 2001, 2006; Prensky, 2001, 2006). Video games of every stripe have the ability to digitally access students (Wisher, 2000).
There are other convergence tools with edutainment capabilities that can also be utilized by learners. For example, i
By Chris A. Heidelberg, III, PhD.
If you have never been to the wonderful state of Colorado, you may not understand why many people who see the greater Denver - Breckenridge area call it God's country. Viewing the Rocky Mountains for the first time up close is simply a breathtaking and awe-inspiring sight! I also had the opportunity to travel to the Continental Divide in the snow for the first time and it made me think about edutainment and convergence.
While scheduled as a speaker at any event is an honor, I was simply happy just attending the conference as a member of the board of directors of The Center for Internet Research and the Focus On Education Foundation.
Since I am at Denver International Airport and preparing to leave for Baltimore, I cannot finish this post in my usual style. However, I would like to state for the record that Innovation 2008 was one of the finest gatherings of intellectual energy that I have ever been privileged to experience. The unique mix of academia, government and private industry in the fields of education and technology shed light on importance of technology in the field of education.
The critical message that Innovation 2008 was able to promote is the notion that educational reform is a micro-effort rather than a macro-effort that can be mandated by government. Individual professors, administrators, businessmen, government leaders and students will be crucial to the adoption of edutainment and convergence on a massive level. At the end of the day, educators, politicians and businessmen must stop blaming the students, and look in the mirror! If students are not learning it is a problem of the education system which has failed to massively update the current system to meet the needs of a digital economy.
If we are committed to really educating our students, we will need to learn about our students, their skill sets, their preferences, and their learning styles.
Educators need to commit to becoming great communicators if we are going to become great educators, and communicators need to be open to the concerns of educators. This conference further cemented my desire to continue the discourse in this area. Professors and teachers from K-20 will be compelled to utilize, learn and include technology, especially new media, as part of the curricula, the classroom and outside of the classroom experience for learners.
Gone are the days where the professor is the star and the sage of the classroom. The future of education requires that professors become the producers and directors of the learning experience, so that the students become the stars, sages and future directors. Often teaching a given topic or subject is an excellent way to learning a subject. Finally, the fact that the Pentagon and NASA have utilized simulation and gaming for approximately forty years for learning purposes should be taken seriously by higher education and integrated into the learning environment.
One of the best things that I heard from one of the speakers was that curricula should include rigor, relationship and relevance. Educators have to connect the dots with these three r's by placing relevance first when educating learners. Once relevance has been established learners can develop a relationship with the content that they are learning. Then and only then can learner emulate the video gaming model of increasing the rigor as the gamer, or in this case the learner, proceeds through the embedded learning within the game. If educators grasp this model we will all be able to exclaim three of my favorite words, "Now that's edutainment!"
Specific Findings
By Chris A. Heidelberg, III
The official report of findings for my dissertation has been released today. The study was a eleven month national qualitative study of eight entertainment professionals from New York City, Hollywood, and the San Antonio/Austin, Texas, area. The study was conducted entirely through the Internet and with new media on location throughout the country. It was open-sourced research, and all eight media professionals agreed to reveal their identities and they fully collaborated with me on this study and the electronic web sites that were created as a result of this research with the guidance and support of the participants.The research obtained was utilized in the design of this site and the official research site at http://edutainmentconvergenceresearch.vox.com is the official study site.
The participants found that edutainment and convergence can be utilized in higher education through a variety of sensory-based entertainment techniques such as the following: role playing, drama, music, art, dance, song, spoken word, poetry, rap, the Internet, iPods, iPhones, Blackberry’s, Treos, cell phones, blogs, websites, social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, online software; video sharing sites, podcasting, vlogging, and video games.
The literature supported this finding by participants (Apple, 2007; Blackboard, 2007; Bonk & Dennen, 2005; Bonk & Wisher, 2000; Farkas, 2006, 2007; Gates, 1995, 1998; Gee, 2003a, 2003b, 2004, 2005; Microsoft, 2007; Prensky, 2001, 2006; Tapscott & Williams, 2006; Vise & Malseed, 2005; YouTube, 2007). They were prone to use the word, socialization in many of their conversations: the meaning of this word was face-to-face interaction.
The research also has supported this finding, and several elite universities such as Duke University, MIT, Stanford, and Cal-Berkeley are now utilizing iTunesU, iPods, iPhones, Blackboard, blogs, websites, podcasting, cell phones, and YouTube to distribute classes and other educational content on-demand via streaming, downloading, surfing the web, or direct viewing (Apple, 2007; Blackboard, 2007; Bonk & Dennen, 2005; Bonk & Wisher, 2000; Duke University, 2007; Farkas, 2006, 2007; Gates, 1995, 1998; Gee, 2003a, 2003b, 2004, 2005; Microsoft, 2007; MIT, 2007; Prensky, 2001, 2006; Stanford, 2007; Tapscott & Williams, 2006; University of California at Berkeley, 2007; Vise & Malseed, 2005; YouTube, 2007).
The participants
focused many of their comments on the military, which has spent
billions of dollars in research dollars on video gaming and simulation
technology to transform military and civilian government agencies into
digital entities. They contended these technologies are effective
learning and training tools that have worked on the battlefield,
civilian agencies, and government and corporate classrooms.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin face an interesting next four to five years. As the United States is finally adopting high definition technology and true convergence with devices like the iPhone, mobile software like Android, social bookmarking sites like Digg, and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace becoming mainstream, Google faces it biggest challenge: becoming big like Microsoft without being perceived as evil as some regard Microsoft. This will be tough after the bitter fight with regulators when Google acquired one of its largest advertising rivals and Microsoft poured it on about Google being monopolistic and dangerous.
Now, as Microsoft is trying to acquire Yahoo, it is Google that is playing the role of spoiler to Microsoft's ambitions. Microsoft has acquired exclusive advertising deals with Facebook and Digg which are two of the major players on the social media front and look to be the next Google. Microsoft was pro-active and invested heavily in Facebook, and that is what earned Microsoft equity in Facebook with the opportunity to buy more. Moreover, it kept Google out of the picture for the foreseeable future by obtaining ownership. Microsoft did not get equity with Digg, but in effect it did by creating an exclusive advertising with Digg which I believe is a real long term competitor for Google.
Google understands this fact which is why it immediately developed its own version of Digg. Google is fighting desperately to keep Yahoo free from Microsoft without appearing too much like the monopoly that Microsoft has described it as being with its complaints to regulators. Frankly, Google needs a cutting edge social network in this country. Orkut which Google owns is huge in Brazil and India, but not in the United States. Orkut needs a major upgrade to compete here in the states, but I believe that Google should do it. I also believe that Google should consider a joint project with Apple and Yahoo to create their own social network. This could Yahoo the needed advertising revenues and Apple the social network that it needs to promote its product and services to its extremely vocal fan base so that it can head Amazon off at the pass.
If Google really puts money and creativity into Orkut while simultaneously working a social networking alliance with Apple and Google would actually help to promote Orkut which could be a default site in its Android mobile operating system.Google has to do something, but it will have to use partners to do it if it does not want to become evil. It has two partners in Apple and Yahoo who face considerable threats from Amazon and Microsoft. Even though Apple and Microsoft are big partners, there is real tension in that relationship as Apple gets bigger, and has the ultimate chip of licensing its operating system in an open environment. Microsoft is also providing the software to Amazon which is now doing quite well with its own media store, Amazon Unboxed, and its Kindle reader and multi-media player.
Apple also knows that it needs a promotional vehicle to help it sell its AppleTv because unlike the iPhone, Macbook computers or the iPods that sell themselves with advertisements; AppleTv is a product that is unique and requires a longer look from average buyers who can benefit tremendously from this project. The solution to this problem seems quite simple to me: Apple and Google should form a strategic alliance with Yahoo, buy equity in Yahoo, form a separate social networking firm with Yahoo where Yahoo can lead as long as Google gets the advertising and shares it with Yahoo; Yahoo creates the social network that links directly to iTunes and a new Apple Digital Store that directly takes on Amazon; and Yahoo can really push its news, flickr, email and television service which is a natural fit for iTunes for downloads with ads or without and for live streaming with advertisements.
The networks are greedy, are jealous of Apple and Google, and will be compelled to release their shows. Why? Well, the writer strike just ended and they need the money; the writers need money and have finally realized that they can control their content and get paid through online distribution on YahooTv, iTunes, YouTube and GoogleTv. AOL is a juicy purchase waiting to happen, and if Google can engineer a joint deal with Apple and Yahoo to save Yahoo, it can easily put together a favorable deal with Time Warner to jointly purchase AOL as long as there is an agreement in place to provide this alliance Time Warner content at favorable rates.
Google becomes the white night by saving Yahoo; Google creates a social network that it desperately needs for its ad service and search; Apple gets a badly needed social network for its loyal fan base and a promotional vehicle for its AppleTV which can record and download the content through iTunes on the Yahoo site; and finally Yahoo keeps its independence, makes plenty of guaranteed money, and can focus on its creativity and promote its news, flickr, email and other services. At the end of the day, Google may get richer but so does all of its partners and new partners that they will bring in to make this thing work. So can these visionaries succeed and innovate without being