The 2009 National Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup, organized by Ypulse.com founder Anastasia Goodstein and Modern Media, is where today's top
brand, corporate and social marketers, media professionals, educators
and non-profit organizations gather to share best practices, research
and latest strategies on marketing to youth with technology.
This is a fantastic event and a great opportunity to learn more about the youth marketing space as well as connect with other youth marketing professionals. The 2009 Mashup will feature a keynote address by Don Tapscott, author of Growing Up Digital. In addition, Guy Kawasaki will moderate the Totally Wired Youth Entrepreneur panel.
I've attended several Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup events and I can honestly say it's one of the best conferences out there. Many times going to a conference is a good excuse to get out of the office and hang out in the halls.
The YPulse Mashup is NOT that conference. You will leave the Ypulse Mashup with a lot of new information, insight and contacts. So, don't wait--register now and be sure to use the discount code "Baird" to get 10% off the registration fee!
Wired Magazine is reporting that the State of Tennessee, despite huge budget shortfalls in their public university system, will spend over 9 million dollars of public money to help the RIAA fight music piracy.
"Combating music piracy at Tennessee's public university system is
more important than hiring teachers and keeping down tuition costs. Just-signed legislation requires the 222,000-student system to spend an estimated $9.5 million
(.pdf) for file sharing "monitoring software," "monitoring hardware"
and an additional "recurring cost of $1,575,000 for 21 staff positions
and benefits (@75,000 each) to monitor network traffic" of its students...
The law, similar versions of which the Recording Industry Association
of America wants throughout the United States, comes as the Tennessee
public university system is increasing tuition, laying off teachers and leaving unfilled vacant instructor positions to battle a $43.7 million shortfall."
Earlier this year a UK survey conducted at the University Of Hertfordshire that looked at the music consumption behavior of young people (aged 14-24) found that 63% of students admitted that they download music using P2P file-sharing networks. However, the study also found that:
The CD is not dead. Even if a legal file-sharing service existed, over 60% say they would continue to buy CDs;
80% of current P2P users would be interested in a legal file-sharing service - and they would pay for it too;
Money spent on live music exceeds that spent on recorded music.
What I find most appalling about this story is that the State of Tennessee is using public money that should be used for faculty, scholarships and other education related expenses to support the bottom line of the music industry. According to Wired Magazine "Using conservative estimates, the piracy measure is equal to the price of about 100 Tennessee professors' wages and benefits."
If the RIAA wants to go after students who download music, they should pay for it--not the people of Tennessee. The RIAA has been suing students for almost 10 years and by and large the strategy has not worked.
The Internet is not going away. It's time for the music industry and RIAA to figure out a way to work with consumers, especially college students, instead of against them.
Interesting tidbit over on today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board from Caroline Marques, a high school student in Geneva, Switzerland, about how many teens are finding a new way to download free music.
"Teens downloading music online is still alive and well thanks to this
technique: tube converting. This time it’s not through Limewire, but
through something closer to home: YouTube or any online video site.
Since YouTube is where most teens watch music videos, it makes sense.
Sites like http://file2hd.com, www.vconversion.com and www.vixy.net
are programs where you just type a URL and save the song. With a small
chance of getting viruses, and the enormous choice of songs, many teens
feel this method is easier and safer."
I wonder how Google/YouTube, the RIAA and the music industry will respond to this new trend? Lawsuits? Scare tactics? Some new fangled blocking software?
This weeks webisode of The Highway Girl features an interview with David Leibowitz, former chief legal council for the RIAA.
In this interview, Mr. Leibowitz talks to host Samantha Murphy about copyright, DRM, the RIAA, music and entertainment in the digital age.
In the pre-roll, Samantha Murphy announced that The Highway Girl has launched a contest to win a Motorola Z9 phone. This is a pretty slick phone with lots of cool features for music lovers. To enter the contest, you just sign-up for the weekly The Highway Girl newsletter.
I am pleased to announce that the book chapter that I co-authored with Dr. Mercedes Fisher, "Pedagogical Mashup: Gen Y, Social Media, and Digital Learning Styles," has officially been accepted for publication in the Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level: Issues and Challenges, to be published by IGI Global
later this year.
Dr. Fisher and I wish to thank the co-editor of the book, Professor Subramaniam at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, for his hard work and direction during the writing and peer-review process.
In addition, we appreciate all the members of the peer-review committee for their feedback, suggestions and collaboration on this chapter. It's been a wonderful experience to work with members of the international education technology/media community.
Online writing tools like Google Docs, Adobe Buzzword & Zoho are amazing free tools that are used by many educators. But who owns your online documents? Are there any laws or issues that you need to be aware of before using these tools in your classroom?
According to a post on the Open Sky Media Blog, "while your personal computer may not care about your tastes in fiction,
the web service you choose to write and/or host your documents just
might."
For example, did you know that the Google Docs TOS state that "“you give Google a worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license
to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform,
publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or
display on or through the Service." Moreover, Google Docs further stipulate that "students must be 13 or over to use Google Docs."
Why?
Because Google, like every other corporation that is providing an online service to students, must comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law outlines how and what types of personal information may be collected and when and how to seek verifiable consent (written permission) from a parent or guardian. The law, despite it's quirks, is designed to protect the privacy of minors.
To be clear, Google is doing exactly what they are required by law to do. As tween site Imbee found out, failure to comply with COPPA can cost a company millions of dollars in legal bills and fines. If you do decide to use Google Docs in your classroom, be sure to
obtain written permission from your students parent or guardian.
Failure to do so could put your school and career in jeopardy.
To be clear, I'm not trying to knock Google Docs. It's a great product. My intent is to make sure that educators are aware of the issues. It's important that you, as the
teacher, know all the associated issues and legal requirements
associated with using this tool before using it in your classroom.
In this interview Dave Stewart, one of the creative forces behind the The Eurythmics, talks about how web-based technology has allowed him to unleash his creativity, collaborate with colleagues around the world and how this technology is going to level the playing field in the music industry. Related Resources
Raised in the "always on" world of the Internet, on-demand content and social media technologies, Generation Y has different expectations and media consumption behaviors than previous generations. This is trend is especially evident when it comes to music. Driven by iTunes and the iPod, Gen Y has a voracious appetite for digital music, ring tones and all things mobile.
How big is mobile music? A study from Jupiter Research found that "worldwide, mobile music generated 4.4 billion dollars in 2005 and is expected to generate 9 billion by 2009...Mobile music now accounts for 15% of the entire music market--and youth leads the way (Juniper Research: Mobile Music: Ringtones, Ring-backs & Full-tracks (second edition & third edition)."
But what are the music consumption habits of Gen Y? What do they think about music piracy, digital music and other issues related to music? These were just some of the questions that a new survey conducted by British Music Rights sought to answer. When it comes to music: What does the MySpace generation want?
The survey, which looked at the music consumption behavior and experience of young people (aged 14-24), was conducted in February and March of 2008 by the University Of Hertfordshire. The study represents the largest U.K. academic survey of its kind.
Among the findings:
Around 90% of respondents now own an MP3 player. They contain an average of 1770 tracks - half of which have not been paid for;
14- to 24-year-olds love music - arguably more than any previous generation;
58% have copied music from a friend’s hard drive to their own, and 95% copy music in some way;
63% download music using P2P file-sharing networks;
The CD is not dead. Even if a legal file-sharing service existed, over 60% say they would continue to buy CDs;
42% have allowed P2P users to upload music from their computer. Much of this behavior is viewed as altruistic;
80% of current P2P users would be interested in a legal file-sharing service - and they would pay for it too;
Money spent on live music exceeds that spent on recorded music.
So what does this all mean for the music industry? Perhaps Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of British Music Rights, sums it up best:
“The
music industry should draw great optimism from this groundbreaking
survey. First and foremost, it is quite clear that this young and
tech-savvy demographic is as crazy about and engaged with music as any
previous generation.
Contrary to popular belief, they are also prepared
to pay for it, too. But only if offered the services they want. That
message comes through loud and clear.”
I'm pleased to welcome Samantha Murphy, founder of The Highway Girl, as the first guest post here on Barking Robot. If you have an idea for a guest post, send me an email.
My show, The Highway Girl, is a traveling music show that's been running for over three years. Past guests have included Cary Brothers, Elvis Perkins, Inara George of Bird & the Bee, Mike Schmid, Teitur and Harvey
Danger.
The Highway Girl has over a million subscribers. The show explores the convergence of music and technology, as well as the life of the artist. Samples of the show may be found on TheHighwayGirl.com artist page.
Students, Digital Downloads & Copyright
In the digital age, we're both hopeful and uncertain about how we will transform the music industry. How can we evolve as artists and become more open with what we create? I believe we can do that as we begin to trust that it's you, the people, who will support us not the industry.
It is the people, like your students, who buy our albums (and downloads) that keep us going. It is you, the person who has taken the time to find this great music, who matters most. You are the one who will keep great music alive by deciding who you will support. You have an opportunity to use your voice when you find music you love enough to pay for it.
As an artist who has spent a lot of time speaking at universities and conferences, it's clear to me that students need to be informed on the critical issues facing artists in today's ever changing climate. They also need a trusted source where they can discover great artists and music they will gladly support.
I believe that students want to support the artists and music they love. In the digital age, how do students find those artists when there are no trusted filters in place yet? The logical answer is to sample an artist's
music before you dive in. The Highway Girl not only welcomes, but encourages students to sample the music of the artists we feature, while supporting their work in a variety of other ways.
The Highway Girl: 2009 College Tour
In an effort to help educate students, The Highway Girl is organizing a special college tour this spring and would love to include your college or university on our tour. We envision scheduling a 60-90 minute session for music, media and technology students.
The sessions will encompass a one on one artist interview between myself and a local singer songwriter, a short acoustic performance followed by a Q & A on digital music and copyright with the students. We're aiming to have an audience of 150-200 students in university auditoriums.
The Highway Girl Tour is supported by organizations like Digital Freedom, Creative Commons and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. To include your university on our itinerary, send us an email at sm (at) thehighwaygirl (dot) com and we will gladly respond with further information.
Animotois a slick new web app that takes your
pictures, mashes it with audio, and creates a music video that can be exported to
YouTube or embedded in a variety of social networks or blog.
Here's a Animoto short video I created using moblog pictures I took on a recent trip to San Francisco. I uploaded my pictures from Flickr, picked a slick track by The Dimes, and Animoto did the rest!
There are lots of ways you can use Animoto in the classroom. Animoto is a natural fit for project based learning activities. This is a great way to get students actively interested in history, literature or even science.
And unlike the open web, Animoto provides teachers and students with a controlled environment for them to create and share video. Other sharing options include email to a friend, downloads (for Pro accounts) and some sort of iTunes integration.
Creating a music video with Animoto is also a great way to open the conversation about copyright and Creative Commons. One of the barriers for educators using this type of technology is fear about using music and all the copyright issues that pop up when using an audio track in a video project.
Animoto has done the education community a great service by providing a wide variety of music that can be used by students and teachers. Creative Commons also has a wide selection of music that can be used in an Animoto movie.
You can import your images from all the major photo sites, including Flickr, Facebook, Picassa Web Albums, and Photobucket. Film shorts are free, and full-length videos are $3 bucks. All in all, Animoto sports some really amazing technology.
I have no doubt that the education community is going to create some really amazing projects using Animoto. And towards that end, I've created a public YouTube group, AnimotoEDU, where you can share your classroom project with other educators.
Yale University has joined the OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement and is now offering free courses through Open Yale Courses that anyone in the world is free to participate.
Seven departments (astronomy, English, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology and religious studies) at Yale are among the first at the university to offer classes via the Open Yale Courses program.
The Open Yale site describes the program as follows:
"Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to seven
introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at
Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to
educational materials for all who wish to learn.
Open Yale Courses reflects the values of a liberal arts education.
Yale's philosophy of teaching and learning begins with the aim of
training a broadly based, highly disciplined intellect without
specifying in advance how that intellect will be used.
This approach goes beyond the acquisition of facts and concepts to
cultivate skills and habits of rigorous, independent thought: the
ability to analyze, to ask the next question, and to begin the search
for an answer.
We hope these courses will be a resource for critical thinking,
creative imagination, and intellectual exploration."
Last week Creative Commons announced that LearnHub, the online social network for educators, is integrating CC Licensing into their platform. This is a win-win for both educators and students.
This a huge step in the right direction and I hope that other education 2.0 sites will also integrate Creative Commons into their products as well.
Congrats to John Green at LearnHub and the Creative Commons team on this new partnership.
Microsoft has released the results of a study it conducted regarding teens, illegal downloads and copyright. Among the findings:
- American teenagers between 7th and 10th grades are less likely to
illegally download content from the Internet when they know the laws for
downloading and sharing content online;
- 49% of respondents said they are not familiar with the rules and
guidelines for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software from
the Internet;
- 11% said they understood the rules of copyright and illegal downloading of content "very
well";
- 76% of boys and 68% of girls said that they would
not continue after being told the rules to download or share content over the
Internet without paying for it.
In conjunction with the findings of the survey, Microsoft Education has developed model curriculum and resources for educators to help them educate students on the issues around copyright, digital literacy and illegal downloading of content.
In addition they have created, MyBytes, a site where t/weens can learn more about copyright and "develop their own intellectual property and assign usage rights by
mixing music online to create a custom riff that they can download as a ring tone."
I think it would also be interesting to survey teachers and see how well they understand "educational fair use" and other issues around copyright. My guess is that they are as confused about what digital content they are allowed to use as the rest of us.
Thankfully, organizations like Creative Commons are taking the lead on the copyright issue, providing a set of alternative licenses to traditional copyright while the lawyers and publishing/recording/movie industry figure it out for themselves.
The article, written by Amy Standen, features interviews with Tim Lauer, Flickr Community Manager Heather Champ and several other educators on how they use Flickr in their classroom.
At the end of the article, Amy lists several education oriented groups created in Flickr. These groups (and there are quite a few!) are an excellent way to find out how your colleagues are using Flickr in their classrooms. So read the article, check out and join a Flickr education group today!
Also worth noting:
Flickr has over a million photos with a Creative Commons license that you are free to use in classroom projects.
You can create a private Flickr group where you control both membership as well as the content in the group. This is a great way to create a "micro-Flickr" for your school and/or classroom.
There are a TON of Flickr hacks (like Spell with Flickr) created by and for members of the Flickr community that you can use to make some fun and creative art projects. Huge Big Labs (aka FD's Flickr Toys) has an excellent (and free!) collection of Flickr projects. Thanks FD!
One of my favorite Flickr projects ever is the Flat Bobby Project. You can read more about her project by clicking here. This was a great example of what Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake calls the "culture of generosity" that flows freely through the Flickr community.
