Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

RIAA to Tennessee Schools: Show Us the Money

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.

Related Resources

• 2008 UK Music Rights Survey
• The Highway Girl > Interview with Former Director of RIAA Legal
• Harvard Law Professor Challenges RIAA

Global Youth: Teens, Digital Music & Tube Converting

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?

Related Resources

• YPulse: Youth Marketing to Teens, Tweens & Gen Y
• For Gen Y, Music is Oxygen
• David Leibowitz on Music, RIAA & Copyright
• Jaffray Study: More Teens Downloading Music Legally
• Bush Signs Anti-Piracy Law

For Gen Y, Music is Oxygen

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.”

Related Content

• British Music Rights Survey (pdf)
• EU Commission’s “holistic approach” to music copyright
• Muxtape Shut Down by RIAA
• Mobile Music to Reach 9bn by 2009
• Gen Y: Digital, Social & Always-On
• Gen Y & Hollywood
• The Highway Girl

Animoto: Learning Made Musical (and Fun)

Animoto is 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.

Related Resources

• YouTube Group > AnimotoEDU
• Animoto: The Buzz
• Creative Commons > Audio
• Animoto Blog
• Education & Copyright

Gen Y Update: Video Games & Podcasting 101

• iPod in Education: This is a fantastic site run by David Baugh in the U.K. that provides teachers with all the information and support they need to integrate iPods into their curriculum. Tools like the iPod are the types of authentic learning activities that engage the Gen Y learner.

• Doll Web Sited Drive Girls to Stay Home and Play: This is an interesting piece in the NYT that delves into the burgeoning wave of interactive media aimed at younger kids. Girls, for the most part, have been left out of the video gaming boom. Some smart business are now looking to fill that void in the marketplace.

• Next-Gen Multiplayer Worlds: Speaking of video games, Wired Magazine reports that video game companies are trying to lure non-gamers into the virtual world of MMOs with a new breed of offerings.

• Podcasting in Ireland: This is a fantastic resource maintained by my pal and fellow blogger Bernie Goldbach over at the the Tipperary Institute in Ireland. This is a must listen for anyone trying to integrate social media into the classroom. Give Bernie's blog a read and find out what's new and exciting in the world of social media and education. Who knows? You might learn something new. I know I always do.

TurnHere: Short Films for Learning

Need some video microcontent for your social studies or history class? Then you need to check out TurnHere!

TurnHere is "an Internet video destination which chronicles different neighborhoods and places across the country with short (2-4 min) video tours of historical sites, cultural neighborhoods, history, and people." These films can be viewed on your computer, or even downloaded onto your iPod (video podcast!).

There are a wide variety of TurnHere films that can be used in an educational context in the classroom:

• How about including a short film on Miami's Little Havana in your discussion of Castro, the Cold War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• Or why not include this fantastic tour of Concord, the town where the Shot Heard 'round the World sparked the American Revolution?

• Take a virtual field trip and explore one of the multicultural neighborhoods in Mission District (San Francisco), Koreatown (Los Angeles), the Pilsen neighborhood (Chicago), the Shaw District (Washington D.C.), or the surfing haven of Oceanside, California.

• You can even travel to NY, NY and learn all about peanut butter (and even catch a glimpse of Elvis)!

Turn Here Video Links

• TurnHere
• Little Havana
• Historic Concord, MA
• Mission District
• Oceanside, CA

LibriVox

The objective of the LibriVox project is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet. LibriVox is a totally open source, free content, public domain project.

Volunteers record chapters of books, and then release the audio files back onto the net (podcast and catalog). These stories can be downloaded on to an iPod or other mp3 player, burned on to a CD, and easily integrated into the curriculum.

The catalog of books is constantly growing and includes audio books for both adults and children. The LibriVox catalog contains many classic children's stories, including: Alice in Wonderland, Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter, and Jack London's Call of the Wild.

LibriVox is a great way to combine kid's love of mobile technology with classic literature. But more importantly the LibriVox project provides teachers and students with a virtual library of literature they may not otherwise have access to at their own schools or communities.

Links

• LibriVox
• Open Content Alliance
• Flickr/photos/tags/LibriVox
• LibriVox Podcast+Yahoo! Podcasts

KidCast: A book, a podcast, and now a community!

Our friend Dan Schmit, author of KidCast: Learning and Teaching with Podcasting, recently announced an exciting new way for you to be involved in building the educational podcaster community--KidCast Forums!

KidCast Forums is a new online community where you can do anything from posting a link to a kid-friendly podcast, sharing podcast curriculum integration ideas, or learn how get started podcasting (with a little help from other teachers).

Dan (with a little help from his sidekick Jamal) continues to produce a quality podcast discussing the many educational benefits of introducing podcasting into the classroom.

Recently, Dan conducted a very interesting and insightful interview with Dr. Guy Trainin, one of his colleagues at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on the connections between education, literacy, and the use of social media (like podcasts) in the classroom.

So give KidCasts a listen! And if you don't have iTunes downloaded on your computer, you can listen to KidCast from the comfort of your browser (no software download required!) on Yahoo! Podcasts!

Great work Dan! And Jamal too....

KidCast Links

• KidCast Book
• KidCast Website
• KidCast Forums
• Dr. Trainin on KidCast

mLearning Toolbox: Spark Notes Mobile

SparkNotes and SparkNotes.com are a popular series of books and study guides which help students learn and practice basic skills, study for a test, and achieve their academic goals.

Now SparkNotes has gone mobile!

SparkNotes are now available for download on your iPod (both in text and audio format) or via SparkMobile, a SMS version for mobile phones.

But wait! There's more...

Students can subscribe to the SAT Word-A-Day service and have vocabulary words delivered directly to their mobile phone. And if that wasn't enough, SparkNotes has also created a search widget for your desktop!

So what are you waiting for? Grab your mobile phone, iPod, widget, or PSP and get Sparking!

Links

• SparkNotes
• SparkMobile
• SparkNotes+iPod
• SparkNote Widget via Yahoo!
• SparkLife Community

mLearning Toolbox: TivoToGo

Tivo recently announced that it will be rolling out a new program that allows customers to synchronize and download programs to some of the most popular portable devices on the market: the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and the video iPod.

The introduction of the TivoToGo mobile service will provide online and front line instructors with another platform on which they can distribute content and accommodate the increasingly mobile learning styles of today's students.

Links

• TivoToGo+Engadget
• debaird.net + iPod
• debaird.net +mLearning

Encyclopodia: Wikipedia Mobile

What is Encyclopodia? (en)

Encyclopodia is a free software project that brings the Wikipedia, which is one of the largest encyclopedias on the world, on the Apple iPod MP3-Player. It has been successfully tested on a third-generation iPod and on an iPod mini, but it should also work on other iPod generations.

Was ist Encyclopodia? (de)

Encyclopodia is ein freies Softwareprojekt, das die große Enzyklopädie Wikipedia auf Ihren iPod bringt. Encyclopodia wurde erfolgreich mit einem iPod der dritten Generation und einem iPod Mini getestet, sollte aber auch mit anderen iPod-Modellen Funktionieren.

This mobile version of Wikipedia holds real potential as a means to distribute educational content to students. Encyclopodia is yet another example of an innovative use of the iPod in a mlearning context.

Links

• Encyclopodia (de) (en) (it)
• Wikipedia (de) (en) (it)
• Wikipedia Credibility

iPod and Language Learning

iPods Helping Languages Click: "Moorestown Friends High School is using one of today's hottest media devices to help students acquire foreign language skills, providing students in 12 French and Spanish classes with iPods to use to practice speaking and improve pronunciation."

mLearning Toolbox: Video, PSP, & iPod

Google Video

Video content from Google Video Search can be downloaded in either an iPod or Sony PSP compatible file, making it even easier for instructors to aggregate video-based content for use on mobile devices.

In addition, Google Video provides users with the HTML code required to easily embed video into a course blog or website, which in turn may be viewed by students on a web-enabled mobile device.

CNET Insider Secrets

CNET Insider Secrets has put together an informative and easy-to-follow tutorial which will show you how to put video on your PSP. Actually, it's more of a hack tip using Videora Labs' PSP Video 9.0, available for download here.

Lifehacker: YouTube videos to iPod or PSP?

Lifehacker explains how to use a Greasemonkey script to save video from YouTube onto a portable device like the PSP or video iPod.

Apple Video iPod

Apple has put together a tutorial on creating video for iPod using QuickTime, easily converting video into a format that iPod understands.

Links

• Google Video
• CNET: Insider Secrets
• Lifehacker
• YouTube
• Apple+QuickTime

ProfCast: Publish Keynote or Powerpoint

ProfCast: "An ideal tool for recording and publishing your live Keynote or PowerPoint presentation.

All elements of your presentation, including slide timing and voice narration, are recorded. You can then publish your complete presentation on the web as a podcast, complete with RSS support."

Links

• ProfCast
• PowerPoint
• Keynote

Students, Teachers, and Podcasts

New York Times: Students and Teachers, From K to 12, Hit the Podcasts, Jeffrey Selingo

"Podcasting - posting an audio recording online that can be heard through a computer or downloaded to a mobile device like an iPod - is following blogs and online classes as yet another interactive technology catching on as a teaching tool.

Currently, iTunes lists more than 400 podcasts from kindergarten through 12th-grade classes, while Yahoo has nearly 900 education-related podcasts. Some are produced by teachers wanting to reach other educators with teaching tips, while many are created by students..."

Congrats to our friend, Dan Schmidt of Kidcast, who was quoted in the NYT article on educational podcasting. And as a friendly reminder, be sure to sign up for the Kidcast "Podcast in the Classroom" contest--you could win an iPod or other great prize!

Links

• Yahoo! Podcasts+Education
• KidCasts: Learning & Teaching with Podcasts
• Stanford University+Podcasts