msb-0085 Vodcasting for & by kids makes the news.

msb-0085 Vodcasting for & by kids makes the news.


"Fourth grade students in Mrs. Zerafa’s class have been communicating via email with “e-pals” from Willington, England. Ms. O’Brien, technology specialist, established this activity in November with the children writing letters to one another. The third and fourth graders from England then sent pictures of points of interest in their community.

Washington Irving’s fourth grade students took a walking tour of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow and photographed historic landmarks and places of interest. In the computer lab, the children researched and recorded the information to be “pod casted” to our friends across the pond. We hope they (and you) will enjoy our final product."

(from: http://blog.tufsdbuilds.org/ )

Well, its official; podcasting is moving into the mainstream.

First came the developers and early adopters; they were the "firsters", the guys, and gals, who were just playing with stuff because it was new, (had to be, they were making it,) and new is cool.

Next came technophiles; guys and girls who were seeing the bleeding edge of something empowering. People like Kim and Todd Maffin, (who ran the multiple sclerosis podcast but who haven't put out an new episode since July of this year so it seem they have podfaded, [hey, life is like that, you get busy with other things,]) and people like myself, who see something that can reach beyond the tickle that makes it through the traditional mechanisms of our concepts of media.

Now there's school kids who are using the tools as toys that help them rise to a whole new level of communicating through the net.

Pretty much, the entire thing depends right now on amateur effort (the term "amateur effort" is not a pejorative, its a term for people who really care about using this technology for everything and anything that it can do. They truly love it.)

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But there are the beginnings of a podcasting profession, of podcasting as a media job option.

I recently applied for just such a position for CBS/GE. Being a bleeding edge adopter, a technophile and understanding the future of the media business out there, I'd normally stand a chance.

I know that I'm not going to get it, but its out there.

Really, given a choice between someone who has MS and knows it and anybody else of unknown illness potential, who would you choose?

More to the point, what would you say to your shareholders when asked: "Couldn't you find somebody healthy?" The sad part is that they're really asking: "Couldn't you find somebody who you don't know is sick?".

At the same time, its an opportunity for advertisers of MS specific products to reach their constituency, us, the MSers who could use their products. (And I have a model of advertising so that they can reach us when we want to be reached instead of us being annoyed by ads.)

Under the current broadcasting, clock synchronized system, neither they nor we get a break. But the use of the internet means the end of the "tyranny by demography".

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As if you needed further proof, The New York Times this Saturday, November 26th, 2006, is running an article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26frenzy.html?ref=technology ) called "Media Frenzy: Seeking Executive to Tame the Digital Future"

I just checked my stats and I'm up over 4000 downloads. Hoo-friggin'-ray!

I have just sent an email offering my story and my podcasting services to the MS Expression website that the MS Center at New York University is starting up.

I get a feeling that things are beginning to look up. :-)

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I'm keeping it short today because I got some good news.

I have to go to MCNY and pick up my diploma. I'll have to make some photocopies and scans of my "sheepskin" and send them to everybody who supported me in my many little battles with the education system.