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Audio from our July 13 Brainstorm
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Jeff and Doug are joined by Drew for a discussion about audio. We talk about the importance of starting with good quality audio, and what can be done in "post-production" to make audio sound better.

I had some "Skype issues" that meant the loss of the some of the discussion and I'm especially looking forward to having Art and Cathy back for a brainstorm about "best practices" for teaching keyboarding skills to K-6 students.

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Here's a link to another Google Calendar, this time for Webcastacademy. To move events between calendars, you can use the "Copy to my Calendar" feature for individual events in the calendar. Click on "Copy to my Calendar" and then select the calendar you'd like (in this case, the one for Webcastacademy.net) to make a copy of the event. The question has also arisen about the pop-up window that asks if you'd like to "add this calendar" each time the Google Calendar button is clicked. I've been clicking on yes in this instance, and it appears to go directly to the calendar without over writing it. You should all have read/write/modify access to the calendar -- please advise if you have difficulties with access.

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Laura Chapin has been kind enough to agree to come and give us some tips on interviewing. She's cool... and knows the field. Come on out, ask your Questions!
8pm EDT. Midnight GMT.
Download mp3 (26.1MB, 57:00)

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Haven't heard from anyone regarding "issues" with the Worldbridges.net calendar, and I'm hoping it's a case of no news == good news ;-)

The calendar's time is set to Eastern (North America), although I think some of the entries are still showing in Pacific (North America) time.

Please advise of any troubles you have by posting here, and please do add or edit an entry to the calendar. I'd like to have some posts from different time zones to see how the calendar reacts. This will help to assess the viability of the calendar for our purposes here.

I'm sure that most of you know about the Electronic Village Online (EVO) that is organised before the TESOL annual conference every year (end of January-February), and which allows anyone who is interested (mainly, but not only English teachers) to participate in a 6-week online professional development session.

Last year, the 2006 EVO sessions offered a wide variety of online collaborative sessions, and there was a lot of interest in Podcasting (the Yahoo group set up for the event still has over 250 members), and I'm sure that this kind of event would be a great way of opening up the Webcast Academy to a wider audience (participants are usually from all parts of the world), and also of creating more webcasters for the World Bridges community.

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Hi everybody. Sorry I missed last evening's Academy meeting, I look forward to catching-up on the audio. Here's a link to a subscribe button for the Google calendar I've been working on for our webcasts. (Even though it is named "Worldbridges.net" it is the calendar for the Webcastastacademy, and all interns should have edit/write access to the calendar). The calendar is now, by default, set to Eastern time. Please take a moment to add an event to the calendar to ensure that you're able to edit the calendar. Post a comment to this post to advise of any difficulties you experience.

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Audio from our July 3 Meeting
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Discussion about graduation requirements for the Class of 1.1, procedures and curriculum for Class of 1.2, and a variety of other items on the Worldbridges To Do list.

Next Meeting - Tuesday, July 11 5pmPDT/8pmEDT/midnight GMT

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Thanks to all those who sent in applications to become part of the Class of 1.2.  We are delighted to announce that all those who applied have been accepted.  We will be sending out  'Admission Notifications' shortly. Thanks again and we look forward to beginning the webcasting fun soon.

Applications for the Class of 1.2 are due by July 16,  internships begin July 23, and all assignments are due by September 30, 2006.  Details of requirements are below.

If you are interested in participating as an intern, please complete the 'personal' and  'Webcast Apprentice' portions of your profile and use the Contact Form to send us a short note confirming your interest.  Interns should plan on spending at least 2~3 hours/week working on Academy related tasks and participating in a collaborative learning community.

Webcast Academy Admission Policies, Program Requirements, and Certifications

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Hello Fellow Interns,

  This is still a first draft and none of this is etched in concrete.  Thought I'd go ahead and publish it though to start getting everyone's feedback. 
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?

Thanks,
Jeff

Class of 1.1 'Graduation' Requirements.

In order to complete the 'Basic Program' at The Webcast Academy, interns will need to

• produce 3 live interactive webcasts and publish them to their Webcast Academy blog
• successfully participate in a Finals Week Webcast Relay
• complete a 'Webcaster's Report' detailing the methods used, obstacles faced, and solutions found.

Webcast Production includes

a) successfully streaming the audio (without any coaching or assistance),
b) hosting or co-hosting at least a 30 minute show, and
c) recording all of the show's audio and editing it to a 'listenable' quality

Publication includes

a) posting show notes that include links to sites mentioned, an overview of topics discussed, and chat logs (graphics are not required, but encouraged in moderation)
b) including a download link and flash player listening option for the audio

The Finals Week Relays take place during the final week of the academy term (July 24~31).  At least 3 interns must participate and take turns 'grabbing the stream' at least 3 times from each other.  This is intended to measure the interns ability to handle high pressure, last minute, and/or unexpected webcasting situations.

The 'Webcaster's Report' is designed to help the the Academy build a database of information about the hardware, software, and troubleshooting involved in webcasting. Each intern will provide detailed information of their 'rig', methods, and obstacles encountered.

The deadline for all requirements is July 31, 2006.   Upon review and approval by the 'Mentor Council', interns will receive a Webcast Academy Certificate of Webcasting Proficiency. As long their webcasting focus and approach are compatible with Worldbridges Values & Goals and they have completed a Worldbridges Webcasting Application, graduating interns will also receive a 'Worldbridges Webcasting License'.  This license is a pre-requisite for becoming a webcast producer on any of Worldbridges channels or sites.

 Upon completion of the Basic Program, interns are asked to server on the 'Council of Mentors' for at least one future Academy session (not necessarily the one immediately following theirs). They are also eligible to receive advanced certification from The Webcast Academy (details of which will be ironed out during future Academy meetings).

Applications for The Webcast Academy Class of 1.2 are due by July 16, 2006.  The Opening Ceremony will be held July 23, 2006 in conjunction with The Class of 1.1.'s Finals Week Assembly.

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Here's an attempt at web-publishing of a Google calendar. All times GMT.

Just wanted to let folks know about the live stream and chat room from Gnomedex today and tomorrow.
Links from http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/06/30/streaming-media-links-2/

• Audio is streaming live (Sponsored by GoDaddy)
• They have an IRC chat room online
• Video will be live only for the Senator’s keynote (through the official streaming page, and if you have any problems with it, please ask for help in the chat room).

  Schedule Below(times in PDT)

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Webcast Academy

Show Notes for Webcast Academy 66

Tech Talk

• Pre Show Sound Check -- noise, audio levels, microphone selection and troubleshooting, final "rehearsal" to check hardware and software details, recording and encoding (how to set it up)
• Post Show Blog Entry -- mp3 and flashplayers, audio editing (amplify, compression, noise removal), ID3 Tags, enhanced podcasts, directions in Book of Webcasting for blog entry

Admin

• Graduation of 1.1 Interns -- July 31st graduation (3 posts and notes), grad certificates and use of airtime, continuing ed, ftp access
• Calender -- feed rss into Chat Room, webcasters responsible for providing rss feed
• One sign for all Worldbridges websites
• Database and tags as both archives and collection of resources
• Newsletters -- needs to be active

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WebcastAcademy66

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This conversation took place on Wednesday the 21st of June. Our guest was Paul Fuller, the teacher inspiring his students to produce the Podkids Australia podcast. Paul provided us with great insight about his philosophy towards the integration of technology, the various issues to be addresssed in setting up this type of project and the educational benefits he has seen his students gain from podcasting. Kelly Anderson was a great co-host, sharing her own recent experiences with technology in the classroom and her wider experience as an English teacher. A podcast of the post-show will be available in the next few days.

Download mp3 (15.6MB, 1hr, 8min)

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Raw Audio from our June 26 Meeting
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Stay tuned for Lee's edited audio distilled show notes.

Meeting Agenda

Tech Stuff

• Pre-show sound checking
• Audio Editing (noise removal, amplification, compression)
  amplification & compression screencast
  noise removal screencast
  
• ID3 Tags
  ID3 Tags Screencast
  

Administrative Stuff 

• Naming Conventions - 1.1 vs. 1.2 (class groups, level of study, or both)
  
• Finalizing details for graduduation, certificate of proficiency/Worldbridges Webcasting License (dates, requirements, next steps)
  
• Next class of interns - timeframe, availability of mentorss, groups?
  
• Reference material creation & organization
  

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 Download mp3 ( 23:25 10.7MB)
In the last part of Sunday 18th June's EFL Bridges World Conversation Club (see http://www.eflbridges.net for the other parts), we were joined by the one-and-only MC Hammer from California, USA, Scott in Tokyo, Japan, Moscowlips in Russia, Derli in Taiwan and Ali in Yemen.

World Conversation Club #6 part three MC talked about an exciting new project he's involved in, and why Skypecast may be part of this. Scott demonstrated how he can integrate music into a Skypecast by playing a section of 'Alleycat' by Chet Atkins.

Chatroom transcript
Music: Theme - 'World Turned Upside Down' by Bombskare Music by 360

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Note: In the months that  followed,  we encountered  someone with  a very similar voice to Albert claiming to be from a different country with a similar but slightly different story.  The consensus among those that encountered him was that his story was probably not entirely true.  So, amazing life story or amazing performance, new media hoax or blurring of fact and fiction - either way, it still makes for some compelling listening.

 

Part 2 of our conversation wtih Albert, a "blind hippie, teacher, Sufi political dissident" who was skyping in from a refugee camp in the African desert of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara Online

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This webcast went to air on Sunday 21st of May, West Australian time. Our first featured guest was Ms Christine Cunningham, Cochabamba Cooperative School (Bolivia) Director/CEO. An EFL teacher from Perth, Western Australia, Christine has worked in remote aboriginal schools in far north WA; with Australian Volunteers International in East Timor in 2000-2001; and for the last five years at her present school in Bolivia.

I had some problems with Skype, Nicecast and general audio during this first webcast. As such the first 10 minutes or so is not of a great quality audio-wise. However the audio improves from that point onwards and Christine's reflection on her teaching experiences are worth persisting with the initial poor audio.

This first experience has certainly taught me how to use Audacity and I look forward to much easier webcast edits in the future, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Download mp3 (6.2MB, 27:30)

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Visit this link to the skypecast for tomorrow's show. In my new position as Community Animator for the South Island Learning Community I've been asked to work with community stakeholders to come up with ways to use open source | open access software to develop object-based resources.

The tools currently under consideration are Drupal, Elgg and Moodle. I'm not as familiar with Moodle as the other two, but need to learn a lot more about each and all.

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 A good discussion about what is on the agenda for  Class of 1.1 and what happens after 'graduation'. 

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