NYTimes: History Teacher Becomes Podcast Celebrity

[asteriskea]

<p>Edutainment, intellectual curiosity and passion combined with the power of the internet to reach out and teach is the subject of this NYT education article:</p>

<p>

… Lars Brownworth took his accustomed place in front of an American history class at the Stony Brook School…For 45 minutes, Mr. Brownworth deftly orchestrated lecture, discussion and archival photographs… When the bell rang, out shuffled the audience, a dozen teenagers who might or might not remember any of this material beyond the next exam. In its satisfactions and its limits, such was the life Mr. Brownworth, the son of teachers, had gladly chosen.</p>

<p>That night, though, Mr. Brownworth, 31, set to work in his own apartment, writing an essay about Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After revision and rehearsal, the text would become the script for the latest installment of Mr. Brownworth’s podcast. And if form held, something like 140,000 listeners from Afghanistan to White Plains would hear it. </p>

<p>Mr. Brownworth’s podcast competes favorably with far more conventional and credentialed online fare — university courses in beginning French or Psychology 101, test-prep drills for the SAT.

</p>

<p>According to the article, Mr. Brownworth holds “only” a bachelor’s degree in history, from Houghton College in upstate New York. He started teaching at Stony Brook, an independent school, in 1999, and his initial assignment was in the science department. “To the extent that he had any specialty as an undergraduate, it was the Battle of Hastings, a long way from Constantinople.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/education/31education.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/education/31education.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[asteriskea]

<p>The NYT article provided a link to “12 Byzantine Rulers : The History of the Byzantine Empire”:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/[/url]”>http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[asteriskea]

<p>Podcasting is an amazing medium especially when it comes to edutainment. Of course, some folks still might want to explore other sites, such as what the NY Met has to offer (and then there is always wiki…)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/gallery.html[/url]”>http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/gallery.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byz_3.html[/url]”>http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byz_3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[katonahmom]

<p>I just read that article - but I haven’t tried the link yet - not the first time that the tone of a NYT’s article put me off. “When the bell rang, out shuffled the audience, a dozen teenagers who might or might not remember any of this material beyond the next exam. In its satisfactions and its limits, such was the life Mr. Brownworth, the son of teachers, had gladly chosen.” Being a mere teacher in a traditional high school classroom ought not be regarded as limited. In terms of numbers, teaching the dozen or so students in his classroom may pale before the thousands reached on a global scale via free podcasts- but in terms of mission and dedication I don’t think it ought to. </p>

<p>The future of podcasting may be exciting but so is what goes on in the classroom. I hope his students are proud that their teacher has “has emerged as a figure somewhat akin to Will Durant in books or Jacob Bronowski on public television, an effective and engaging popularizer.” Such is the lure of stardom.</p>

[garland]

<p>Okay, clueless alert here, please don’t laugh…</p>

<p>What exactly is different about podcasting from, say, books on tape? Why am I not getting how cutting edge it is? (I’m not trying to make a point; it’s obvious to me that i really am missing something.)</p>

[asteriskea]

<p>Garland, this is basically the clueless leading the clueless, but the following articles suggest a key aspect of college and related academic podcasting these days is that this cutting edge has quickly become “mainstream” - and, of course, that you don’t need an ipod to listen to podcasts - although many students might very well include pocket pcs on their list of “must-haves” for college.</p>

<p><a href=“Best Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Devices, Coupon Codes in 2021”>Best Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Devices, Coupon Codes in 2021;

<p>Mobility, ease of access, as well as low costs, all contribute to college podcasting success, according to this 2005 article: “Stanford using iTunes to take lectures global”</p>

<p>

Content from the Stanford program is accessible to anyone free of charge. Interestingly, that may be no more than a happy coincidence: Vargas said Stanford on iTunes is really about providing the university with an easy and inexpensive way to distribute all manner of content to its 180,000 alumni in 151 countries…</p>

<p>While Stanford is the first university to use iTunes as a tool for the public distribution of content, several other schools have been utilizing Apple’s technology to get content to students and faculty for some time.</p>

<p>Duke University became the first when, in the fall of 2004, the school gave 1,600 iPod music players, preloaded with orientation materials, to first-year students. Now, the school plans to incorporate iPods into classes throughout the university as a way of storing class materials for use any time and anywhere.</p>

<p>Other institutions, including Brown University, the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry and Stanford itself have partnered with Apple and are using iTunes as a way to distribute class content to students. </p>

<p>In addition, the University of Washington has started a pilot program for podcasting lectures for future use by students…</p>

<p>At Stanford, undergraduates also have access to classroom content via a private iTunes program… however, it’s Stanford’s decision to make content available to the public that has some in academia excited…</p>

<p>Boyd acknowledged that public access to Stanford on iTunes is possible because the university wanted to make it easy for alumni to use. But she also said the notion that Stanford might be giving away its assets for free is not accurate.</p>

<p>“We’ve always assumed (universities) are about knowledge production,” she said. “They’re not. They’re about building particular social networks in a dense four-year period. You’ll never be able to get that from a podcast.”

</p>

<p><a href=“http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5931232.html[/url]”>http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5931232.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[asteriskea]

<p>According to Pew Internet and American Life Project from 2004 - 2006 podcast popularity has boomed and so has the number of podcasts:</p>

<p>

One of roughly eight baby boomers heading into their golden years has downloaded a podcast, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project released Wednesday. These streams of audio, and increasingly video, can be downloaded directly from a Web page or acquired through subscription via software such as Apple’s iTunes.</p>

<p>“We are at a crossroads of a major transition in the way media content is delivered,” said Mary Madden, a senior research analyst who worked on the Pew survey…</p>

<p>In November 2004, Podcast Alley, an online portal for all things related to the phenomenon, listed fewer than 1,000 podcasts. Today, that number is 26,627, with almost 2,000 pending approval.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061127/NEWS/611270386[/url]”>http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061127/NEWS/611270386&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

“Podcasting is still in its infancy,” says Pew’s Madden. “It is unlikely that it is going to usurp traditional media. It is more likely that it will become one of the many different ways that we get content in an increasingly mobile environment.”

</p>

<p><a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Businessweek - Bloomberg;