Student Radio Club & This Class

It looks like the Student Radio Club at TUJ is nearly ready to begin streamed programming on the internet. I'm trying to arrange to have Trent and Sunny visit our class to show us how to use the equipment. Hopefully, something will be announced either this week or next.

There are two things I'd like folks to consider in relation to this club and possible projects in this class. Here the are in question form:

• Would anyone be interested in planning and hosting/producing a show during class time?
• Would anyone be interested in helping to build a music library by searching for royalty free music, making arrangements with the artists to play the music on the station, and compile a music library from such music?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, then please leave a comment on this blog or get in touch with me by email so we can form teams to get something done.

Scott T. & D.C. score some blue points

5 points for DC:

10 points for Scott

Well done, gentleman. As mentioned in class, 5 points will be awarded for each student to use iPadio before class on 2/25.

Congrats Mr. Lister

Just like that, 15 blue points.



Thanks Brian.

Sunday Field Report - TUJscottie

A Request

This week representatives from the R20 blog and podcast will be visiting our campus to meet with and interview TUJ students. The R20 program is run by and targets university students in Japan.

They would like to discuss why you chose to come to TUJ and what your impressions of the experience have been.

There has been a specific request to meet with student from our Introduction to Radio class. Please get in touch with me via comment to this post, twitter or email if you'd be interested in participating.

The interviews will take place on the afternoons of February 19th (Friday) and 22nd (Monday).

NOTE: It seems to me that the R20 program might be a suitable topic for a term project for anyone who has not selected one yet.

Now boarding: The Blue Point Express

A train load of blue points have been offered thus far this semester. There are still quite a few unclaimed opportunities. This weekend's iPadio phone-cast report is such a chance.

Additionally, there have been several times when your thoughts or opinions were requested as comments in this blog. First commenters to such a request always get a handful of blue points.

020910 - Lesson Agenda

Here's what's on tap for tonight's lesson:

• Getting started: administrivia, questions & requests
• Chapter 4 discussion (Kaoru S.)
• Listen to and discuss student work: Lab 5 (Jessie, Chris, Rie, DC, and Brian)
• Of possible interest: Ryerson in the Moment - Journalism students in Canada using social media tools to track and report news
• Tracking your term project subject (subscribing to rss feeds for Twitter and Google searches in Google Reader or Netvibes)
• Student production time

Upcoming Deadlines and Dates

Here's are some date you'll want to keep in mind:

• 2/16 - Quiz 2 (rescheduled)
• 2/18 - Term Project proposal due
• 2/23 - PSA1 due
• 3/4 - Second Life "Conversation Parter" test lesson
• 3/16 - PSA 2 due
• 3/18 - Quiz 3
• 4/1 - Radio News feature due

Phoning One In

As promised, I attempted to demonstrate the iPadio service while telling the class about the locative media project for the third audio journal assignment. I imagine it was an unfamiliar sight to see the prof whip out a cell phone, make a call and start talking into the phone as whilst attempting to conduct a lecture. Hopefully the embedded recording below will justify this seemingly daft classroom practice on pedagogical grounds.

Lesson Outline and Audio update - 020410

The embedded audio update below was created a cell phone call to the micropodcasting service called iPadio. We will be using iPadio for our 3rd audio journal task in this class, so I thought such an update would be a good way to introduce the tool to the class.

In the recording I talked briefly about the journal assignment. I also mentioned the lesson plan for tonight's class.

For those unable or unwilling to listen to my audio update, here is a text version of the lesson plan:

• Introduce our observer
• Chapter review (Kaoru S.)
• Preview of Audio Journal 3 project with handout
• Visit to Second Life radio stations and discussion of upcoming "Conversation Partner" project
• Student production time

During the next two Tuesday lessons (no class Thursday, Feb. 11), we will be listening to your Lab 5 productions and discussing them as a whole class. Please make a point to listen to each of your classmates' work before coming to class.

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NOTE: The review of chapter 4 of the textbook with Kaoru S. has been postponed until February 9th. Everyone else's chapter outline assignments have been pushed back one lesson as well.

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Tonight's Lesson - 020210

Here is what's on tap for tonight's lesson:

• Chapter 3 discussion (Kaoru F.)
• Overview of the second Lab Handout
• Quick Tour of some radio stations in Second Life
• Follow up of GarageBand demonstration for music bed lab projects
• Student production time (I will meet with students individually to discuss your self introductions from previous labs during this time)

Audio Links for Lab 6

As mentioned on the second Lab Handout, you have a choice to either produce an introduction of a classmate or an analysis of one of the four recordings listed below for your sixth and final lab assignment.

Too Beautiful to Live

Originally a broadcast on Seattle's KIRO radio station, TBTL has been regularly distributed as a podcast since September 2009. The excerpt is about 11 minutes long and is the opening of TBTL's January 21st show.

• TBTL Web Site
• TBTL Wikipedia entry
• Audio excerpt from January 21, 2010

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling on WFMU

The Best Show is a weekly radio show on New Jersey's WFMU. The excerpt features the first phone call from Philly Boy Roy who has since become a regularly appearing character on the show. It comes from The Best Show Gems podcast and was originally aired in 2003.

• Friends of Tom: The Official Best Show on WFMU web site
• Audio excerpt from 2003

Radio Unnameable with Bob Fass on WBAI

As mentioned in class, Bob Fass is a pioneer in free form radio. He started at WBAI, in New York city, 50 years ago. This excerpt features the opening 20 minutes of his 3 hour show which aired on January 15, 2010.

• Radio Unnameable on WBAI's web site
• Audio excerpt from January 15, 2010

Joe Frank: Film

Joe Frank started at WBAI in the early 1970s. He has been a producer of unique radio dramas and monologs for more than 25 years. The excerpt is a selection from The Decline of Spengler produced for NPR Playhouse in 1983. It is about 13 minutes long.

• Joe Frank: Official Web Site
• Wikipedia entry on Joe Frank
• Podcast featuring selected works of Joe Frank
• Audio Excerpt from 1983

Looking at Second Life

The video below features some of the interesting locations in the 3D virtual world called Second Life. Though Second Life is not currently a component of this course, it will be in future semesters. I would like to beg your indulgence to spend a bit of course time looking at what SL has to offer for an online university radio station. For me it seems to provide many opportunities.

Also, I've been asked to have this class participate in a Second Life project. I would like to discuss this with students during Thursday's lesson (2/4).

Until then, have a look at some of the possibilities available "inworld":