Arlington, VA (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Digital media resources from Ken Burns's highly acclaimed documentary series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," including on-demand video, lessons plans, student activities, and historical archives, are now available through PBS Teachers® (pbsteachers.org). PBS Teachers is the Web portal to PBS' preK-12 educational services and a searchable library of more than 9,000 local and national standards-based instructional resources. PBS Teachers and Classroom 2.0 are hosting a webinar on Oct. 7 to demonstrate ways to integrate the "National Parks" educational media and other free technologies into classroom instruction.
Through the "National Parks" resources, educators can create an engaging tour of the nation's historic and natural treasures while teaching students core curriculum lessons and 21st century skills. During the PBS Teachers LIVE! webinar, "Teaching About Place With Ken Burns' 'National Parks: America's Best Idea'" on Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET, educational experts will discuss digital storytelling, including geographic and historical projects, and model classroom activities. Educators will learn how to use "National Parks" and ArcGIS, a free, downloadable, 2D/3D geo-exploration and presentation tool, in teaching about national parks and curricular topics. The webinar is sponsored by ABC-CLIO, award-winning publisher of reference titles in the field of history and social studies. In partnership with PBS Teachers, ABC-CLIO offers The Making of National Parks, a free collection of resources, including park profiles, biographies, maps, and images, to spark student interest in the creation of national parks, preservation and the dilemmas that come with it.
Filmed over 10 years, "National Parks" is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. Using archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and stunning cinematography, the film traces the birth of the national park idea and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years through the stories of the people who helped create and save them.
The "National Parks" educational resources are designed for middle and high school grade levels and cover art, language arts, science, and several social studies disciplines, such as history, geography, economics, and civics. Among the unique resources to help educators infuse technology into instruction are the place-based digital storytelling modules. Several video screencasts along with printable quick-start guides provide educators with step-by-step instructions on using the latest technologies to create digital storytelling projects, addressing basic to advanced level technology skills. The modules illustrate the processes of geotagging, video editing and special effects, uploading stories to the "National Parks" site to a part of a public collection, and more.
Additionally, the "National Parks" project offers 10 standards-based lesson plans, nine day-trip activities and five Untold Stories discussion guides. Through A Campfire Conversation lesson, students study two influential leaders in the national parks movement, John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, and make up what they think was the dialogue between the men as they discussed the future of the American landscape. The lesson All Aboard: See America First teaches the business and economic side of the parks, culminating in a project in which students develop promotional materials for tours. In other lessons, students construct public art exhibits of national parks, debate issues of economic development and preservation such as cars and off-road vehicles in the parks, and build a persuasive argument for creating a national park in their local area. Day-trip activities provide short, adaptable classroom projects, such as Build a Park, in which students design a park, devise the rules and create a tour, and Invasive Species, in which students learn ecological lessons about plants.
With support from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Untold Stories project brings to light stories from the national parks that focus on the role of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in the creation and protection of individual parks, and engages new and traditionally underserved audiences in the educational richness of the national parks. Through the Untold Stories discussion guides, educators and students can examine the American ideal of setting aside vast pieces of land for the purpose of preserving the natural environment and cultural history so all Americans have access to them. One of the mini-documentaries, "City Kids," explores the efforts to bring inner city kids into the parks, often for their first encounters with wilderness, to learn about the earth, teamwork and themselves.
With resources as vast as Yosemite, the "National Parks" also provides a first source of information for student research projects. An extensive collection of images, video, historical archives, biographies of historical figures, and park profiles from the film, as well as links to resources from around the Web are available on the "National Parks" Web site.
вторник, 20 октября 2009 г.
вторник, 13 октября 2009 г.
Consumers only want 3D HDTVs, Blu-ray players if they don't cost extra
Market research firm In-Stat has just conducted a survey that should prove sobering to the TV manufacturers and movie studios that are in a hurry to put 3D HDTVs into our homes. Not only are consumers lukewarm to the idea of 3D content, but they’re also unwilling to pay much more for new 3D equipment like TVs and Blu-ray players.
About a third of the respondents aren’t particularly interested in 3D sets in the home at all; of the remainder who are at least somewhat interested, a full 25 percent wouldn’t spend anything extra for a 3D HDTV. Another 43 percent would be willing to pay extra, but not more than $200 for a new set. The percentage of interested consumers willing to pay extra (up to $50) for a 3D Blu-ray player is actually less (33 percent), with another third once again not interested in spending extra at all.
The one product that more consumers would be willing to fork over extra for is a 3D Blu-ray movie. Two thirds of those at least somewhat interested in 3D would pay more for a 3D title, though the amount would be $5 or less.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, In-Stat concludes that “With more equipment and content becoming available and consumer interest in place, 2010 will be a good year for 3D.” But it’s a sure thing that 3D HDTVs and Blu-ray players will cost a lot more than non-3D components when they’re introduced next year—certainly far above the modest price increases that some consumers would be willing to pay. Of course, that’s true of any new technology introduction, but it’s unclear that consumer interest is “in place” to get even early adopters to pony up big sums for 3D. That’s why Panasonic is doing demo tours of 3D equipment to try to get people more enthusiastic about the technology.
Where there may be hope for 3D is that young children are getting used to the experience of watching new animated films in 3D, and they may be the industry’s ambassadors, prodding parents to purchase 3D sets so they can replicate the same viewing experience at home. Unlike the rest of us, they think it’s cool to wear the necessary dorky plastic glasses to get the 3D effect. Whether their influence is enough to make 3D HDTV into anything more than a technical curiosity is very much in doubt, which is actually the takeaway you get from In-Stat’s research.
About a third of the respondents aren’t particularly interested in 3D sets in the home at all; of the remainder who are at least somewhat interested, a full 25 percent wouldn’t spend anything extra for a 3D HDTV. Another 43 percent would be willing to pay extra, but not more than $200 for a new set. The percentage of interested consumers willing to pay extra (up to $50) for a 3D Blu-ray player is actually less (33 percent), with another third once again not interested in spending extra at all.
The one product that more consumers would be willing to fork over extra for is a 3D Blu-ray movie. Two thirds of those at least somewhat interested in 3D would pay more for a 3D title, though the amount would be $5 or less.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, In-Stat concludes that “With more equipment and content becoming available and consumer interest in place, 2010 will be a good year for 3D.” But it’s a sure thing that 3D HDTVs and Blu-ray players will cost a lot more than non-3D components when they’re introduced next year—certainly far above the modest price increases that some consumers would be willing to pay. Of course, that’s true of any new technology introduction, but it’s unclear that consumer interest is “in place” to get even early adopters to pony up big sums for 3D. That’s why Panasonic is doing demo tours of 3D equipment to try to get people more enthusiastic about the technology.
Where there may be hope for 3D is that young children are getting used to the experience of watching new animated films in 3D, and they may be the industry’s ambassadors, prodding parents to purchase 3D sets so they can replicate the same viewing experience at home. Unlike the rest of us, they think it’s cool to wear the necessary dorky plastic glasses to get the 3D effect. Whether their influence is enough to make 3D HDTV into anything more than a technical curiosity is very much in doubt, which is actually the takeaway you get from In-Stat’s research.
среда, 7 октября 2009 г.
OPEN DAY FOR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY STUDENTS
My greetings to all creative people!
Have found the article about JMC Academy. I think it is interesting place to study in.
Leading entertainment industry college, JMC Academy, is holding an Open Day at its Sydney campus on Saturday 19th September.
Managing director Martin Cass said there was high demand for training places at creative industries colleges because job prospects in the sector have stood up well, despite the global financial crisis.
Mr Cass said New South Wales, in particular Sydney, was highly regarded as a destination for games, film, television and post-production services.
“The state’s attraction as a destination for tourism and business means we’re seeing more film and television production in NSW. Film production in Sydney has grown steadily with feature films and drama having most production stages completed in Sydney.
“Something like $240 million was spent last year alone on drama and feature film production.”
Mr Cass said many JMC graduates were now working globally on feature films, in recording studios, on music tours and in television production.
“We have a track record of producing industry-ready graduates in Digital Media and 3D Animation, Sound Engineering, Digital TV Production and Popular Music and Performance.”
He said many people in the sector were freelance, casual or contract staff, and therefore needed business coaching to ensure a steady stream of work opportunities for themselves.
“Much of the work in the creative industries is short term, so we put a lot of effort into making sure our graduates have the business acumen they need as well as the creative skills; we want them to be market competitive and commercially astute.”
Mr Cass said the creative industries included many new and emerging niche sectors.
“With the advent of digital technologies, there is huge demand for content creation and knowledge managers; this has created many specialist business opportunities.”
The latest Industry Skills Report by the Creative Industries Skills Council showed Australia’s cultural and recreation industries recorded job growth of between 1.8% and 2.2% in the early part of 2009.
And PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012, said sports broadcasting in particular is expected to avoid recession and continue to enjoy growth of between 6.5 – 7.1%.
Have found the article about JMC Academy. I think it is interesting place to study in.
Leading entertainment industry college, JMC Academy, is holding an Open Day at its Sydney campus on Saturday 19th September.
Managing director Martin Cass said there was high demand for training places at creative industries colleges because job prospects in the sector have stood up well, despite the global financial crisis.
Mr Cass said New South Wales, in particular Sydney, was highly regarded as a destination for games, film, television and post-production services.
“The state’s attraction as a destination for tourism and business means we’re seeing more film and television production in NSW. Film production in Sydney has grown steadily with feature films and drama having most production stages completed in Sydney.
“Something like $240 million was spent last year alone on drama and feature film production.”
Mr Cass said many JMC graduates were now working globally on feature films, in recording studios, on music tours and in television production.
“We have a track record of producing industry-ready graduates in Digital Media and 3D Animation, Sound Engineering, Digital TV Production and Popular Music and Performance.”
He said many people in the sector were freelance, casual or contract staff, and therefore needed business coaching to ensure a steady stream of work opportunities for themselves.
“Much of the work in the creative industries is short term, so we put a lot of effort into making sure our graduates have the business acumen they need as well as the creative skills; we want them to be market competitive and commercially astute.”
Mr Cass said the creative industries included many new and emerging niche sectors.
“With the advent of digital technologies, there is huge demand for content creation and knowledge managers; this has created many specialist business opportunities.”
The latest Industry Skills Report by the Creative Industries Skills Council showed Australia’s cultural and recreation industries recorded job growth of between 1.8% and 2.2% in the early part of 2009.
And PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012, said sports broadcasting in particular is expected to avoid recession and continue to enjoy growth of between 6.5 – 7.1%.
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