So long as I don't have to watch

There is a very interesting discussion taking place on the NECC 2008 Ning about what policies ISTE should adopt regarding the audio and video taping of its conference sessions.

Leslie Connery, Deputy CEO of ISTE and NECC Conference Chair, writes:

Amended Code of Conduct for NECC 2008

ISTE recently disseminated a code of conduct regarding video and audio recordings at NECC 2008 which has generated some thoughtful and energetic discussion.

We welcome your interest and comments and would like to clarify and amend the code of conduct for NECC 2008.

For NECC 2008, ISTE’s permission is not required for non-commercial video and audio recording of sessions and workshops.

However, for NECC 2008, written permission from the session or workshop presenter is required prior to capturing a video or audio recording. Any permitted recording should respect the presenter’s rights and not be disruptive.

Under no circumstances may any length or quality of video/audio capture be used for marketing, advertising, or commercial purposes without express written permission from both the session presenter(s) and ISTE.

Thank you. We look forward to an ongoing dialog about fair use.

You have until the new guidelines are expected to be published in January 2009 to comment, with a draft to be made available in early December 2009.

There are far more erudite minds than mine weighing in on this topic on the Ning already, but here is my take:

• Presenters should have the right to determine whether their sessions are recorded or not, and this preference should be clearly stated in the program itself. Personally, I think it is both professionally and economically unwise not to let oneself be taped. (Although Kathy Shrock makes a good case why she doesn't like recordings being made of her sessions.) Simply, we all need to share our knowledge in all formats as professionals; professional speakers and consultants ought to be glad of the free publicity. But you should should always give people the option to do foolish things. It makes the world a more interesting place.
• ISTE should designate a single Creative Commons license for how the recorded works can be used.
• ISTE should establish a common clearning house of all taped sessions. (If my writing won't help you get to sleep, maybe one of my conference sessions might and this would make them easy to locate.)

I've always allowed anyone to tape my sessions on the single condition that I never am obligated to watch or listen to the damn things*. Perhaps that should be a part of the policy as well.

Anyway, it is a very interesting discussion and it should engage all of us as educators who want to help our students understand copyright, intellectual property, and fair use issues.

What are the policies on this that other organizations like ALA have adopted? Or is ISTE on the bleeding edge?

Please add your ideas and opinions to the NECC Ning!

*I did once find watching a presentation I gave instructive. It seems, back when I was starting out as a speaker, I spent a great deal of time playing with the change in my pocket while I presented. I looked like a pervert that should not only not be in education but not be allowed within 500 yards of a school. I learned to remove everything from my pockets before every talk I give.

Is still do.

Skyping with an iPod

A few days ago, I admitted to weakening and purchasing an iPod Touch. I have to admit that my worries about it being consigned to the "drawer of unused toys" were without warrant.

I just love the little devil.

Here are some things I've found:

• You can use it to make a SkypeOut VoIP call to another land or cell phone. Download Fring. Buy a headset/microphone combo. Purchase some SkypeOut  credits for about $0.03 a minute. It works! (Just remember to add 001 before the area code if dialing a US number.) No need to jailbreak the 2.0 OS.
  
• With the microphone, it's easy to make a voice recording with a little application called SpeakEasy.
  
• The calendar syncing with Entourage via iCal is working well. Don't ask me to 'splain exactly how you do this. Make sure you have a current back up of your Microsoft User Data folder when you begin experimenting.
  
• Games are distracting. I still can't get my poor little Spore named Bob past the spiky things level.
• I am trying to see if I can use one download of an audiobook from Audible on both my iPod and Kindle. Easy, cheesy on the iPod. The Kindle is being a PIA since it requires a PC for file transfer to it. I increasingly understand where the DRM opponents are coming from. (See Steal This Comic.) Hey, I buy a CD I can use it in my truck, my boombox. my stereo sytem, etc.
  
• I am happy to have a monetary conversion program for my trip to Amman, Jordan next week. I love the world clock (no more need to bring an alarm clock on my travels.) I downloaded a great dictionary and use it at least once or twice a day.
  
• The single e-book I downloaded seems easy to read. I need to try out different e-book readers. The Kindle still has the superior screen, however.
• The ability to make buttons out of bookmarks is cool. I have an iPod screen with just bookmark buttons I can use to reach both my e-mail accounts, my iGoogle, GoogleReader, and my blog. Nifty.
• The photos are beautiful, easy to sync and manage, and the slideshow of the grandsons is amazing. Would you like to see it?
• Has anyone discovered a way to keep those damnable little white cords on the earbuds from being a tangled mess every time you want to use them?
  

So far, I'm happy I made this purchase. While the iPod is not a true Netbook, let alone laptop, it sure does a lot. Great fun.

A glimpse into darkness

I know I lead a sheltered life. I know it because every once in a while I get an unwanted peek into quite a different world.

Last Saturday morning, the LWW and I were eating breakfast at the Izaak Walton railroad hotel on the south border of Glacier National Park in Montana, surrounded by mountains clad with gloriously golden tamarack trees interspersed with deep green pines. As peaceful and relaxing a place as one can find.

We were happily munching on huckleberry pancakes in the dining room when a pleasant enough looking middle-aged lady at the next table looked up from her constant prayers spoken in an underbreath to let us know in the space of about 10 minutes:

• She was an investigative journalist getting evidence of the trains full of shackled political prisoners being routed along the Great Northern.
• That the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis was deliberately caused by Hilary Clinton in order to get more federal transportation funding.
• That Roswell NM is the site of extensive human genetics experimentation by the military.
• And that all the Yellowstone National Park rangers are on the take since the park officials provide prostitutes, meth, and "hard liquor" to important guests to the park. As a result of her learning this, she was "professionally" poisoned by park officials to keep her quiet from which it took her 6 months to recover.

I am probably forgetting some other of her discoveries, all declared with urgent certainty. We ate quickly, remained polite and headed out as soon as possible, her blessings and warnings following us out the door.

Happily, I don't seem to encounter people whose sad, dark minds are filled with wasps and demons very often. But here's the thing: I bet this lady has a website or writes for one. And I bet there are thousands just like her. What are the odds of kids coming across the "facts" she and other conspiracy theorists produce? Pretty good.

This tripe is as or more harmful than pornography IMHO. And I doubt there is a filter in the world that has a "nut-case" setting.

Are we teaching kids to avoid info-porn?

Oh, the lady did begin her little diatribe by telling me that I was a highly intelligent looking man. While I suggested that looks are often deceiving, it just goes to show that nobody is wrong 100% of the time.

Tamaracks of Glacier Park. October 2008