Podcasts bring worldwide audiences to A&M System programs and people


West Texas A&M students Tommy Losure, (left), and Jamie Jordan host “Gaming Uncensored,” a podcast focused on gaming news.

Podcasts—audio web files that are broadcast via the Internet to subscribers—are becoming more popular across the A&M System.

Texas A&M was the first university in the United States to offer agriculture news via podcasting, in October 2004, said Blair Fannin, communications specialist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

In addition, Texas A&M Engineering podcasts its award-winning radio program Engineering Works! and two West Texas A&M students who host a radio show about video games also podcast a companion to the show.

“For people who have something to say, podcasting is an easy way to create and publicize their work,” said Stephanie Leary, web communications specialist with the A&M System. “Podcasting is relatively low tech. You don’t need a recording studio, just a microphone hooked up to a computer. Listeners can subscribe to the show, which gets downloaded to their computers, and listen whenever they have time.”

Podcasting has become popular with broadcasters and news media as a way to deliver chunks of audio files—usually MP3s, which are filesof sound or music recordings stored in the MP3 format on computers—to subscribers. Podcasting software such as iTunes checks for updates and automatically downloads the subscribed podcasts to the user’s computer. Any MP3 player or computer with audio-playing software, not just iPods, can play podcasts.

Universities across the country, including Purdue, Wichita State, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago, have begun using podcasts to transmit news or lecture materials. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, freshmen in Drexel University’s School of Education were given iPods this fall and can download orientation materials and some lectures from a website created for that purpose.

full story...

Wetland on Wheels

The Center for Coastal Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has sought to educate students, teachers and the general public about the fragile Coastal Bend environment through its “Wetland Explorer” excursions into the region’s bays and estuaries since July 2004.

Now, thanks in large part to the generosity of  a local business owner and two grants from area foundations, Jay Tarkington, director of the Center’s Aquatic Education Program, is able to bring the environment to the classroom through the Center’s “Wetland on Wheels” traveling display.

The Earl Sams Foundation recently awarded a $25,000 grant to start “Wetland on Wheels,” a hands-on program designed to provide quality scientific-based knowledge about the functions and value of wetlands with a special emphasis on how wetland organisms adapt and survive the loss of critical habitats. Gus Cargile of Industrial Fabricators donated the trailer that will carry the interactive, multimedia teaching tool to schools, festivals and special events such as Bayfest, Sea Fair and the annual Earth Day celebration that are held in the Coastal Bend region.

“Research shows that children’s environmental experiences form the foundation for their future relationship with the environment,” said Tarkington. “Having the ability to bring this interactive display to students is especially important because they are the ones who will be making the environmental decisions in the future. In school, they learn about the rain forests of South America and the coral reefs of the Caribbean, but they’re not taught about the bays and estuaries that are critical to the Coastal Bend environment.”

Setting up the display in school parking lots and other suitable venues allows students to experience the wetlands “up close and personal” without time-consuming bus travel that results in missed class time. The various replications and taxidermy displays of coastal animals and organisms are augmented by age-appropriate materials that are distributed to all participants. Multimedia presentations and lectures by environmental educators teach participants about local issues concerning the sustainability of bays and estuaries.

“By working with students of various ages, we hope to make a significant impact on the overall health of our local and global environment,” Tarkington said. “Our hope is that everyone who participates in our various programs will learn about their environment so they will be able to make well informed environmental decisions in the future.”

full story...