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In this multimedia, fast-paced technology, and visual age we have forgotten something! How to read. I remember being at home reading a book on Saturday afternoon when it rained outside. We did not have Wii but we had Atari. We used to go outside and play. Now an increasing number of our kids are medically obese. It seems that we have lost our way. Governments are making decisions about our schools and our children. Budget cuts trump new books needed in the classroom. Rezoning seems to determine whether our children can get a quality education. Literacy R.O.C.K.S! will change the perception of reading in the world today. We will remove the shame brought on by being "illiterate". Reading can be a trip that can be taken by simply turning the pages. The key to having that feeling starts at home. As parents we are responsible for instilling the desire in our children. We are responsible for teaching them before school and after school. Students, you are responsible for your learning. . I also promise to be more confident, more disciplined and more willing to help my friends, neighbors, and family to make improvements in the area of literacy. So lets join forces and "read a book and think about it!" On this website you will be able to obtain tools to increase interest in reading with your children. This website will provide information for youth mentoring and life skill training. Literacy R.O.C.K.S Project has been designed to empower human beings through spiritual upliftment using the power of the written word. This website will provide tools to build healthy family relationships around literacy. Hopefully we can enlighten you to important and emergent need to teach our kids how to read. Studies have shown students start falling behind in the third grade when it comes to reading. We must read to our children at home. Enjoy your experience and remember: Literacy R.O.C.K.S! Click headline to access website--
Planners have mostly been absent from the research, planning, and development of broadband infrastructure, which has been driven instead by the provider companies, large-scale users (e.g., health care, education, and entertainment), major technology research institutions, innovation centers, technology experts, and federal agencies. In turn, many of these players have not seen broadband as a public planning issue — even when they recognize the public policy implications of broadband infrastructure. Given the importance of broadband speed and access to individual and communitywide economic competitiveness, planners can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines. The public sector will increasingly become a critical partner with private-sector providers in assuring that our networks serve the entire nation, transcending purely market-driven criteria. Click headline to access APA website and link to order a copy of the report--
These were the graphics I used for my presentation on Virtual Subjectivity at the Boston Is Watching event about Second Life art at the Boston CyberArts Festival. Clicking on slides 4, 6, 7, 11, 13 will take you to video on the web). If you click the last slide, you can see the "trailer" for the screwball comedy about SL relationships that I've been working on, which was not part of the presentation yesterday. The gist is this: people are the important part of a virtual world--they make the art, they make the world, and a project like Brooklyn Is Watching is a nexus for like-minded folks to find each other, collaborate, and create virtual subjectivity, which is ultimately something we do together. William Gibson called cyberspace a "consensual hallucination" (in 1984 in Neuromancer) and that holds up as a great definition. Click headline to view the slide show of the presentation and download trailer--
Boston CyberArts director George Fifield announced last week that the organization will cease production of its Boston festival of new media and tech art, which it has presented bi-annually since it organized the “nation’s first and largest all-media cyberarts festival” in 1999, as it shifts its focus to regular, year-round programming like its “Art on the Marquee” program. The news comes on the heels of the announcement that Boston new media gallery Axiom, which has affiliations with Cyberarts, is ending operations at its Green Street gallery this month and that CyberArts plans to begin presenting exhibits there this September. We felt 2011 CyberArts Fest showed that “CyberArts needs a reboot,” but it’s too bad that CyberArts leaders decided instead to end the festival. They’ll surely continue to do interesting projects at the Green Street space and elsewhere around Boston, but their move leaves the door open for someone else to do a major, fresh festival here tapping into the unique tech work being done in our region. What we wrote at the time of the 2011 CyberArts Fest still applies: Click headline to read more--
MTN serves the residents of Minneapolis with tools, programs, and activities to engage and connect diverse residents and institutions through the exchange of ideas, stories, and information. In this way MTN strives to build a vibrant democracy in which all share social, cultural, and economic vitality. MTN began operations in 1984 with a mission to provide access to television broadcast equipment and to cable television channels for the diverse community. MTN's mission centers on empowering communities to bring their own unique voices to cable television. We are committed to freedom of speech for all. MTN enables all citizens to exercise this freedom by providing basic television production training, and by airing all work that is created community producers on its cable channels. Click headline to access MTN's website--
W2 connects people and ideas through its globally networked community media arts centre in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. W2 is people-powered, meaning mostly run by volunteers who care about making positive change happen. Your contribution of time or financial donation are equally welcome. W2's new 10,000 square-foot facility, W2 Media Cafe, opened in June 2011 in the Atrium of the Woodward's heritage building at Abbott and Hastings. Previously, W2 occupied an interim space in the 31,000 square-foot W2 Storyeum. All programming now takes place at W2 Media Cafe's various spaces spread out over three floors. W2 Media Cafe comprises an 80-seat social enterprise café, 200-capacity networked broadcasting studio, community TV station, community FM radio station, media lab, creative technology incubator, letterpress studio, telepresence and mobile media programs, and more. Click headline to access W2's website--
Access Humboldt is a non-profit, community based, public service media organization serving the residents of Humboldt County. We provide air time free of charge on the local cable TV channels and online, and offer media production training, facilities and equipment. We promote free speech and community media - by the people; for the people. Programming is accepted on a fair and nondiscriminatory basis, and will be aired without editorial control. Click headline to access Access Humboldt's website--
CAN TV brings you local, relevant issues from Chicago’s neighborhoods and communities. See what's happening around the city in education, the arts, government, cultural events, social services and community activities. This unique communications resource belongs to the people of Chicago, whether you are a viewer, a producer, or simply believe in the right of free expression. CAN TV has become a lifeline for thousands of Chicago residents and nonprofits. Its channels are over 90% local, helping viewers find jobs, locate HIV/AIDS and domestic violence counseling, access art and educational resources, interact with local public officials, and experience a diversity of viewpoints. CAN TV is an independent nonprofit organization established in 1983 to administer and promote the use of Chicago’s public access channels. CAN TV has won local, state, and national awards for its accomplishments and is recognized as one of the finest access centers in the country. Cable companies provide support for CAN TV as part of franchise commitments in the City of Chicago. Chicago residents are invited to attend a free, one-hour orientation session that outlines CAN TV programming and services in detail. Sessions are held twice a month at 322 South Green Street (first floor), one block west of Halsted at Van Buren. Nonprofit groups can schedule a free communications needs assessment. Click headline to access CAN-TV's website--
AOC Community Media has been an avenue for getting a variety of information and opinions to Acadiana for the past 30 years. In the early 70s, laws were passed requiring cable companies to provide access channels for public, educational and governmental use. AOC became the local access point for PEG use in our area. AOC Community Media supports the First Amendment - a fundamental element of a functioning democracy. Whether through television, radio, print or the Internet, AOC seeks to always preserve our community’s ability to express its opinions. AOC Community Media has evolved into a true media center focused on building an informed and engaged community through media, technology and education. AOC Community Media is a vital part of Acadiana’s infrastructure serving its local government, schools, nonprofits and residents on a daily basis. These groups use AOC to create their non-commercial messages and then to distribute this information to the community. Click headline to access AOC's website--
Richard Florida showed us the earning power of the Creative Class. Ten years on we’ll ask him how the creatives are doing in tough times. A decade ago, on the other side of two wars, an economic meltdown, and mass unemployment, economist Richard Florida made a big splash asserting the economic power and glory of what he dubbed the “creative class.” A new social class, he said, of writers and dancers and artists, innovators in science and medicine, technology and media.Freelancers and free thinkers whose open minds were reshaping the world and firing up a lot of wealth. Suddenly, every ambitious city and town wanted to be a creative class magnet. Ten years on, how’s that all going? Click headline to listen to this On Point discussion with Richard Florida and the callers--
Peckham Space is London’s newest purpose-built public gallery dedicated to commissioning location-specific artworks made in partnership with community groups. Located on Peckham Square, London SE15 and part of Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, it seeks to encourage progression routes for young people into creative higher education as well as increase access to cultural and educational activity in Peckham, London SE15. Peckham Space is funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), Southwark Council and Arts Council England. The permanent venue, designed by PENSON, opened in June 2010. Click headline to access website--
After billions of dollars of public investment and careful research on the elements of effective early reading intervention programs, and despite the passionate commitments of tens of thousands of dedicated teachers and other professionals, America's early literacy crisis persists. Some progress has been made in the past two decades in closing the achievement and reading gaps that challenge our nation's long-term economic leadership, but the tragic fact remains: only 1 in 7 low-income African-American and Hispanic-American children read proficiently by fourth grade! American performance on assessments of vital 21st century competencies that are based on foundational literacy is slowly but steadily sinking. Last year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a collaborative effort by dozens of partners from philanthropy, government, business, and the non-profit and voluntary sectors to mobilize measurable community action to help close the dismal gaps in reading by third grade. Over 120 cities have taken the campaign pledge: to reach 80 percent student proficiency on reading benchmarks by the end of the third grade. Recently, the Cooney Center and the New America Foundation were asked by the Campaign to look at one area that most reading research and program experts have not carefully examined: the possibility that well-deployed technology could be a "game changer" in moving the literacy needle. Click headline to read more and access hot links--
From pre-kindergarten through higher education, mobile technology is changing the way we teach and learn. Change is never easy, however, and many educators are struggling to keep up with the latest advancements in mobile technology--and how to use these evolving devices in the classroom. The University of San Diego (CA) hopes to overcome all that. Its School of Leadership and Education Sciences recently announced the creation of a Mobile Technology Learning Center (MTLC) to provide research-based answers to many of the unknowns regarding mobile technology and learning. By collaborating with local school districts, as well as with institutions of higher learning and government agencies, MTLC wants to be a "living laboratory" for schools and educators, to test research findings, and to provide future teachers with unique teaching and research opportunities. "MTLC was created as K-12 school systems seek access to resources on how best to utilize mobile devices instructionally and technically to personalize education and increase student achievement," said Shawn Gross, senior associate for MTLC. "The emphasis is on the concept of digital literacy, project-based learning, social and collaboration tools, and the mobile learning ecosystem." Click headline to read more--
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My hometown is vibrant. Its status as such is certified, official, stamped on both sides. There was a time, though, when it wasn’t, when my friends and I would laugh at Kansas City’s blandness: its harmless theater productions, its pretentious suburbs, its private country clubs, its eternal taste for classic rock. We called it “Cupcake Land,” after a favorite Richard Rhodes essay from the eighties. The city knew nothing of the bold ideas of our robust generation, we thought: it had virtually no music subculture; it was deaf to irony; hell, it actually tried to drive out of business the last surviving club from its jazz-age glory days. Maybe that was the sort of criticism everybody made of their Midwestern hometowns back then. Well, those hometowns have certainly turned the tables on us today. Our enthusiasm for music is a dead thing now in these post-alternative decades, a mere record collection that we occasionally cue up after one Scotch too many to help remember the time when art seemed to matter. But Kansas City doesn’t need any reminders. The place fairly quivers with vitality now. It is swarming with artists; its traffic islands are bedecked with the colorful products of their studios. It boasts a spectacular new performing arts center designed by one of those spectacular new celebrity architects. It even has an indie-rock festival to call its own. And while much of the city’s flowering has been organic and spontaneous, other parts of its renaissance were engineered by the very class of civic leaders we used to deride for their impotence and cluelessness. At that Kansas City indie-rock festival, for example, the mayor himself made a presentation this year, as did numerous local professionals and business leaders. Besides, as everyone knows, cupcakes are cool nowadays, like yoga or something—the consummate expression of the baker’s artisanal vibrancy. Click headline to read more--
AMP's aim is to be a supportive hub, connecting creatives worldwide with resources, information, and (most importantly) others like them, sharing ideas and resources to better navigate the complex international art world. AMP was, in large part, inspired by my touring musician friends, both here in Los Angeles and in other parts of the world. I saw that many musicians in LA, while in the heart of the entertainment industry, longed to tour Europe, yet didn't know how to begin. Most also assumed that because they had no money, they couldn't even consider it. At the same time, I saw that some European friends would happily trade places - and apartments and connections - for a week or two of opportunity in another part of the world. It seemed the most sensible and useful thing in the world that these people should be able to connect, and so in a frenzied 4-month period - from conceptualization to website debut, including the gathering of all of my creative connections, as well as making this website (by myself, with no money or training) - AMP was born. The vision starts with the assumption that we live in an increasingly global culture, in which many artists need to travel. It can be ridiculously expensive to pay for many aspects of travel, including flight and lodging, and less than fulfilling - not to mention rather cold, lonely and boring - to try to navigate a new culture where one has no connections and no idea of where to find the creative people and places - which are often underground, away from tourist centers, and are never on any map. There has to be a better way. Click headline to access AMP's website--
At the Boston Harbor Islands pavilion on Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway, brightly lit screens beckon the late-night wanderer, long after the visitor center has closed. Take a closer look, and waves made by individual bar graphs appear, a bit like the sound readout on old stereo systems. The thick, undulating brush strokes are all based on thousands of pieces of data, collected over a season in the vast archipelago – the height of the tides, the speed of the winds, even the flights of bees. The electronic portrait is part of the burgeoning phenomenon of digital art, where the canvas is an LED screen. The visual muscle of digital art all but announces a potential transformation in public art in the city. It could make graffiti bombing and innovative artists like JR, with his giant eyes on the facades of the favelas, seem quaint by comparison. The pied piper for digital art is not a world traveling Frenchman but a friendly, full-bearded Bostonian, George Fifield, founder of Boston CyberArts. Based in the burgeoning arts community in the Jamaica Plain section, Fifield identifies video art on urban screens as a worldwide phenomenon, from Times Square to Bucharest to Seoul, where a media mural as big as a football field lights up the urban environment. Click headline to read more, watch video clip & view pix--
However, for the skeptics out there, the folks at Boston Cyberarts (along with this 2012 Together Festival we’ve heard something about … somewhere) present avant-garde electronic musician Keith Fullerton Whitman, a man known equally well for experimental sampling as he is for highly improvisational performances. Surprised? What if we told you that by “man” we meant “man-droid?” Fine then, we won’t. Click healdine to watch the video clip of music performance--
SPNN is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charity, a community media center serving Saint Paul, MN and the Twin Cities metro area. Our mission is to empower people to use media and communications to better lives, use authentic voice and build common understanding. We operate five channels on the Comcast cable system, which reach 55,000 cable households in Saint Paul. Click headline to access website and watch video--
The Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) inspires social change by enabling the sharing of diverse stories through art, education and technology and also manages SF Commons, Public Access TV training, production tools and transmission for San Francisco's cable TV channels. Click headline to access BVAC's website--
The Open Media Foundation (OMF) is an innovative media and technology nonprofit organization dedicated to putting the power of the media in the hands of the people, enabling everyone to engage in their community and bring about the change they wish to see in the world. To accomplish our mission, we begin with providing affordable, high-end media and technology services. We follow up by offering training and tools that enable everyone to represent their own voice in the media conversation. Click headline to access OMF & Denver Open Media websites--
Boston Neighborhood Network Television is a nationally recognized, award-winning community media center and 501(c)(3) nonprofit which acts as a public forum for all Boston residents, nonprofit and community-based organizations and educational institutions providing them with affordable training and access to emerging media technologies. The Boston Neighborhood Network has called the BNN Charles J. Beard II Media Center home since 2007. Formerly the Egelston Square Power Station, the facility was renovated and repurposed from powering trains to empowering people. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the BNN Charles J. Beard II Media Center is a LEED-certified U.S. Green Building operating with minimal environmental impact, which contributes to the health and sustainability of our city. The BNN Charles J. Beard II Media Center houses two production studios, three edit suites, a state-of-the-art Timothy Smith Network media lab, a conference room with full audio/visual capabilities and several meeting spaces. It is a community gem providing access to 21st century communications, skills, resources and opportunities for current and future generations. Click headline to access BNN's website--
PhillyCAM is the non-profit designated by the City of Philadelphia to operate its public access television network. On October 23, 2009 PhillyCAM started cablecasting on Comcast 66/966 and Verizon 29/30. This is a landmark achievement in a city that fought for 27 years to finally get its public access television. The mission of PhillyCAM is to provide Philadelphia residents and organizations with the opportunity to communicate with each other through the creation and distribution of non-commercial media. PhillyCAM provides residents and community organizations access to media-making tools, training and opportunities for interaction between diverse communities. Click headline to access PhillyCAM website--
The Community Media Center and its affiliates GRTV, WYCE and the Wealthy Theater provide individuals and groups in the West Michigan area with access to the tools, training and transmission they need to join in the CMC mission: building community through media. For over 25 years the Community Media Center has acquired and maintained technology tools, media services and community venues to benefit the Grand Rapids community. Click headline to explore this website to discover how CMC's television, radio, IT, education and live theatre resources are here to help you.
In our latest video from TFI Interactive — the all day-event our New Media Fund headed with the help of the Ford Foundation dedicated to inspire content creators — we watch moderator Chris Lawrence (Project Director of The Hive NYC, Mozilla Foundation) along with panelists Marc Lesser (Education Director, Mouse) and Jess Klein (Hackasaurus Design and Learning Lead, Mozilla Foundation) discuss the new era of education where the tech-savvy who understand programming have plugged their talents into education with the hopes of teaching the next generation how to program instead of being programmed. Click headline to watch the video--
If you’re a content creator, there’s never been a better time than now to get your project in front of millions of viewers through the wonder and power of online distribution. With high-quality content becoming increasingly available online, it’s small wonder that more and more people are turning to their laptops instead of their TVs in order to access their favorite entertainment media. In May 2012 alone, approximately 180,785,000 individuals living in the U.S. watched some form of video content online. That’s almost 60% of the total population. For independent artists, these numbers add up to a very exciting conclusion: that traditional media is no longer the only—or even the preferred—way for modern audiences to access content. But with 72 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube alone, the prolonged attention of the average viewer is increasingly scarce. So to help their projects rise above the fray, many content creators are turning to online distributors and distribution hubs to focus attention and build a loyal audience. Click headline to read more--
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