Educating children via video tutorial

Even though some children do not focus much on studying, they are still able to gain knowledge when watching our programs because we have combined entertainment and education.

Video tutorial

“Hello, kids! Welcome to the Khmer literature tutorial! In this VCD, you will learn how to write Khmer consonants and vowels while also learning about social morality and the many ways you can practice being a good person.”

The above sentences are voiced by an animated cartoon character in an introduction video meant to demonstrate to children all the benefits they can receive from the VCD, a video tutorial on the Khmer language produced by You Can School. The video, which can be bought in markets across the country, is just one of many locally produced VCDs that have been using video and animation instead of live teachers to instruct children in a variety of subjects.

Started in 2008, You Can School has published 20 volumes of video tutorials in various subjects.

Ourn Sarath, the director of You Can School and a producer of the tutorial videos, says there are a lot of benefits that children and parents can get from these videos.

“Even though some children do not focus much on studying, they are still able to gain knowledge when watching our programs because we have combined entertainment and education in each video,” Ourn Sarath says.

He adds that parents who have more than one child can save money by buying one video for all their children. The children can watch the tutorial together and replay it multiple times until they understand the content.

BS Studio is another video tutorial company that has been in operation since 2008. So far, this company has produced 12 volumes of tutorials, spending around two months to produce a single VCD. Some of these tutorials teach Khmer, some teach English, and all are aimed at children.

“Because of the novelty of this teaching method, we get a lot of support from parents, some of whom even buy the tutorials for relatives living in foreign countries who want to study Khmer,” Chhem Sotvannak, a producer at the BS Studio says. He adds that Adobe After Effect software is used to make all the motion pictures.

Heng Sokha, a teacher at the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) and the mother of a six-year-old child, says she was unaware that there were instructional videos in the Khmer language, but added that she had bought some of the English-instruction cartoon tutorials for her child, starting at age two.

“I bought some Hollywood cartoons for my child to watch, and I saw an improvement in her listening and speaking abilities compared to other children of the same age,” Heng Sokha says.

“After watching my baby improve a lot, I have decided to continue buying videos for her at increasingly advanced levels.” Nonetheless, these videos cannot replace traditional teaching.

“I don’t think it’s right to keep children at home and simply have them watch videos,” says 25-year-old Men Ponleu, who has been working as a pre-school teacher for more than six years.

She explains that videos should be used only to review lessons children have already learned at school.

“Students can only practice with videos if they have a teacher to bounce questions off,” Men Ponleu says.

“This kind of video works well for children who already have some basic education,” echoes Ourn Sarath. He adds that the aim of creating the videos was to complement, not replace traditional education.

06/07/2011

By: Dara Saoyuth

This article was published on LIFT, Issue 78 published on July 06, 2011

10 Reasons People Hear News FIRST Now from Facebook

Kathy Nelson, one of Student Blog readers, has just sent me an article which I hope all of you also like to read it. I’ve posted the full article here, and if you’d like to read from the original site, feel free to click the link at the end of the post. Cheers,

From original post

So there’s this new social networking service online you may have heard of – FaceBook? Yes, of course you’ve heard of it, unless you’ve been exploring deep space for the past seven years. It’s all but replaced the telephone as a communications medium between friends and family; so it’s small wonder that a growing number of people count on FaceBook as their primary source for news as well.

The following is a list of ten reasons why people are getting their news first from FaceBook:

1. Because They’re There – The first and most obvious reason is that many people are spending so much time on FaceBook that they’re getting all their information there, from family events to current events. That is, when they’re not sharing hugs, or planting crops on Farmville.
2. Widgets – Many people have their desktops and browsers set to display notifications directly from FaceBook. As such, these notifications tend to be the first thing they will see when booting up their PC, or while they’re working at their desks. So when news breaks, it’s no surprise that Aunt Clara’s wall post will be the first you’ll hear of it.
3. Causes and Groups – One facet of FaceBook’s popularity has been the proliferation of various interest groups on the website. Many FaceBook members who join such groups also get updates and news reports on issues relevant to their common interests, via FaceBook messages.
4. Newsgroup Profiles – Just about every entity you can think of has a FaceBook profile associated with it. If your source for news is CNN, and you’re a frequent FaceBook user, chances are good that you’ll be getting your news feeds via CNN’s FaceBook page as well.
5. Going Legit – A December 16, 2008 article on the Australian website TheAge.com, reported that lawyers in Canberra had been granted the legal right to serve court documents to defendants via those defendants’ FaceBook profiles. The point being that as FaceBook continues to shape our social, political and commercial lives/livelihoods, users are increasingly dependent upon it for information of all sorts, including their news.
6. Going Mainstream – As FaceBook has become the foremost means by which many family members keep in touch, it also tends to be the primary source for hometown news, via updates from relatives on FaceBook.
7. Trust – has always played a major role in where an individual turns for their news sources. As social networking services such as FaceBook provide members with a vehicle by which to develop their own individual networks of friends and affiliates, it’s only natural that this extends to how they stay informed as well.
8. Following the Herd – News agencies are like any other businesses. They are driven by numbers: audience size, advertising revenues, etc. And like any other business, their parent media companies are following those numbers; and those numbers are telling them that FaceBook membership represents one huge global market.
9. Scooping the Tube – The immediacy of the social media platform makes for a faster means by which to disseminate information. As opposed to the lag involved in traditional news production, it’s an attractive alternative for sharing news. So more news outlets are breaking stories via FaceBook.
10. FaceBook Members  – Some events and other newsworthy items are being shared on FaceBook pages by the news-makers themselves before they actually become mainstream news. Corporate, celebrity and political entities are using profiles on sites like FaceBook and Twitter to share their news prior to the stories being picked up by the media.

There’s no question that social networking services have altered the way we communicate and socialize. Much like cell phone texting did previously, they continue become more prevalent as a medium for keeping us up to date on everything from our social calendars to current news and notifications.

05/07/2011

From: Student Blog reader

Original site: 10 Reasons People Hear News FIRST Now from Facebook

Attended a lecture by Ralph J. Begleiter

Attended a lecturer by Ralph J. Begleiter / by: Tith Chandara

That’s a great chance for me yesterday to have chance joining a lecture by Ralph Begleiter, director (Center for Political Communication) and former CNN world affairs correspondent.

I have learnt a lot in the  4 hours and a half lecture. The three main topics were being discussed in the lecture are: 1. Media “independence” – what it means/how it works, 2. Is Seeing Believing? – Photo ethics, photo manipulation, and 3. Broadcast News/ Broadcast News Documentary.

This lecture was hosted at the Department of Media and Communication (DMC), and attended by most of DMC students and lecturers.

Below is a short biography of Ralph Begleiter extracted from the website of University of Delaware:

Ralph Begleiter is Director of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware. He brings more than 30 years of broadcast journalism experience to his award-winning instruction in communication, journalism, and political science. During two decades as CNN’s “world affairs correspondent,” Begleiter was the network’s most widely-traveled reporter. He has worked in some 97 countries on all 7 continents. He continues to travel with UD students, and conducting media workshops in several countries under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State. Begleiter teaches undergraduate courses in “Broadcast News,” “History of TV News Documentary,” “Broadcast News Documentary,” “Global Media & International Politics,” and special courses such as a study abroad program in Antarctica and South America in photojournalism and geopolitics (2003, 2005), in Turkey (2008) studying the “Geopolitics of the Mediterranean,” and “Road to the Presidency” during election years. He also directs the university’s “Global Agenda” public speaker program, and in 2006 and 2009 his “Global Agenda” class met weekly by videoconference with students in the Middle East to discuss cross-cultural and media issues. In 2002 he took UD students to Cuba for the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

At CNN during the 1980’s and 1990’s, he covered U.S. diplomacy, interviewed countless world leaders, hosted a global public affairs show, and co-anchored CNN’s “International Hour.” In 1998, Begleiter wrote and anchored a 24-part series on the Cold War. He covered historic events at the end of the 20th century, including virtually every high-level Soviet/Russian-American meeting; the Persian Gulf Crisis in 1990-91; Middle East Peace efforts; and many UN and NATO summit meetings. Since coming to UD, he has hosted the Foreign Policy Association’s annual “Great Decisions” television discussion series, an international affairs program on Public Broadcasting System stations. in 1994,he received the Weintal Prize from Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service, one of diplomatic reporting’s highest honors. In 2008, the Delaware Press Association named him “Communicator of Achievement.” In 2009, he earned the University of Delaware’s College of Arts & Sciences “Excellence in Teaching” award.
He holds an Honors B.A. in political science from Brown University, an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, and is a member of the National Honor Society, Phi Beta Kappa.

07/01/2011

By: Dara Saoyuth