It has been interesting to watch the news coverage here in Australia around Tropical Cyclone Yasi (Twitter search tag) that has just passed over the Queensland coast last night. All our thoughts go out to those that have been involved and from the initial reports it looks like damage is less than what was expected. This morning like many I have been flicking channels and watching the different reports on the cyclone and the aftermath and I have been struck by the significant difference in approach between the major services and to my mind Channel 7′s Sunrise has come out on top by a mile. One does have to ask about the need to send nearly all reporters into the danger zone to get the story but I guess that is part of building a better picture and credibility with our well knowm stars on the ground toughing it out with the locals.
What has struck me most with the Sunrise reporting is that they have significantly increased the use of live streaming video feeds via mobile devices (iPhones I believe) and the use of Skype. Whilst the footage has been rough and ready and a little choppy the audio has been nearly spot on, but it is the fact that they are using this technology to help connect stories and locations that is significant. Hopefully people watching will start to see that if you have a connected device with a camera and the apps to stream video then you too can become part of the action in a visual sense, Twitter and Facebook have connected us with news and updates, Youtube provided us with a video after the event; but maybe we might start to see the development of live streaming from everyday people of events and activities. It will be interesting to watch to see if news services and TV stations or even local internet services start to look to develop apps for people to download so that if something interesting happens and you are on the spot you can stream the event so that the news service will pick up the feed and start to collect data and information. When you think about this it starts to make you consider all the possibilities both positive and negative.
From an educational sense many years ago when I worked at Alice Springs School of the Air and as part of the NT Department of Education we explored the use of video backpacks with wireless/satellite communications to try and enable the recording and streaming in real time of events, presenters, locations and activities to broadcast to students and teachers right across the NT that could not make it to these activities. We explored the technology and options available and even test some but found that the costs and technology at the time was prohibitive. The coverage this morning has just highlighted that we have come such a long way and that if you have a good wireless/3G connection then you can stream with the phone in your pocket. For distance education this opens up a huge number of options but even for traditional school the ability to stream parts of an excursion for other classes or connect with experts and other schools whilst out and about is amazing. I know that the use of Skype in classrooms is starting to take off and many teachers are exploring and using this tool – what I am not sure of is how many are using streaming with others via mobile devices. Today marks an interesting point in the development of streaming from mobile devices for news – will this awaken the wider populous?
Funny how things work, just discovered this link to a class in the US that is using uStream among other things that is streaming out a conversation with the invite for others to attend.
Check the link out – http://goo.gl/pA5JY
Great stuff