I’ve been working on a few new sponsorship deals for my podcasts recently and so I was really excited to point my newest client towards the recent draft standards put out by the ADM. The client in question is looking at trying out new ways of acquiring customers through non-traditional advertising. He had a lot of questions about what I mean by a download and how I measure my podcasts statistics.

I said, “Great questions and I’ll answer them for you. First, I am a member of the Association for Downloadable Media and they have just released the first draft of their advertising and measurement standards. You should take a moment to go over to their site and take a look at the standards and definitions they use to define these important concepts.”

His response to me was classic.

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This month I’ll follow up with the next piece from my series on education and the use of new media production techniques as a tool for learning.  I have already outlined the overall points in the first installment.  Last time, I discussed the ways teachers can save time and effort by putting podcasting and other new media production techniques to use in the classroom.

While it’s always helpful for an instructor to provide resources to students directly, there are a number of ways for a student to find the resources they need for themselves.  Students can find existing downloadable audio and video content via search engines and podcast directories that better fits their own specific needs beyond the suggestions of the teacher. But these students have the potential to be more than just consumers of new media. One of the most powerful aspects of new media creation is that anyone can produce it.  Savvy students are creating powerful study tools for themselves and others with a minimum of effort and skill.

It is through creativity that higher forms of learning takes place.  Learning progresses along many levels from the early phase of knowledge acquisition and rote memory through basic comprehension and into simple application of learned concepts.  Beyond this the student begins to take their learning and examine it in order to adapt it to new situations.  One great way to do this is through creation of new media that instructs themselves as well as others.

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I posted a few weeks ago about my views on the benefits to teachers found in podcasting and downloadable media. These benefits reach both the teachers and the students.

This week, I thought I would focus on the benefits specifically for teachers at all levels of education in using downloadable media. First, though, let’s go back in time to the old way of presenting multimedia lesson segments.

I’m probably dating myself but, do you remember watching filmstrips in school? The teacher would load the film strip into the projector and then play a cassette tape or vinyl record to provide audio content.

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As a member of the Education and Outreach Committee at the Association for Downloadable Media, I see the ease with which new media fits into the mold for an educational program. Sometimes I think that I’m the only one, though. It seems as if the educators I talk with are either scared by the concept of new media access for students or fearful of the perceptions about the web and web-based content.

To address some of these concerns, I am going to publish a series of posts here on the ADM blog that will:

1. Demonstrate value for teachers using downloadable media in all educational settings
2. Point out the very real advantages of using new media production tools for instruction, as study aids, and in project assignments for students
3. Look at the life skills that new media production and consumption build in those who consume them.

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