"Twenty years ago, a quiet British engineer was on the cusp of changing the world. Tim Berners-Lee was ironing out the wrinkles in a project that would become the "world wide web." As he readily admits, no-one could have predicted its significance."As the BBC Superpower Series draws to a close I'm taking a little time to reflect on the incredible experience that it has been.
Peter Horrocks, Director of BBC global news, 8th March 2010, Superpower blog
Click on the image above to take you to the BBC Superpower Series which in their own words.
"Explores the extraordinary power of the internet"
This has been a phenomenal social experiment and experience. Bloggers have interacted with other as they posted their opinions, personal stories from every corner of the world and in many different languages on The Superpower Blog. Tweeters twittered with their reviews of blogs, podcasts and videos on Superpower on Twitter. Many entries were received for the "My World" competition where entrants uploaded a 2 minute video clip with a glimpse of the world as they see it.
The winning video was "Wash, rinse and spin" by Frederico Teixeira de Sampayo from Spain.The BBC has a phenomenal range of podcasts, they are edited superbly with extremely professional journalists who keep you engaged as they set the scene, give you a sense of actually "being there" and if needs be step in when debates between locals get a little heated. But hey, don't take my word for it! Download iTunes and subscribe to the BBC podcasts that you are interested in.
They are all a little long for students to listen to in class but could be set as a homework task. There are endless Science podcasts for different agencies, one of my favourites are the 60 second podcasts from Scientific American, they are short, sharp and to the point. I have used them as a lesson starter or on occasions a guide to students before they are given the task of making their own podcast which they have edited using Audacity. I'll blog about Science podcasts in more detail another day :-)
On their "World have your say" site, the BBC provides the platform for discussions that take place between people from all around the world, on topics that they want to talk about. Some people blog, others tweet or contribute to the discussions be texting, phoning and emailing in when the programme is broadcast.
Here's a selection of the World Service podcasts, mainly documentaries that I've enjoyed listening to, they aren't all science related but general interest/social studies/business/studies/sports related.
The other internet
China patrols its cyberspace carefully. The government there closes down hundreds of websites each year and blocks access to many international websites.How do Chinese citizens get over the great firewall of China?
No comments:
Post a Comment