Edutainment

Edutainment In Action- A Class Interview Assignment With Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

Oct 31, 2009
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Special To Edutainment - A Collaborative Interview By Josephine Williams, Laura Dauer & Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

At the beginning of this semester I had the opportunity to meet the mother of an incoming student and the mom's friend and co-worker outside of Alonso's Restaurant. The conversation last for about a half an hour and I told the mother that I would check in on her daughter, Josephine Williams, from time to time. Naturally, Josephine and her friend Laura Dauer asked me if I would agree to an interview with her and a classmate for her Introduction To Communications class. I agreed as long as we could incorporate edutainment and convergence methods through social media. Here is the entire interview in multiple posts.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

1. What are the official titles of your occupation and career?

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
Well, I have several titles now. Seriously, I am a national producer/director/director and Internet development specialist. I am also a national lecturer and researcher on
Edutainment & Convergence. Edutainment & Convergence is a research area that I
developed in graduate school back in 2001 that involves the fusion of entertainment,
communications, the arts and technology.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
2. What inspired you to seek a career in this area?

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

I was inspired as a far back as grade school when I used to watch old movies,
listen to radio dramas, and most importantly watching television news and
local sporting events. I met Oprah Winfrey, Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli
while a teenager and they all inspired me. In fact, I got to spend time with Oprah
as a 16 year old while running the scoreboard at a charity basketball game at Mt. St.
Joseph High School, and she came into the gym and sat right next to me and
introduced herself. She was still relatively new in town and as you can guess I
was a starstruck teenage boy, but I summoned up my nerve and told her that I
wanted to work in television and I wanted to write. She looked me in the eye and smiled
and told me that I could do anything that I wanted to do in life if I believe it, worked
hard and went after it. This was what my mom had told me since I was three years
old, so when I heard it from a local star I believed even more in what my mom said.
I hope I can thank in her in person one day because she gave me real hope.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

Josephine Williams

3. What education do you have?

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
I have a B.A. in Communications with a dual emphasis of Broadcast Journalism &

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

Communications Research;
I have a M.S. in Telecommunications Management with an emphasis in Media Production Management;
and I have a Ph.D. in Higher Education with and my research area is "Edutainment & Convergence:
Utilization of Entertainment Techniques and Technology In Higher Education from the Perspectives Of Entertainment Perspectives" all from Morgan State University. My undergrad mentors were Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Rock and Rock and Roll Radio Hall of Famer, Maurice Hotrod Houlbert, Dr. Charles L. Jenkins, a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski who told me that I had to get a doctorate during an interview that I wrote, produced and directed for old Mayor's Show on Fox 45 during the 90's. I have been blessed to be a producer, director, writer during my entire career because I interned all during school. My mentors in graduate school were Dr. Kennedy who was my undergraduate mentor along with Dr. Maddox who was an undergraduate mentor. Dr. Umaruh Bah was the professor who really got me to zero in on Edutainment and Convergence during my first paper in 2001 and he challenged me to get my doctorate. When I got my Ph.D. which Dr. Jenkins stayed on me until I was done, I had Dr. Rosemary

Dr. Rosemary Gillet-Karam

Gillet-Karam and Dr. Sylvester McKay, two former college presidents, as my professors and mentors who encouraged me to take my research to beyond academia and to business too. My final two mentors were Dr. Howard L. Simmons and my mom who was a teacher, a counselor and the first female State Farm Insurance Agent in the Baltimore area. When she retired from State Farm, I knew it was time for me to listen to Dr. Howard L. Simmons who recruited me into the Higher Education program and I became an educator in my mind from the time Dr. Simmons, who headed Middle States Accreditation - the oldest academic accrediting body in the US- convinced me to join the program.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

Laura Dauer

4. Looking back, are there course you wish you had taken? For example,
some reporters wish they had taken more government & politics courses in
addition to journalism courses.

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

No, I had no choice. I graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School and I was expected to

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courses. At Morgan, I was compelled, alright forced, to minor in business, political science, history, English and speech by Dr. Kennedy (another mentor) and Mr. Mfume. Graduate school especially my doctorate in higher education which looks at all of academic disciplines forced me to take classes in multiple fields which is why it takes so long. I had to learn all of the education things and then I had to demonstrate how communications and technology was an integral part of the learning process. Never forget, you cannot educate someone until you know how to communicate with them. Most educators teach the same way that they were taught or have been taught to teach, and seldom think outside of the box unless they are in a field like communications where change is constant and professors are forced to change.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

Josephine Williams

5. Is a graduate degree useful for this career?

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
I think a graduate degree is almost mandatory now because of the nature of the economy,

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

and because of the impact of convergence technologies on the field. Learners need to constantly upgrade skills and learn how to do research. I do not think that undergraduate school provides enough of the tools that most students need. I do believe that some people are very special, and may not need graduate school. However, they are the exception to the rule and may need to go through the process just so that they do not become total prima donnas.

Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer

Laura Dauer

6. Is this a career that one can pursue in any part of the country or do you need to move to a particular city to be more successful, such as
Chicago, NY, LA for advertising?

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

If you had asked me this question in the 90's or earlier this decade before 2004, I would have said yes that one needs to live in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles. However, convergence technologies such as the Internet, the iPhone, the Wii, podcasts, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, HD cameras and smartphones have totally changed the equation. You can now buy a Flip HD and use YouTube, iTunes and Facebook to tell compelling stories from almost anywhere in the world just by creating a link to your social media sites in a Tweet. Yes, the advertising money is still in the big markets, but you don't have to live in a big market anymore to get paid like it. Did you know that last year? There was a big news story that we discussed in my Intro To Communications class that discussed how a bunch of ordinary people were making over $100, 000 dollars with YouTube video shows that used

Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III

the Google AdSense accounts to make money.

My point is this: convergence technology has changed everything about htis field as the folks in the dying print business are finding out the hard way. I do not think print is going away it is transforming into a multi-media version of print with more sophisticated video, audio and print word in a three way interactive tandem. The print world is going to have to change its business model to a hybrid model that incorporates the traditional advertising model with a limited pay model that permits one to save stories in video or audio form for future references. The print world is now a TV and radio station mixed in with a PR firm and an ad agency. This is a very exciting time but it is scary for folks who did not upgrade their skills. This is why I turned down working in Hollywood several times a year on my political and artistic projects and focused on my DC political projects and graduate school. By the way, this area is one of the most attractive markets because it is very recession resistant and there is an election every two years which means there will always be money for communications specialist.

Edutainment Is Invading Higher Education

Jul 6, 2008
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The University College on iTunesU

By Chris A. Heidelberg, III, PhD. Publisher & Producer

The Academy is grudgingly being dragged into the 21 Century with new technologies like iTunesU which just finished its official first year.
The arguments for using podcasts for learning is becoming increasingly easier for researchers like me. First, the old 50 mile rule for commuting for higher education has been rendered mute because of distance learning, high gas prices and higher food costs.
If a student can attend a class via the Internet through a live steam on the university's site and then is able to download the class and the entire course for free on iTunes, doesn't this make common sense.

This is one of the factor's discussed by Friedman (2005) in his seminal work The World Is Flat. This point is that the

Charlie Rose - An hour with Thomas L. Friedman (August 16, 2007)

goal of using edutainment tools like gaming, simulation, and technological tools is to create a learner-centered environment (McCombs, 1997, 2005). Often many of us who work in the fields of education, communications technology and entertainment often clash along idealogical lines when it comes to the learning process. The reason that we all exist is for the learner also known as the student. Learning is and should be fun, exploratory in nature, and a journey that teaches us critical thinking and collaboration with others.

Promo_iphone3g_20080609

As I write this post Apple is preparing to release the a 3G version of the iPhone, and it is even more of a game changer than the original iPhone which has re-defined the smart phone. Several school including Duke University, MIT and Stanford are utilizing iTunes and many school IT departments have created platforms for the iPhone and its cousin the iPodTouch so that students can download courses from iTunesU. By the way both the iPhone and the iPodTouch also can play games which I believe will prove to be one of the most effective quantitative and qualitative assessment tools for learners. So the next time you hear someone with an innovative approach, please do not wait for it to be tested to death quantitatively. Listen to the learners, if we are making it easier and more interesting for the learner, then we have done our job.

An English University Speaking On Designing E-Learning

Feb 18, 2008
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University of Leicester- Designing E-Learning

The University of Leicester discusses how to design E-learning.

DonTapscott, Co-Author of Wikinomics - Sends CEO's An Open Letter On The Impact of The Internet

Feb 18, 2008
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An Open Letter to CEOs: Don Tapscott on Internet Impact

Don Tapscott, an ardent supporter of the use of convergence technology and the collaborative impact of the Internet as a business, learning and teaching tool.

Dr. Henry Jenkins of MIT Makes The Case For Entertainment and Technology Based Learning

Feb 18, 2008
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Authors@Google: Henry Jenkins

Dr. Henry Jenkins of MIT makes the case for Convergence Culture and the power of edutainment, entertainment and convergence technology as part of the learning process.