Environmental studies PhD candidate Andrew Mark knows what鈥檚 it鈥檚 like to have a long commute to campus, but he tries to use this time productively by thinking about and listening to podcasts.

In fact, he likes podcasts so much, he and a fellow student have created a podcast series he hopes other 91亚色 commuters will find intriguing and thought-provoking.

This week, Mark and Amanda Di Battista, also an environmental studies PhD candidate at 91亚色, will launch CoHearence, a new podcast series exploring the connections between the environment and history and culture.

The first episode will explore mourning,聽loss and the environment聽

On Thursday, Feb. 9, 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) will host a screening and discussion based on the first episode of CoHearence as part of the FES Lecture Series at 12:45pm at 141 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies building. Mark and Di Battista, along with other participants from the episode, will be on hand for a Q&A period.

Funded by (Network in Canadian History & Environment) and the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), CoHearence is a six-part, monthly audio program free to the general public. Part one of the pilot podcast is 鈥淢elancholy, Mourning and Environmental Thought: Making Loss the Centre鈥� and it looks at the loss involved in today鈥檚 changing environment.

Cohearance will also look at protests and the environment

For anyone not familiar with podcasts, they are similar to radio broadcasts with a difference in the delivery system. Instead of tuning in via radio, listeners download episodes digitally and listen to them through a computer or personal media device, such as an iPod or cellphone. 鈥淲e think [podcasting] is ideally suited to talking about complex environmental issues,鈥� says Di Battista. Mark agrees, saying 鈥淲e hope this medium can create a new venue for information dissemination, beyond the written word, the lecture, the conference or an advising session.鈥�

Di Battista says her goal in creating CoHearence is to 鈥渇acilitate interesting discussion about the relationship between culture and environment. We work really hard to make each episode interesting both to those within the academy and the general public.鈥�

Mark hopes the project will also reach an audience outside of the University. 鈥淥ur primary objective is to improve the interdisciplinary discussion happening within our Faculty. We can [also] create narratives that are engaging to people outside of our community. For example, not only does our Faculty have theoretical ideas about the G20 protests, but we also have lived knowledge of those events.鈥�

Each podcast episode will highlight current FES research. Di Battista says the reason for choosing melancholy and mourning as the topic for the first podcast is that 鈥渋n the wake of the huge amount of environmental loss we talk, teach and learn about each day here in [FES], thinking about the ways that we might deal with the grief and anger that come out of those experiences seemed like a great place to start.鈥�

Subsequent episodes will address a range of topics, including food justice, protest and resistance, and even highlights from the held last October at the Gladstone Hotel.

Di Battista and Mark hope that series will endure on the airwaves for a long time. To help ensure this, they are offering workshops on podcasting through the (CAP) program so future generations of FES students may continue to produce CoHearence. 鈥淧eople will discover and rediscover the series as a document of our times,鈥� says Mark. 鈥淭hey might listen to our shows to hear about the topics or merely to come to know the people we interview better.鈥�

CoHearence is available now on as a part of Sean Kheraj鈥檚 established podcast called Nature鈥檚 Past. It is also available on the website, which currently features a short preview video.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The covered Murphy's remarks at the event in an article published May 12:

The younger generations are living their lives with iPods blaring in their ears and a cellphone glued to their hand. So when they head into the classroom, it's no wonder their minds begin to wander when their teacher starts writing on the blackboard.

Learning in today's digital society was just one of the issues tackled during this week's Canada 3.0 forum, held at the Stratford Rotary Complex Monday and Tuesday.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in an old-school way of thinking and we have some work to do around that teaching culture,鈥� said Janet Murphy, project manager for the program at 91亚色 and the 91亚色 Region District School Board.

She noted most schools ban cellphones, which are the 鈥渕ost powerful computing devices鈥� we possess. She was quick to point out teachers and faculty are prepared to shift, but face a number of impediments along the way.

The ABEL program works with both public and private sectors to help transform learning and connect people together. She noted that young people don鈥檛 view technology as technology 鈥� it is only the older generations who see it that way. 鈥淭his really is an opportunity like no other,鈥� she said, of digital learning, calling every day a 鈥渓earning day鈥�.

The complete article is available on the .

ABEL supports the effective use of new and existing information communications technologies to encourage innovation, and provides educators and researchers with pedagogical support, technological assistance, the use of collaborative and innovative applications and tools.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Teaching and education: How to reach the iPod generation in school appeared first on Research & Innovation.