The simple things, the story, the ability to engage it is in the confluence of these that we all have our inspiration.

Friendship trumps money.

Yes you can do anything.

Maybe not in our jaded world but it sure is in the world of the Muppets.

So how do you go about writing a script that can take a 40 year history and make it work for a generation that is glued to the XBox?

Here is an answer.

Just a little food for thought here.

This is a fantastic 3 minutes.

The worth of validation, our parents, communication, luck…

So many things happen around us that we take for granted.

Maybe we need to sit on the sofa and take a look at our lives once in a while?

This is a clip I am going to watch again and again.

Moving and so true.

Well this is one of my favorite Canadian television talk shows.

So, what about Canadians?

Do we ever bug people?

Canadians are great at poking fun at themselves!

Check out Rick Mercer on Annoying Canadian Stereotypes

Click here to view the embedded video.

Telling a good story is not only about tools but it is about the skill, in this case of interviewing.

In this piece George Stroumboulopoulos of “the Hour “on CBC demonstrates the art of a great interview using a Q&A technique.

Students watch, listen, learn and emulate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But as of late I have been looking at myself and I realize that I have the life!

I am a successful University professor here in Dubai in the Middle East, my students seem to think what I teach is of value and that is success to me.

My family are healthy and getting the best education money can buy in the UAE.

And I have developed a very interesting radio show on DubaiEye.

Life is good, really good.

It is the radio show that has really grabbed hold of my attention over the last year.

The power of radio to stop us in our tracks is amazing and I think it is largely underestimated for one reason, we are distracted by new media.

But we still get into the car and turn on the radio!

I grew up listening to CBC so it is no wonder that it is CBC I turn to for my radio education.

And who do I like to model myself after?

Jian Ghomeshi of Q fame.

Sure I don’t have the resources of the CBC at my disposal but I try, for 2 hours 4 nights a week, to create the show that Jian Ghomeshi would want to listen to.

No I have never been to the CBC studios in Toronto and no I have never met Jian Ghomeshi and that is the allure of radio, you feel like you know a person because they are talking into your ears and he is my virtual broadcasting coach.

And no I have no plans to stalk him.

So how does my radio education work?

I listen to the Q podcasts on CBC and when I get the chance I tune into the videos on YouTube.

And then I take the tips on presentation and form and try to work it into my own broadcasts.

Here is a sample of Jian at work with a wonderful interview.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And this is the singing that was talked about in the interview.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I watch what they do in the Q studio I am in awe, really.

I am no Jian Ghomeshi but I like to think a little bit of what he does has rubbed off on what I do here in Dubai on Nightline.

The take home is simple.

If you want to do great radio you have to listen to great radio and do what ever you can to rise to the challenge.

Listen

One of the toughest parts of working in education is knowing that you are teaching a group of students of which some will go into careers that at this exact moment do not exist.

So, the question has to be, am I giving them the skills they need?

Unfortunately, and I do mean unfortunately, there are many academics around the world who really truly have no clue and are prepared to teach what they have been teaching the same way they have been teaching it for the last 2 decades with no care in the world for how their students might use, apply or think about that content.

Of course part of the problem is rapid application change of technology.

Technology itself is not really changing that fast but the way we use and apply it is strapped to a rocket heading for orbit.

So what do our teachers and professors need to do?

Look and listen more actively to their environment, oh and dare to try something newer.

I am particularly interested in the changes coming about in journalism and really see the trade having gone full circle back to the personalized niche content it was way back when.

I stumbled, quite literally, upon the Dalton Camp lecture on journalism being delivered by Sue Gardner executive director of the Wikimedia foundation.

For me, anyway, this talk helps me understand how the study of technology and the application of it might be refocused in the classroom and beyond to at least hint at how students might use old and new tools being delivered in academia for their future.

The lecture was broadcast on Ideas a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program.

I would love to read your comments!

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/audio.html is where you can hear more Ideas programs.

Here are the details of the Camp lecture.

November 26
THE 2009 DALTON CAMP LECTURE IN JOURNALISM

Listen

Journalism is facing new challenges as it evolves in the context of online environments. Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation delivers the Dalton Camp Lecture at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.