This course has changed a lot since we first started it, but it has always stayed very true to the core idea of combining what has been learned in the curriculum of the communication college to real world activities.

My latest projects are all based around sound.

Part of the motivation to work with sound is my love for radio and the ability it has to be the ultimate education tool.

And then there is the fact that my students have a huge amount of technology on their person daily.

Laptop, phone, camera, MP3 players and more.

So what if we could use a students personal technology, their skills and my passion for radio to create a learning tool for UAE Nationals and expats alike?

The project involves students finding a sound that reminds them of something in their life.

Students record the sound on their phones and import them to their laptops.

Once the sound is on the laptop they record and intro and description of the sound and edit the whole thing together.

The result is magic!

And the reality is that while my students are not recording experts they have all the tools and talent to work in sound NOW.

When I say talent, in this case anyway, I am talking about cultural talent.

My Canadian sensibility leads me to listen to music that is being produced here in the UAE as a piece of UAE culture.

Well, last night on Nightline I had Paul Kelly of TripleW.me joining me in studio with 2 UAE based music producer, WOW.

Dylan Ellis, www.dylan-ellis.com, and Joshua Williams, www.joshuafwilliams.com, showed me a whole side of the UAE I did not even know existed.

Dylan and Josh not only talked about themselves but also the industry that they are helping shape int he UAE.

They are a perfect example of “anything is possible”.

Not only did we have a great chat that is well worth the listen, but they also brought in a track each that they have produced.

What a heard immediately was music of a global standard that could have been produced in LA or London, but it was produced here.

I enjoyed this interview, give it a listen.

And here is the music of Absolace and Beat Antenna at a little higher sample quality.

Cultural industries in the UAE are alive and well!

You need something to carry all the gear.

You need something that can house a generator.

You need something that has a toilet.

This may be the trailer for you.

I didn’t get a good look at the sewage storage system BUT there is a fan on the toilet.

One of the things I love about the UAE is the spirit of can-do, and this utility trailer is a clear example of that.

So what does the UAE film industry need?

UAE, Emirati talent!

It is great that we have many film festivals cropping up, and my favorite is the student led project at Zayed University, but festivals are not enough!

We, expats in the UAE and Emiratis alike, need to start looking at the core of the UAE industry.

What do we have today?

What is missing?

And how do we start.

First and foremost WE NO NOT NEED MORE EXPAT CONSULTANTS TO COME TO THE UAE TO FIX THINGS!

There are more than enough highly educated film, culture and public policy experts on the house to help shape/create/jump start the UAE industry.

And we also have the talent right here right now to create the public policy vehicles and measure the success of those vehicles in promoting the UAE film industry.

Maybe someone will listen.

It was interesting to speak to Saro and Ahmed about the UAE film industry as they came to the table from another corner of the conversation.

So, lets not just talk but start doing.

I put my expertise in the ring to look at the public policy issues.

Are we ready to start the change?

I was talking to an educator at an IB school about the mega play they are putting on this term.

My question was is is student written? NO.

Are the students directing? NO.

Students organizing the production? NO

Students are filming and recording the production? NO.

So what is the point of the production? Even the school must be doubting the educational value because during a week of IB inspections all rehearsals were cancelled!

We need to be thinking long and hard about what we are doing in education. Are we doing education for us or for the student?

I think we have forgotten the student.

Christian Long of be playful design passed this article along.

I love the lead.

IN a speech last week, President Obama said it was unacceptable that “as many as a quarter of American students are not finishing high school.” But our current educational approach doesn’t just fail to prepare teenagers for graduation or for college academics; it fails to prepare them, in a profound way, for adult life.

The article goes on to talk about an independent education project where the students design the school, what will be learned and how.

The students in the Independent Project are remarkable but not because they are exceptionally motivated or unusually talented. They are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn things that matter to them and when they learn together. In such a setting, school capitalizes on rather than thwarts the intensity and engagement that teenagers usually reserve for sports, protest or friendship.

Watch this video and be blown away.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So my question is how can we do this at the University level? Let the students start their own school!

Check this out and lets start a conversation. What is stopping us from doing this?

Sure there are the vacations and the very nice working hours, but is that enough?

Then about this time of the year I get my answer to why I stick around.

This is the time of the year when the students who I met in the introduction to communication class are now graduating and doing their final projects. Those things that will show the world that their education has some application to things outside the classroom.

This is when I see the fruit of what I have been teaching, some students suggest it is more like torture, all the same it has been in the classroom.

Here are 2 examples being spoken about by 2 groups of students.

One example is a guide book to Dubai.

And the other is a cultural magazine for Emiraties to learn more about their own culture, today.

Sure I would like more money, who wouldn’t? But I get to watch emirate students go from being a bit nervous and tentative about media and communication to something amazing, becoming part of the media of the nation.

I think a MasterCard commercial could be made of my teaching year.

If you get a chance to work with students don’t even think twice! You get more than you give every time.

Last night I asked the UAE how they felt about the growing global phenomenon to use video surveillance,  whether it works or not, in public and private environments.

The response was very interesting.

While all were in agreement that public surveillance is a good thing there was not a resounding cry against private space surveillance.

Is it possible there is so much watching going on that we have just come to accept it?

Or are we not tuned into how much of our daily activity is being watched and recorded?

Listen to what the UAE had to say.

What do you think? Is it a question of safety or is it a question of privacy?

Too many education group executives think the best way to deal with decreased revenue and greater demand on fiscal resources is to cut back on teachers, offerings and even supplies.

In fact too many education executives have little to no idea about the business side of education because their own education is a B.Ed, maybe even an M.Ed.

What the business of education needs is a reboot.

How many education executives have MBAs in education? Times are different so thinking also needs to be.

I think part of the problem schools face today, and that is schools at all levels, is that they are trying to be global players or deliver some form of global experience at the expense of the rich local environment they live in .

Global thinking is good but it can be very costly and decontextualized from the greater education project of a school.

Think about international study trips for instance, nice but are they a good investment? Only for a small group of people and often for a short period of time.

A popular program is called “Week Without Walls” where students and teachers globe trot and try to do a bit of good for the global community is often cited as invaluable for participants.

Instead of traveling to Greece what if for a week students helped renovate a school in a rural area where they live? Build a well? Farm? Talk to the elderly? ENGAGE!

Global education trips are all fine and dandy BUT they have a cost and I am far from convinced that teachers and students can make a sustainable impact on a global community by going on a little education trip, even if the week is repeated by another group year on year.

And then there are all the campaigns to help schools and groups in far flung places! Wonderful! But are these campaigns sustainable and can everyone participate? No, and no.

The problem our schools in the UAE have is that they spend an extraordinary amount of time thinking about helping people and communities abroad without giving any thought to the community up the road.

I am not suggesting that global projects be abandoned outright only that local projects also be considered in the education mix.

Local projects are sustainable and can be year long projects that students from different year groups can take part in.

Local projects can be built into a curriculum!

Local projects, by virtue of them being in our backyard, allow for ultra creativity.

Need to help bring some sustainable business to a community? Students can look at a situation and help set something up that they follow for the year with the idea being that after 8 months they hand it over to the community.

By thinking more local schools have living applications for what is being learned.

And acting locally also means the school is not just in the community but part of the community and that cannot be quantified.

But what is most important to consider is the value that is added to any school curriculum by engaging the local community.

By community engagement the relevancy of education is assured and a whole new dimension is added to the larger education project that I believe recasts the balance sheet.

But are education group executives listening?

Over and over again I have told my students that what we learn at school is secondary to the process.

Sure there are some exceptions but they are not as glaring as you might think.

What is important in our education is that we learn to follow through, meet deadlines, dare, challenge and ultimately get the tools to know who to ask and how to ask for help and guidance when we need it.

Sure some may disagree but that disagreement is fueled more out of fear of a change in the way we deliver education than the reality of the suggestion.

Last night I spoke to Iman Ben Chaibah about the creation of Sail magazine.

Iman Ben Chaibah on SAILemagazine.com

Nightline a Conversation

What is interesting is that Iman studied computer science and works in the computer industry, NOT the field of communication and journalism.

Yes there is no question Iman is a journalist!

The point of all this is wandering off the path is what education should be all about, getting us to explore and follow our gut feelings no matter how far from what we are trained to do it is!

Confident? Totally.

Driven? Totally.

Proud? Absolutely.

So why are more women not looking at her and just going for it?

Nayla started at HCT in the UAE and learned her film craft at Ryerson in Toronto Canada.

Yes she has a company and yes she has made a handful of shorts.  What I find really interesting is her role at giving back and helping to craft the UAE’s film industry.

She has helped to create a taste for film through the Scene Club and she is also rallying several groups to help fuel an indigenous UAE film industry.

Nayla is bold and pushing the film boundaries in the UAE from the creation to the consumption.

Listen to my conversation with Nayla.