Free and Legal Online TV

Back when I was young, jobless, indifferent to school, responsibilities, the future of my country, in other words, a teenager, I would spend my free time (of which upon reflection, there was a great deal) in front of the television. It was the 70s & 80s, that Taupe Age of Television. Sobering civic and social issues would on occasions interrupt the canned laughter and slapstick dialogue between chatty characters with sparkling teeth, dimples, and one liners (Whatchoo talking 'bout, Willis?)

It's the late 70s, about 330 in the afternoon, and I've rushed home from school to watch... One Day at a Time. Bonnie Franklin is a single mom, ooo a divorcee as they used to say, raising two teenaged girls played by MacKenzie Phillips and (steady... steady...) Valerie Bertinelli who would go on to crush the hearts of boys and young men everywhere, when in real life she ran off with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. A rock star, figures. So appropriate for the time. Today, she probably would've hitched up with a fireman. And of course, the fourth main character of the show was Schneider the building superintendent, macho-extraordinnaire, with the swagger of a worldly man who's seen things, you know, "like in 'Nam," when in truth, the only battles he'd done were with overflowing toilets.

A few weeks ago I had been experiencing random nostalgic moments, one of which happened to include this sitcom. And even though this program ranks nowhere near my Top Ten All-Time list of television sitcoms, it marks a certain time in my life that I do want to remember. Mostly, so I don't make the same mistakes my parents made when they raised me.

But at about the same time I was feeling nostalgic, I was introduced to a web site www.hulu.com.
Hulu is an online library filled with television programs, past and present. You can find several episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends and its clever wordplay, which is as funny today as it was back then ("You're back in one piece" -- "You were expecting installments?"); the A-Team, featuring who else, but Mr. T; Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as Bruce Banner in the Incredible Hulk, along with current shows such as Heroes and the Simpsons.

Hulu is free, online viewing of many television shows AND featured films, such as Pride of the Yankees, Rudy, and get this, the first three Karate Kid flicks. Talk about living large! Hulu is advertising supported, so you'll have to watch a brief commercial at the beginning and occasional superimposed ads.

Still, the quality of this viewing experience is much better than watching on Google Video or YouTube. And by watching on Hulu as well as the other broadcast network websites (ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, WB, etc), you don't have to worry about the consequences of downloading favorite shows from foreign-based websites that do not recognize US law, quite possibly facing litigation from the major entertainment studios for video piracy and copyright infringement.

And since you're most likely reading this blog on your district issued laptop, please let it be known that the Scarsdale Public Schools will not take kindly to being named as your co-defendant.

Hulu.com... it's legal.

The Internet is Evil (or is it?)

Many educators and parents dwell on the dark side of the Internet. They say Google, YouTube, Wikipedia are the Internet's Axis of Evil. They are a Trilogy of Terror, the same name of the classic 70s B movie with one hokey horror story after another.

Yes. To quote the Frankenstein monster, in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, "Fire is bad." But fire is also good. It can warm leftovers, regenerate forest life, provide a soothing ambiance around the bubble bath... so I'm told.

The Internet is no different. One can find images, videos, and ideas that are bad or false, that assault our moral sensibilities and skew our research. On the other hand, there's so much good that it does provide. And knowledgeable people, who are able to navigate the world wide web, who can locate, evaluate, and verify sources, and apply information that has been mined from the Internet, will become this century's leaders in our schools, our communities, and our workplaces, not just where we live, but around the globe.

Thanks to the Internet and its ability to connect us with people anywhere in the world, even in real time, we are no longer limited to "Think Globally, Act Locally." Now we can think and act globally AND locally at about the same time.

So what does this mean for parents and teachers? We need to be better prepared for this current world order. We need to provide children with guidance and supervision. Our instincts prompt us to steer children out of harm's way. But how will they respond if they do wind up in harm's way? How will we have prepared them for this inevitability?

It is imperative that ALL parents and educators have basic Internet skills because like it or not our children will acquire and develop them. And some day they will wind up in harm's way. And the question that will be asked is, "How did we prepare them for this inevitability?"

We prepare them by setting aside petrifying, Internet fears and cynicisms and acknowledge the possibilities of a WiFi, interconnected global community through our own personal web searching practice. We do this to create a common ground for conversation with our children, so that we can provide credible guidance and supervision during their web work (please read this NY Times article about the literacy debate regarding online reading) . We take them by the hand and show them how to find pieces of information on the Internet, synthesize them, and evaluate them for accuracy and usefulness to their research needs.

But most important, in this struggle between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants we need to constantly impress upon them our Old World values. Our children, the Digital Natives, will be prepared for whatever horrors lurk on the Internet if the content of their character includes honesty, fairness, safety, social and family responsibility, and a passion for solving problems.

There is so much knowledge we can impart to our children as they encounter unfamiliar experiences whether in person or on the Internet. And the more we talk to them and share with them our experiences and the values that we hold tightly, the more likely our children will be able to deal with the pangs and bangs they endure in life, online and off. This is as they say, good teaching, good parenting.

I'm reminded of an old tale. A man falls into a deep hole in the ground. His repeated calls for help are unheard. And just when he's about to give up, another man appears at the top of the hole. But instead of lowering a rope, the would-be rescuer jumps into the hole. The first man is stunned and asks, "Are you crazy? What are you doing?" The second man replies with reassurance, "It's ok. I've been down here before. I know the way out."

iTunes U

Many college campuses have begun posting their course lectures as a free download in iTunes U. Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Oxford and many others post course materials to iTunes U. These lectures range from Psych 101 to guest speakers such as Thomas Friedman on how the world has become Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the title of his current book. You can also find on iTunes U an audio download of President Obama's Inauguration address. Again, it's free. Colleges and Universities have acknowledged that technology has affected learning styles and so they have decided to adapt to changing student needs. iTunes U is one way they have chosen to meet the 21st century needs of their clientele. If you're curious, launch iTunes, go to the Music Store, and search for iTunes U. So go ahead. Take another whack at higher education!