For the past seven years, Billings Senior High technology teacher Vince Long has been running a mock radio station in his classroom. As one of the activities in his Technology Education class, students use the audio equipment to record a fifteen minute show as if they were on the air. Their program includes music, news, weather, sports, and commercials, some of which are student-written. They turn in their finished cassettes for a grade, with the program never seeing the airwaves. However, in the past year, several advances in technology have made it possible for these shows, and others, to be broadcast on a 24-hour a day signal.
Ever since I joined the Tech Ed program in the spring of 1996 as a freshman, I had dreamed of starting a radio station at Senior High. For several years prior to that I had been running my own radio station out of my basement bedroom. I knew the basics of running a small station and also the effort that went in to one. Running a radio station at the school did not seem feasable because of the difficulty in broadcasting more than an hour a day when I would have a class there. Then, as a junior, new audio technology for computers gave me an idea that made the radio station possible. Using a Pentium computer, compressed audio files called MP3s could be programmed ahead of time to play in a specified order. This made it possible to operate a 24-hour radio station.
In the summer of 1998, the radio project started. Mr. Long and I ordered a low power, FM stereo transmitter kit from Ramsey Electronics. Once the unit was assembled and in working order, an antenna was required for broadcasting. Several designs were considered and tested. First, we tried the whip antenna that was included with the transmitter kit. The results were satisfactory, but we felt that the distance of broadcast would be inproved by an external antenna mounted several feet in the air. The second design we experimented with was the j-pole antenna design. When completed, it looks like a plumbing tragedy. It consisted of a 6-foot long piece of PVC pipe with a 6-inch piece of wire sticking out of it and another piece of wire at the top formed in a loop around the pipe. When connected to the transmitter and mounted outside, the range was increased by several blocks.
The third design, and the one we ended up keeping, was the ground plane antenna. It has four horizontal poles and one vertical pole made of copper pipe. The lenths of the poles was specifically calculated to match the frequency of the transmitter. When installed outside, the broadcast range was doubled.
Once the technical part of the station was completed, the next challenge was the programming. Over the summer, Mr. Long had spent multiple hours transfering a portion of his extensive collection of old time radio shows to the compressed MP3 format. The shows were tranferred to recordable CD-ROMs each having the ability to play for over two days. In the meantime, the Pentium 233 computer was installed in the room that was to be used for the radio station. Wired into the mixing board, along with CD player and cassette decks, the Pentium became a third source of programming. In order to prepare the computer for on-air use, an MP3 audio player, Winamp, was installed. This program allows us to play the MP3 old time radio CDs on the air. We also installed Sound Forge, a program that enables us to produce programming such as announcements and commercials on the computer. Programming the computer for the day became simple. By dropping selected old time radio shows, in a specified order, into the playlist editor in Winamp, the on air programming was created. Using a mircophone wired into the computer, I recorded some announcements about the radio shows and about the station and placed them between the shows in the playlist. This gave the radio station the effect that there was a live, on-air announcer playing the tracks 24-hours a day. In reality, it normally takes a little under an hour to set the station up for a 24-hour period! This frees up my schedule allowing me to produce some of my own programs that provide news, weather, and music.
Another element we added to the station was a website. Our website is designed a lot like that of other radio stations, including air schedules, station info, links, and other interests. The most convenient part of our website is the OnlineRadio page. Because our broadcast range does not extend beyond a few hundred feet, the number of possible listeners we have is small. The online radio page provides an online sample of a typical broadcast day at the station. Visitors to the site can listen to a variety of programs using a RealAudio player on their computer. The online programs include several music shows, special features hosted by Vince Long, comedy, mystery, new radio drama, student produced shows, and many others. You can visit our site at:
http://senior.billings.k12.mt.us/radio/index.htm
The technology education class at Senior High still includes several student projects involving the radio station. Students still record fifteen minutes shows which are played later on the station. The fifteen minute show includes music selected by the students, a news and weather segment, student written and produced commercials and public service announcements, and 2 station IDs. The students use the analog equipment rather than computers in order to provide a more classic DJ experience. In another project, students participate in the recording of IDs and commercials for the radio station. These are ussualy written ahead of time and recorded onto a computer to give the student more experience with digital audio technology.
Our radio station, called "Bronc Radio", is a non-profit, low power FM radio station broadcasting from Billings Senior High School at a frequency of 90.5 Megahertz. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has strict guidelines for low power radio stations, which we have followed. We are currently hoping for the passage of new LPFM guideline which would allow school radio stations like ours to have higher power (up to 50 watts) providing a better coverage of the local area. Until then, you can catch a glimpse of us as you drive by the school on Grand Ave, or visit us online.
Joseph Standish is a senior at Billings Senior High.
During the last three months, I have attended two technology conferences, the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education and the Northwest Council for Computers in Education conference. Although the conferences were designed for different audiences, I heard the same message over and over again at both conferences. I would like to share this message with you.
By the year 2010, approximately 90% of the jobs in this country will require some computer skills. Not only will our graduates be required to operate computers, they will also be required to use them to acquire information. They may be acquiring the information from a library catalog, an online database, or the Internet. Once the students have the information they need, they must organize it - perhaps with a database. Then they must synthesize and present it. There are a variety of programs to help with this process, word processing, presentation, or hypermedia programs. Finally, they need to evaluate both the product and process.
Sound familiar? Some of you may say - ah, Bloom’s Taxonomy! Others may say - no, it’s the BigSix information curriculum. While others may say, it’s the skills required in the SCANS report. And all of you will be right.
Bottom line: Our students need to be prepared to use technology no matter what career path they choose. They not only need to be able to use current technology, but also to be able to adapt to new technologies as they appear. It is our job as educators to prepare these students by using technology tools appropriately in our classrooms.
We have TWO keynote speakers this year, one for each day. John Kuglin, Director of Educational Outreach at The University of Montana, will speak to us Thursday about Global Classrooms of the New Millennium: A Technology Perspective. On Friday, Karen Bryant will share with us Fun Stuff for Primary Grades. An added bonus this will be a visit by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) President, Heidi Rogers, who will talk about the relationship between ISTE as the parent organization and MCCE as an Organizational Affiliate.
John, as you may know, was a teacher in Missoula for about 20 years before he joined TCI. While he was employed by TCI, he developed and directed three nationally known technology training centers, one of which is the Sparkman Center for Educational Technology. Prior to coming to UM, John was the Senior Director of Technology at McREL, where he designed a state of the art technology laboratory that is used to integrate technology into McREL's nationally known work in standards and assessment. As Director of Educational Outreach, he is responsible for developing and implementing the University of Montana Online Project. This endeavor will transition the University's nationally recognized programs into an on-line format. John also directs the educational outreach effort for the Earth Observing System (EOS); a NASA appropriated research project. The EOS Project will place cutting edge satellite imagery and data sets directly into the hands of classroom teachers for incorporation intothe curriculum.
Karen Bryant has been a teacher for 25 years. She taught kindergarten and remedial math and has been a fulll-time computer coordinator for the past five years. Furthering the usage of computers in education is her major commitment. Two special areas of interest are computer use in primary grades and multimedia presentations.
She has assisted Apple Computer by helping to develop educational software bundles for young children. She takes pleasure in working with teachers to show them the powerful ways their students can use and enjoy technology.
The impact of technology on my everyday life has been great. Computers have become a constant part of almost everything I do. Correspondence has taken on a new form. Where it used to be a letter in the mail or a phone call, it’s now gone to an e-mail message or Instant Message. It probably wouldn’t have been this way if not for Technology Education in high school, where I’m constantly exposed to computers and the Internet.
But, as high school draws to a close, the problem arises. Where do I go from here? I’ve thought of many career choices: computer repair, networking consultant, and computer consultant, to name a few. The only problem is that none of them seemed like a good, satisfying career. The area of computer repair could soon be obsolete, with the prices of computers and hardware dropping rapidly and positions for networking consultants are just not in high demand in Montana.
While these might make a good choice for something to do on the side, I need something that is full time. Then, one day as I was talking to Mr. Long, he suggested that I consider teaching Technology Education. The idea provides a perfect a opportunity to do everything I love: work with computers and technology, and have the full-time career that I’ll actually getting something out of.
Technology was the major influence in my career choice, as it was in many other choices in my life. The first careers I considered were technology-based, as is the one I finally decided to stick with. Some people still say, "You have such potential as a technician, why become a teacher?" My simple answer is that this: I get to work with technology, I’ll be giving something valuable to the students I teach, and I’ll still have time to do a little computer repair on the side. The other advantage I find to teaching is job security. I know that if I’m a teacher, there will be a place for me many years from now, and I won’t get bored with it because no day is ever the same as the next.
I mentioned earlier that the area of computer repair is rapidly becoming obsolete. Why is that? Well, consider four years ago. To get a new computer that was top of the line or near to it, one could expect to pay at least $1200. Now, in 1999, there are computers on the market that are comparable to the top of the line machines for around $600. That’s a major difference. The computer market is fast approaching the point where the machine is so cheap that when it breaks, you simply throw it away and buy a new one. It’s all just a guess really, it may not happen at all like that, but then, it happened with VCRs. At one point, they were so expensive it seemed reasonable to take it in to have it fixed as often as necessary. Now, with the $50 to $80 units, it’s rare to see someone take it to the shop even once. Could this happen with computers? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
I also mentioned earlier that I had thought about becoming a network consultant. I’m enrolled in a class at the Billings Career Center where we are learning the necessary skills to become MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) certified. Currently the average salary for a certified consultant is approximately $40,000 per year. There’s only one problem. I would like to stay in Montana and I’m honestly not sure I could even find a job here. There’s not enough big business in Montana to support another networking firm, much less to get a kid straight out of high school a good hold in the business community.
So, technology does it again. Its rapid and sometimes unbelievable advances close the doors to some areas, and yet open the doors wide to some that many of us have never thought of.
Wes Miller is a senior at Billings Senior High.
In the first two pieces of this three-part series on building interactive web pages we looked at the basics of building a web-based form that allows a user to send information to the webserver. We also examined the beginning levels of CGI (Common Gateway Interface) programming using a language called PERL.
While these techniques proliferate on the web today, there are some heavy hardware and software requirements needed to make this type of operation function properly. First, you need access to a webserver. Most of us have this basic necessity, but not all of us have access to the CGI capabilities that it offers. Internet Service Providers are usually skittish about giving users this type of feature due to the security issues that could be compromised. Even if you do have CGI access, the learning curve is, admittedly, quite high. You will need either to write your own CGI programs, like the ones we have demonstrated here in PERL, or edit ones that you can download from various sites on the Internet.
However, if you can set up a web page, you can have some of the features of CGI without writing one line of program code. Using the "mailto" function built into the HTML language, the data that the user submits in the form can automatically be e-mailed to you. This can be done with only HTML and no CGI at all. If you can put up a web page, you can use this feature quite easily.
FORM Building Review
In our previous articles we looked at some of the basic steps required to build a web-based form. A form is a web page that allows the user to enter text into boxes or select from a series of choices using pull-down menus, radio buttons, or check boxes. In our Pizza Order Form (MCCE News, March 1999), the user could select from many options and submit the completed form to order a pizza. The user-supplied information was processed on the web server and returned within a new web page.
In this outing, we will set up a new web page that lets the user place a travel request, selecting from a range of options using the check boxes, the radio buttons, and a text box. However, instead of having the data processed by a webserver, the data in the form will be sent to an e-mail address specified in the form.
Here is the HTML that we will use for the page. Annotated descriptions of the HTML appear on the left.
Standard Heading <HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Shuttle Travel Request Form</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">
<CENTER>
<B>Shuttle Travel Request Form</B><BR><BR>
</CENTER>
<B>Please fill out the following information to request a travel voucher:</B><BR><BR>
Beginning of the FORM
Note the e-mail address<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="mailto:mccenews@yahoo.com" enctype="text/plain">
<B>Enter Your Name:</B>
<BLOCKQUOTE><INPUT TYPE="text" SIZE="30"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<B>Select your destination:</B><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Radio Buttons created here <INPUT NAME="where" TYPE="radio" VALUE="Moon">Tranquility Base, The Moon<BR>
<INPUT NAME="where" TYPE="radio" VALUE="Mars">LGM Base, Mars<BR>
<INPUT NAME="where" TYPE="radio" VALUE="Pahrump">Pahrump, Nevada<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Select Special Services:</B><BR>
Check Boxes are created here <BLOCKQUOTE>
<INPUT NAME="firstclass" TYPE="checkbox" VALUE="yes">First Class<BR>
<INPUT NAME="meal" TYPE="checkbox" VALUE="yes">Special Meal<BR>
<INPUT NAME="slippers" TYPE="checkbox" VALUE="yes">Gravity Slippers<BR>
<INPUT NAME="beam" TYPE="checkbox" VALUE="yes">Anti-space Sickness Beam<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Enter Special Instructions Below:</B><BR>
The large Text Box is created here <BLOCKQUOTE>
<TEXTAREA NAME="special" ROWS=4 COLS=50></TEXTAREA><BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
These are the Submit and the Reset buttons <INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Send It"><BR>
<INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Reset">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>
The web page should look like this when displayed in the browser:
Shuttle Travel Request Form Shuttle Travel Request Form Please fill out the following information to request a travel voucher:
A Built-In Problem
When the user clicks on the "Send It" button, the user’s browser e-mail software is launched and the data from the form is sent to the address specified in the form. Many users do not use the built-in e-mail function of their browser and will be unable to submit the form. This can also be a problem if the browser has not been configured properly to the user’s e-mail account, a common issue in the classroom. However, many newer computer systems are coming with the e-mail and web browser functions pre-configured in ways that makes this work correctly without user intervention.
Receiving the Data
Once the user has successfully submitted the form, data is available from the e-mail address specified in the form. The received e-mail will contain the name of each item in the form and its value.
For example, let’s say that a user named Lamont Cranston wants to go to LGM, Mars, wants First Class and Gravity Slippers, and in the Special Instructions box he types "I want to fly non-stop." The body of the received e-mail would contain the following:
where=Mars
firstclass=yes
slippers=yes
special=I want to fly non-stop.
Note that the names on the left of the equals signs are the names specified in the INPUT tags of the HTML document, shown above. The data on the right of the equals signs is the value, that is, whatever the user entered in the form.
Doing It Yourself
While this may not be as automated an option as CGI provides, it is certainly easier to implement. If you want to try it out yourself, you can type the HTML, shown above, into a text editor, such as Windows Notepad or Macintosh Simple Text. Instead of using the e-mail address shown in the above example, use your own e-mail address. Save the file on your hard drive giving it a file extension of ".htm" such as mailme.htm
Next, launch your web browser and, from the File Menu, open the mailme.htm file that you just saved. Fill out the form and submit it. If everything proceeds properly, you should now be able check for the data in your e-mail. You are then ready to put the form on-line with the rest of your web pages.
TIPS:
Consider creating a free, web-based e-mail account at one of the various sites offering this service, such as www.yahoo.com or www.hotmail.com. That way you can have an e-mail account dedicated to collecting your data and not clutter up your private e-mail with the messages generated by the form.
The contents of my pages are Copyright © 1999, Vince Long and MCCE
Articles included in these pages are Copyright © by their writers.
Comments are Welcome:vlong@mcn.net
Go to the MCCE Page
Go to the Past, Present, and Future Page...
This page was hand coded by Vince Long
Copyright © 1999, Vince Long
