User:Tombenjamin

e-chautauqua

My wife, Margaret Penhall-Jones, and I are putting all of our diverse interests into an 'e-chautauau' -ie- a virtual version of the early 20th century US travelling educational tents shows.

''": ...traveling shows and local assemblies that flourished in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that provided popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays, .." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)''

Thus the types of 'tents' of a traditional chautauqua can be loosely grouped as Philosophy, Reform, and Expression. We follow this by grouping our site pages as 'tents' under those three headings.

About Myself

I am a researcher and psychologist in Sydney investigating games and virtual world applications in education. I have recently developed a new approach to music education at www.oz-rock.com. Samples can be heard at www.radio-tom.com and www.tv-tom.com.

There is also a www.movie-tom.com site dedicated to movie-making techniques for the classroom covering for example:

- the video technique of 'rear projection - the use of virtual musical instruments - the use of digital technology to create a sound track - the use of digital technology to process the vocals - the use of public domain and non-copyright materials

Do-It-Yourself-Emphasis

I am trying to promote do-it-yourself game/virtual world creation so I post fairly rough & ready versions. I literally sing the tunes from a couch and coffee table to a laptop in one take. The animations and other techniques I add are all from software readily-available within a school budget rather than high-end studio or audio gear. My whole multimedia suite from audio studio through animation and blue screen costs far less than a single tuba in a conventional band.

I am particularly interested in getting teachers and students to try out these techniques and post their own creations to video-sharing sites.

Tom Benjamin

Notes from my Wikineighbourgs

 * [[Image:Mafalda.jpg|25px]] Hello Tom, I'm Alejandra Guajardo from Peru, I'm your WikiNeighbourg!! I see you've already started to work in your user page. Congratulations! I'm sure you will find many friends with the same interest about music, multimedia innovation and education. If you need help with your user's page or have questions please just let me know here or through my user page. Best wishes --Alejacha 02:09, 6 July 2009 (UTC)