Friday, May 4, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
College football programs use iPads, mobile phones to coach, recruit players
With the quick slide of an index finger across an iPad screen, college football coaches are now capable of doing everything they once did on a laptop -- but on a more compact, portable device.
"For our coaches, especially when on the road, I think (the) mobile device is the lifeblood for what they do," said Ryan Steinberg, Maryland assistant director of football operations.
By incorporating mobile technologies, coaches are streamlining the paperwork-heavy recruitment process and efficiently executing coaching tasks. Prospective players are emailed, highlight reels are watched and plays are reviewed. And it's all done via coaches' -- like Georgetown wide receivers coach Michael Neuberger's -- mobile devices.
Coach says recruiting app is most 'useful' mobile-device function
At small, Division II programs, scouting and recruiting duties often fall to full-time coaches. As Georgetown's new wide receivers coach, recruiting high school players is a significant aspect of Neuberger's job.
Neuberger utilizes the Hoyas' recruitment app by Front Rush, calling it the most "useful" function of his iPhone.
Using the app, Neuberger tracks how many times a recruit has opened an email. He can also check if the prospective player has clicked on links within the message and if he has downloaded attached files. With this tracking information, Neuberger said coaches gauge the prospect's interest.
Georgetown's app also features questionnaires that athletes complete.
"It gives us very quick and easy access to see how much information a [recruit] has given to us and what holes we need to fill in," Neuberger said.
Mobile recruitment apps promote NCAA compliance
Similar to Front Rush, Maryland coaches access their ACS recruiting app on their personal smartphones.
"The positive is that you're going to really eliminate any violations," Steinberg said because the app alerts coaches to possible infractions of NCAA regulations like text messaging prospective student athletes.
Yet, Central Michigan University compliance coordinator Elise Paulson, said, "The most problematic issue with coaches' use of mobile devices is that the NCAA rules do not evolve as fast as the technology does. Until new bylaws, interpretations or educational columns are published, monitoring and rule interpretation is left up to the discretion of each institution and conference."
Mobile devices keep recruiters in constant contact
In a single day, Neuberger receives 60-70 emails from third-party recruiting websites, prospective players, their parents and high school coaches.
"You're constantly in contact because of the technologies," Steinberg said. "You never really get a day off."
"It honestly never stops, and that is a good and a bad thing," Steinberg said.
Coaches analyze game film, share playbook on mobile devices
Terps coaches, Steinberg said, review game footage on the iPads issued to them last March as they travel back from games, "as opposed to waiting until they get back on the campus."
At Georgetown, coaches even share game footage with their players to view either online or on their own mobile devices.
Maryland coaches also created an electronic playbook to view on their devices, said Neuberger, formerly an offensive line assistant for the Terps. Once a hefty packet distributed at team meetings, the playbook was instantly emailed as a PDF attachment to players for their review over spring break in 2010.
In addition to quickly distributing the electronic playbook, coaches could access it anywhere they went without lugging around a hard copy. And it eliminated labor and resources needed to put a paper version together.
Plus, like other industries are moving toward green practices, Neuberger quipped, "We weren't killing a bunch of trees printing off these playbooks."
 |
| Georgetown coach Mike Neuberger uses his Front Rush app to message recruits. |
"For our coaches, especially when on the road, I think (the) mobile device is the lifeblood for what they do," said Ryan Steinberg, Maryland assistant director of football operations.
By incorporating mobile technologies, coaches are streamlining the paperwork-heavy recruitment process and efficiently executing coaching tasks. Prospective players are emailed, highlight reels are watched and plays are reviewed. And it's all done via coaches' -- like Georgetown wide receivers coach Michael Neuberger's -- mobile devices.
Coach says recruiting app is most 'useful' mobile-device function
At small, Division II programs, scouting and recruiting duties often fall to full-time coaches. As Georgetown's new wide receivers coach, recruiting high school players is a significant aspect of Neuberger's job.
Neuberger utilizes the Hoyas' recruitment app by Front Rush, calling it the most "useful" function of his iPhone.
Using the app, Neuberger tracks how many times a recruit has opened an email. He can also check if the prospective player has clicked on links within the message and if he has downloaded attached files. With this tracking information, Neuberger said coaches gauge the prospect's interest.
Georgetown's app also features questionnaires that athletes complete.
"It gives us very quick and easy access to see how much information a [recruit] has given to us and what holes we need to fill in," Neuberger said.
Mobile recruitment apps promote NCAA compliance
Similar to Front Rush, Maryland coaches access their ACS recruiting app on their personal smartphones.
"The positive is that you're going to really eliminate any violations," Steinberg said because the app alerts coaches to possible infractions of NCAA regulations like text messaging prospective student athletes.
Yet, Central Michigan University compliance coordinator Elise Paulson, said, "The most problematic issue with coaches' use of mobile devices is that the NCAA rules do not evolve as fast as the technology does. Until new bylaws, interpretations or educational columns are published, monitoring and rule interpretation is left up to the discretion of each institution and conference."
Mobile devices keep recruiters in constant contact
In a single day, Neuberger receives 60-70 emails from third-party recruiting websites, prospective players, their parents and high school coaches.
"You're constantly in contact because of the technologies," Steinberg said. "You never really get a day off."
"It honestly never stops, and that is a good and a bad thing," Steinberg said.
Coaches analyze game film, share playbook on mobile devices
Terps coaches, Steinberg said, review game footage on the iPads issued to them last March as they travel back from games, "as opposed to waiting until they get back on the campus."
At Georgetown, coaches even share game footage with their players to view either online or on their own mobile devices.
Maryland coaches also created an electronic playbook to view on their devices, said Neuberger, formerly an offensive line assistant for the Terps. Once a hefty packet distributed at team meetings, the playbook was instantly emailed as a PDF attachment to players for their review over spring break in 2010.
In addition to quickly distributing the electronic playbook, coaches could access it anywhere they went without lugging around a hard copy. And it eliminated labor and resources needed to put a paper version together.
Plus, like other industries are moving toward green practices, Neuberger quipped, "We weren't killing a bunch of trees printing off these playbooks."
Monday, March 12, 2012
Radio report: Students struggle going media-free for 24 hours
Could you go without your mobile phone for 24 hours? Or how about your Facebook account?
That was the challenge for 200 University of Maryland students who gave up all media for one day.
Some cheated.
Some had friends hide their phones and change their passwords.
But overall, the students reported feeling addicted to media, describing the 24 hours without it with terms like "isolation," "disconnected" and "anxious" -- a feeling shared by Maryland student Gloria Johnston.
SOUNDBITE
For News Radio, this is Erin Klema reporting.
Radio Report:
Soundbite:
That was the challenge for 200 University of Maryland students who gave up all media for one day.
Some cheated.
Some had friends hide their phones and change their passwords.
But overall, the students reported feeling addicted to media, describing the 24 hours without it with terms like "isolation," "disconnected" and "anxious" -- a feeling shared by Maryland student Gloria Johnston.
SOUNDBITE
For News Radio, this is Erin Klema reporting.
Radio Report:
Soundbite:
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Media connects the world, but disconnects people
We've all been there -- sitting on the train overhearing another passenger's call, dining with a friend and her BlackBerry, watching the Super Bowl with friends who are more engaged with their mobile devices than the game itself or the company surrounding them.
Media is inescapable it seems, especially now that it fits in the palms of our hands.
But could this constant connectivity to the world through technology be preventing us from actually connecting with our friends and community?
College student Jake Reilly embarked on a 90-day challenge to give up all social media, email and his mobile phone. Then, he found other ways to communicate -- like actually having face-to-face conversations and writing messages with sidewalk chalk.
And Reilly isn't the only one to attempt being media-free. In a University of Maryland, College Park, study, 200 journalism students went without media for 24 hours. They couldn't watch TV, read a newspaper or flip through a magazine. Accessing Facebook and social media, email and the Web were no-nos. Phones were turned off. Radios and iPods went mute.
Or, that was the intent, at least.
Media is ingrained in daily life
The students selected one 24-hour period within a nine-day window to disconnect, and the study found students' use of media has become habit, ingrained in their daily lives. Students reported turning on the car radio, logging onto Facebook and turning on the television without realizing they were breaking their 24-hour no-media rule.
While Johnston would worry about missing something important, she was most anxious that her friends and family would not be able to contact her if she didn't have her phone.
Unplugging media and reconnecting relationships
Although Johnston, like the students involved in the study reported feeling, would feel anxious being virtually disconnected, Reilly developed deeper relationships with his friends, not their profile pages, once he unplugged.
In the University of Maryland study, students also reported that during their media-free day they spent quality time with friends and on hobbies and coursework they usually neglected due to the distractions of Facebook and other media. Students also reported seeing more and talking more as they walked from class to class without iPod earbuds in, likely zoning out their environment to the beat of Lady Gaga or LMFAO.
Reilly's experiment and the University of Maryland study both show we, especially people under 30, use today's technology and media to connect with music, news, entertainment and other people. Yet, this also shows that when we are connecting via media, we are also disconnecting from our surroundings and face-to-face interactions.
Like Reilly noted, are we really connecting via media to our friends, or merely their Facebook profiles?
Media is inescapable it seems, especially now that it fits in the palms of our hands.
But could this constant connectivity to the world through technology be preventing us from actually connecting with our friends and community?
College student Jake Reilly embarked on a 90-day challenge to give up all social media, email and his mobile phone. Then, he found other ways to communicate -- like actually having face-to-face conversations and writing messages with sidewalk chalk.
And Reilly isn't the only one to attempt being media-free. In a University of Maryland, College Park, study, 200 journalism students went without media for 24 hours. They couldn't watch TV, read a newspaper or flip through a magazine. Accessing Facebook and social media, email and the Web were no-nos. Phones were turned off. Radios and iPods went mute.
Or, that was the intent, at least.
Media is ingrained in daily life
The students selected one 24-hour period within a nine-day window to disconnect, and the study found students' use of media has become habit, ingrained in their daily lives. Students reported turning on the car radio, logging onto Facebook and turning on the television without realizing they were breaking their 24-hour no-media rule.
 | |
| Photo by Erin Klema. In a Univeristy of Maryland study, 200 journalism students gave up for 24 hours all media, including Facebook, iPods and mobile phones. Students reported feelings of addiction, including anxiety, cravings and withdrawl. |
One student even admitted, "I wish I didn't cheat with the assignment by checking my email and phone, but the anxiety was insane. I had no clue how connected I was with my friends and the world at all times. I never realized how much I text messaged my friends or checked Perez Hilton until I couldn't."
Mobile phone is a student's lifeline
The University of Maryland study found students were most reliant on their cell phones. In addition to calling their friends and family, students reported they use their phones to email, check Facebook, play games and text at all hours. The cell phone was the center of their connection. For University of Maryland senior Gloria Johnston, her mobile phone is just that.
Without media, isolation and anxiety set in
Without access to their phones, the students involved in the University of Maryland study found themselves in "logistical nightmares," unable to make plans via text message or Facebook.
"Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort," wrote one student involved in the study. "When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life."
Mobile phone is a student's lifeline
The University of Maryland study found students were most reliant on their cell phones. In addition to calling their friends and family, students reported they use their phones to email, check Facebook, play games and text at all hours. The cell phone was the center of their connection. For University of Maryland senior Gloria Johnston, her mobile phone is just that.
Without media, isolation and anxiety set in
Without access to their phones, the students involved in the University of Maryland study found themselves in "logistical nightmares," unable to make plans via text message or Facebook.
"Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort," wrote one student involved in the study. "When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life."
The disconnect from friends, family and the world was a common trend reported by the students. Like those students, Johnston said she would feel "anxious" without access to her phone and media.
Unplugging media and reconnecting relationships
Although Johnston, like the students involved in the study reported feeling, would feel anxious being virtually disconnected, Reilly developed deeper relationships with his friends, not their profile pages, once he unplugged.
In the University of Maryland study, students also reported that during their media-free day they spent quality time with friends and on hobbies and coursework they usually neglected due to the distractions of Facebook and other media. Students also reported seeing more and talking more as they walked from class to class without iPod earbuds in, likely zoning out their environment to the beat of Lady Gaga or LMFAO.
Reilly's experiment and the University of Maryland study both show we, especially people under 30, use today's technology and media to connect with music, news, entertainment and other people. Yet, this also shows that when we are connecting via media, we are also disconnecting from our surroundings and face-to-face interactions.
Like Reilly noted, are we really connecting via media to our friends, or merely their Facebook profiles?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Fixing filter failure ensures quality journalism reaches news consumers
Information overload is not a new problem. As Clay Shirky said, receiving a high volume of information has become the norm. At the root of the problem is filter failure.
Since the introduction of the printing press, the publishing industry has held the duty to decide which information was important enough to print. However, once the Internet became mainstream, producing content was cheap and easy. Therefore, publishers were no longer needed to "print" a novel, and newspapers and traditional media outlets weren't the only ones reporting the news. A whole new wave of information broke through the filter of traditional publishers.
The expansion of the Internet coupled with the rise of blogging and social media allows the general public to become content producers, documenting everything from the mundane to the vital news with Facebook status updates, tweets, instagram photos and more. Our problem now is sifting through all of those mundane Facebook status updates to find that really important bit of information we might deem newsworthy.
As consumers of information, we once gathered news from the morning newspaper, perhaps the radio during our drives to and from work or school, the evening or late night newscast and of course the talk around the proverbial water cooler. Altogether, we received information from these four main avenues, and we understood the filters that governed the flow of information to us.
Now, those channels that flow information to us have doubled, maybe even tripled. News has never been more readily available than it is today, and it is available on many platforms, including but not limited to print publications, TV, radio, podcasts, streaming video, websites, email blasts, text message alerts, tweets, Facebook status updates and blogs. Like Shirky said, we have to assume we will continue to be targeted; the flow of information will not slow or stop, especially with so many vehicles of getting information to us.
Not only is there more information to spread and more channels for flowing that information to consumers, the standard for sharing information has also been lowered. Shirky pointed to livejournal, a blogging website that was popular about 10 years ago with teenagers who wrote about their angst-filled high school lives. Those blogs were public diaries often filled with information few people would care to know. Yet they were out there, in the blogosphere, for anyone to read.
Shirky says the filters we had are broken. When the filters fail, it is time to design new ones.
To ensure news stories are making it through the filters and standing out from the plethora of information available, especially online, journalists need to become better filters themselves.
A journalist's job is to gather information from multiple sources and to share that in a fair, accurate and succinct report. To do that with today's massive amount of information flowing our way, journalists need to be suspicious of the information we receive. Information published online or by another outlet, should not be taken as fact without scrutinization. We still need to fact check, investigate and be wary of sources that might steer us wrong. Only then can journalists remain relevant and preferred over the average content producer.
Sharing news stories with consumers relies on two filters: the publisher and the platform's parameters. As journalists, we are the publishers, and we still decide what information is important enough to share with our readers, viewers, listeners or users. The second filter, the platform parameters, deals with how we share our stories, especially in regard to the web and mobile devices.
As an industry, we know search engine optimization plays an important role in how we word headlines, subheads and cutlines. Using "picture" rather than "photo" may drive more web traffic to our site if it is a more commonly used search term. When sharing links to our news stories on Twitter, using hashtags as a way to sort and label information for consumers will help them to find which of our stories are relevant to their particular interests. These are examples of parameters we can control to ensure our stories reach our audience, despite the information overload.
As journalism forges onward into the digital age, coping with filter failure will make or break our industry. How journalists receive information and how we share it with consumers needs to adapt to work with new filters to ensure quality, rather than just quantity.
Since the introduction of the printing press, the publishing industry has held the duty to decide which information was important enough to print. However, once the Internet became mainstream, producing content was cheap and easy. Therefore, publishers were no longer needed to "print" a novel, and newspapers and traditional media outlets weren't the only ones reporting the news. A whole new wave of information broke through the filter of traditional publishers.
The expansion of the Internet coupled with the rise of blogging and social media allows the general public to become content producers, documenting everything from the mundane to the vital news with Facebook status updates, tweets, instagram photos and more. Our problem now is sifting through all of those mundane Facebook status updates to find that really important bit of information we might deem newsworthy.
As consumers of information, we once gathered news from the morning newspaper, perhaps the radio during our drives to and from work or school, the evening or late night newscast and of course the talk around the proverbial water cooler. Altogether, we received information from these four main avenues, and we understood the filters that governed the flow of information to us.
Now, those channels that flow information to us have doubled, maybe even tripled. News has never been more readily available than it is today, and it is available on many platforms, including but not limited to print publications, TV, radio, podcasts, streaming video, websites, email blasts, text message alerts, tweets, Facebook status updates and blogs. Like Shirky said, we have to assume we will continue to be targeted; the flow of information will not slow or stop, especially with so many vehicles of getting information to us.
Not only is there more information to spread and more channels for flowing that information to consumers, the standard for sharing information has also been lowered. Shirky pointed to livejournal, a blogging website that was popular about 10 years ago with teenagers who wrote about their angst-filled high school lives. Those blogs were public diaries often filled with information few people would care to know. Yet they were out there, in the blogosphere, for anyone to read.
Shirky says the filters we had are broken. When the filters fail, it is time to design new ones.
To ensure news stories are making it through the filters and standing out from the plethora of information available, especially online, journalists need to become better filters themselves.
A journalist's job is to gather information from multiple sources and to share that in a fair, accurate and succinct report. To do that with today's massive amount of information flowing our way, journalists need to be suspicious of the information we receive. Information published online or by another outlet, should not be taken as fact without scrutinization. We still need to fact check, investigate and be wary of sources that might steer us wrong. Only then can journalists remain relevant and preferred over the average content producer.
Sharing news stories with consumers relies on two filters: the publisher and the platform's parameters. As journalists, we are the publishers, and we still decide what information is important enough to share with our readers, viewers, listeners or users. The second filter, the platform parameters, deals with how we share our stories, especially in regard to the web and mobile devices.
As an industry, we know search engine optimization plays an important role in how we word headlines, subheads and cutlines. Using "picture" rather than "photo" may drive more web traffic to our site if it is a more commonly used search term. When sharing links to our news stories on Twitter, using hashtags as a way to sort and label information for consumers will help them to find which of our stories are relevant to their particular interests. These are examples of parameters we can control to ensure our stories reach our audience, despite the information overload.
As journalism forges onward into the digital age, coping with filter failure will make or break our industry. How journalists receive information and how we share it with consumers needs to adapt to work with new filters to ensure quality, rather than just quantity.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Super Bowl viewers will engage with two screens Sunday
This Sunday, many Americans will watch Super Bowl XLVI, but the television will not be the only the electronic device to which viewers turn.
Almost half of Super Bowl viewers are expected to check their mobile devices up to 10 times during the game, Mashable reports. More than 80 percent of polled viewers said they will check their mobile device at least as much as they did during last year's game, Mashable reported citing a Harris Interactive study.
Live tweeting and Facebook-status updating via mobile devices has become a common way to interact with friends and the outside world during live televised events, including presidential debates, awards shows, last year's royal wedding, last week's State of the Union address and Sunday's big game.
However, the practice of TV watching with mobile device in hand is not limited to these special events.
A yet-to-be-released Nielson study found about 45 percent of Americans who own mobile devices watch television while engaging with a second screen, reported the Washington Post. Among tech-savvy teenagers, that percentage is even higher at 53 percent. The trend spans across the generations with 38 percent of tablet users ages 55 and older reporting they also watch television with their mobile device in hand.
Interested to hear from a member of the older generation who uses tablets while watching TV, I called my own mother, a 57-year-old housewife with an iPad. Sure enough, she is part of the 38 percent. Specifically, she checks for recipes and products mentioned during her morning and daytime news and talk shows. Sometimes she checks the shows websites; other times her search turns to Google, she said.
While my mother surfs the web as she watches television, others also engage in discussion about the shows they are viewing.
Using Twitter search terms, called hashtags, signified by the pound sign, Twitter users interact with other TV viewers and even the stars of television shows. On NBC's "The Voice," which will premiere its second season following the Super Bowl, viewers are encouraged to tweet to the show. The show even invoked a social media correspondent to drive conversation on air and online. Bravo executive Andy Cohen also uses his Twitter account to pull audience questions during his late night talk show.
This two-screen multitasking has pushed traditional Super Bowl advertisers to reach the audience through multiple devices. Already, more than 39,000 subscribers have signed up for YouTube's adblitz, a channel that compiles the 2012 Super Bowl ads. Also, Discovery News reported Chevrolet has released a Super Bowl smartphone app that allows users to enter to win prizes, and Coca-cola has a Facebook page and website where users can interact with the brand's signature polar bears as they watch Sunday's game.
What does this mean for journalists?
For broadcasters, the overall trend of engaging with a second screen means it will be increasingly important to provide viewers additional online resources.
For legacy publications and online mediums, tweeting during live televised events like the Super Bowl may drive web traffic to their sites, simply because that is when a captive audience is viewing their tweets.
And for the sports journalists covering Sunday's Super Bowl, quickly updating statistics and utilizing social media will be key to grabbing the interest of mobile users.
Almost half of Super Bowl viewers are expected to check their mobile devices up to 10 times during the game, Mashable reports. More than 80 percent of polled viewers said they will check their mobile device at least as much as they did during last year's game, Mashable reported citing a Harris Interactive study.
Live tweeting and Facebook-status updating via mobile devices has become a common way to interact with friends and the outside world during live televised events, including presidential debates, awards shows, last year's royal wedding, last week's State of the Union address and Sunday's big game.
However, the practice of TV watching with mobile device in hand is not limited to these special events.
A yet-to-be-released Nielson study found about 45 percent of Americans who own mobile devices watch television while engaging with a second screen, reported the Washington Post. Among tech-savvy teenagers, that percentage is even higher at 53 percent. The trend spans across the generations with 38 percent of tablet users ages 55 and older reporting they also watch television with their mobile device in hand.
Interested to hear from a member of the older generation who uses tablets while watching TV, I called my own mother, a 57-year-old housewife with an iPad. Sure enough, she is part of the 38 percent. Specifically, she checks for recipes and products mentioned during her morning and daytime news and talk shows. Sometimes she checks the shows websites; other times her search turns to Google, she said.
While my mother surfs the web as she watches television, others also engage in discussion about the shows they are viewing.
Using Twitter search terms, called hashtags, signified by the pound sign, Twitter users interact with other TV viewers and even the stars of television shows. On NBC's "The Voice," which will premiere its second season following the Super Bowl, viewers are encouraged to tweet to the show. The show even invoked a social media correspondent to drive conversation on air and online. Bravo executive Andy Cohen also uses his Twitter account to pull audience questions during his late night talk show.
This two-screen multitasking has pushed traditional Super Bowl advertisers to reach the audience through multiple devices. Already, more than 39,000 subscribers have signed up for YouTube's adblitz, a channel that compiles the 2012 Super Bowl ads. Also, Discovery News reported Chevrolet has released a Super Bowl smartphone app that allows users to enter to win prizes, and Coca-cola has a Facebook page and website where users can interact with the brand's signature polar bears as they watch Sunday's game.
What does this mean for journalists?
For broadcasters, the overall trend of engaging with a second screen means it will be increasingly important to provide viewers additional online resources.
For legacy publications and online mediums, tweeting during live televised events like the Super Bowl may drive web traffic to their sites, simply because that is when a captive audience is viewing their tweets.
And for the sports journalists covering Sunday's Super Bowl, quickly updating statistics and utilizing social media will be key to grabbing the interest of mobile users.
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