BEHIND THE NEWS SPECIALS
Upper Primary – Lower Secondary
Friday 10.15 am
Duration: 15 min
Behind the News presents a compilation of recent news and current affairs stories. The stories encourage students to be reflective thinkers about a range of issues taught in schools.

On-air date 23/3/07
Repeat 8/6/07

Episode 5
Technology in Society

Ever wondered how Podcasting works? Look no further – Behind the News will explain all. You’ll also find out what ‘just in time’ means to the car manufacturing industry, why we need a Census and how the humble turntable has evolved into a legitimate musical instrument.

Car Industry
Sarah Martinelli reporting

Cars are big business in Australia. The car industry is worth 20 billion dollars, and employs more than 80 thousand workers. So when major car manufacturers stop production, it's a big deal.

The Australian car manufacturing industry uses a method of production called "just in time". That means companies that assemble cars don't keep a lot of parts in storage near their factories. That way they don't have a to spend millions of dollars on parts that will just sit around for ages until they're used. Not only do the parts cost money, they have to be kept somewhere. That means extra space, more land or buildings and they cost money too. Without storing all those parts the factory can be more efficient. It makes sense. But, when the supply of just one part stops, so does the whole assembly line.

SARAH MARTINELLI, REPORTER: Let's use the example of these BTN pens. Imagine these kids are working on an assembly line, making BTN pens to sell.

Child 1: Hey, where are the ink parts? I think we've run out.

Child 2: Well then I can't put this bit on.

Child 3: And I can't put this bit on either.

Child 4: And I can't finish it off with this bit!

ALL to camera: No pens!

Back to the real world, and it's the same story in the car industry. One missing part means the assembly process stops. And that means no more cars. If assembly stops, there's no work to do, so workers have to take some time off. It's called being stood down. They can either take holidays if they have them, but if not, they don't get paid.

That's bad news for the workers, their families, and the shops they would normally spend their money in. And it's bad news for the car manufacturers, who are also not making money because they've stopped making cars.

SARAH MARTINELLI, REPORTER: So you can see why major car manufacturers like Holden, Ford and Toyota wanted to do something to help the car parts manufacturer get back on its feet.

And that's just what happened recently with the Victorian parts maker Huon Corporation, which owns this company. It was in financial trouble and its workers refused to make parts unless the big three Australian car manufacturers helped the company keep running. So Holden, Ford and Toyota, agreed to pay more for these products for three months, which meant that Huon could continue. The Huon workers started making parts again, so carmakers could keep their production lines going. Workers that had been stood down returned to work. But how long until something like this happens again?

Census
Krista Eleftheriou, reporter

That's the big question isn't it?
Since 1901, Australians have had to take part in the Census, which is held every 5 years. So what exactly is a census, what sort of questions have to be answered and why does the government need all this information?

KRISTA ELEFTHERIOU, REPORTER: These photos show just how much I have changed over time.

Well it’s time for you, in fact every Australian to have their snap shot taken. Not with a camera but with this, a census form.

Every five years a survey form is delivered to every home, hotel and hospital room in Australia.

People have to answer questions about who lives in a home, how much they earn, how they get to work or school and whether they care for a sick person.

Firstly, the census reveals the number of people living in or visiting Australia on August 8, 2006.

It means every person staying within Australia on that night is counted. So that’s one, two, three, four … and Uncle Nick from England. Even if someone is from overseas and is only staying in someone else's place for one night they must be counted. You will be counted wherever you are staying.

So, if you stay the night at a friend's house on August 8th, you'll be listed on their census form.

It's not just about counting the number of people in Australia. Just like pictures, the information gathered through the census will tell our Government just how much Australia has changed over time. It also helps us predict likely changes to the population in the future.

Most importantly the information from the survey helps the government plan how it's going to spend its money. If there are older people in the population, the government will know it has to spend more on hospitals and aged care and where the facilities are needed.

ERNIE DINGO, CENSUS COMMUNITY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Information you give is vital for the future of education.

KRISTA ELEFTHERIOU: If there are more children at school, the government may spend more money on teachers or new school buildings. This year the government is encouraging people to say if they have a disability or care for some one who is disabled, because it affects funding.

Now some people may be concerned about writing down all that private information. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, which collects the information, makes sure your personal details are kept secret. But if you don't mind revealing your personal info you can choose to have your name and answers kept in a time capsule. They won't be burying it like this time capsule, your name and information would be kept on file to be accessed by others, maybe even your great, great grandchildren, in 100 years time.

Podcasting
Andrea Nicolas, reporter

They'll probably be able to access all sorts of interesting information. But right now some of the more popular things being accessed are Podcasts. They seem to be everywhere and they're even being used in some classrooms for assignments! But how do you access or record a podcast? Andrea goes back to school for a lesson from some experts.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: Many people these days have an Mp3 player. Most use it to download their favourite music tracks. But now you can also download radio and other broadcasts from the Internet to your Mp3 player.

If you miss your favourite radio program you can download it from a website at your convenience and put it on your Mp3 player. And if you really like that program you can subscribe to it and have new episodes sent directly to your computer as they become available.

Radio programs at the ABC offer this option to their listeners, so they don't miss out on important info or special guests.

This is called podcasting and it's the latest craze in Internet downloads.

HOW DO YOU USE IT?

A podcast is audio or video available over the Internet and you choose when to listen to it.

LEISHA: We could download it off the Internet and put it onto our ipods, mp3s and mobile phones and we could listen to it anytime, anywhere.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: Eventually teachers might be able to put lessons on podcasts. And if you miss it, you could listen to it on the bus on the way to school.

WHO'S USING IT?

Some students are using podcasting at school as another way that's fun to do their assignments.

At Aberfoyle Park High School in South Australia, teachers decided that since most of the kids already had mp3s, podcasts would be a creative, new way to hand-up their work. In particular, they are being used as another way to do oral presentations.

Leisha and Deborah are Year 8 podcasters, and today they're making a podcast, advertising for young community leaders.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: What's the first step you would do to make this podcast?

THE SOUNDCHECK

LEISHA: Well firstly we'd do a sound check to make sure our microphone waves are right.

DEBORAH: Calling all year 11 students...

LEISHA: And our sound waves are about the right height, they're not too big, they're not too small.

LEISHA: Now basically what we do is we record the notice.

DEBORAH: Calling all year 11 students. Onkaparinga Youth Committee is now recruiting young people from secondary schools to be a youth advocate. Do you have what it takes to be a leader? Can you represent and advocate for your school community?

ANDREA NICOLAS: Ok, so what's the next step?

MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS

LEISHA: Our next step is to add music and sound effects.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: They add news broadcast jingle for the start. They can also add music to play underneath the voice recording. Once they've got the voice and music down they can add pictures or video, and put it on the Internet.

That's what the boys did with their video podcast of their assembly.

ADRIAN: This is the Spanish fan dance that we made from the cultures assembly.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: Is there a difference between making an audio podcast and a video podcast?

CHESTER: You make an audio podcast first and then you can add the video or pictures in later.

BTN PODCAST

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: Now it's my turn to have a go. The boys help get my podcast started. And of course they make sure the settings are on a female voice. And then record, "Welcome to the BtN podcast."

We add some music. I chose rock music to keep it upbeat.

ANDREA NICOLAS, REPORTER: Excellent, Thanks Guys.

The students helped me to make a special BTN podcast, but to listen to it you'll have to go to our website.

Podcasts are a great way to access music... and of course there are all kinds of musical instruments. But you don't have to play a traditional instrument to be considered to be a musician any more. There's an argument that's recently flared up again between some music teachers about what is a musician and what is an instrument. We asked Sarah to tune into the debate!

New Music
Sarah Martinelli, reporter

If you could play any instrument what would you choose?

The trumpet! The drums! The flute! The turntable.

What?

This turntable isn't a traditional instrument, like the violin or saxaphone. It's a thing that lets you play music that other people have already made. Well you might not believe this but in some schools the turntable is considered a proper musical instrument, just as good as the violin or flute. The same goes for a computer! So how did this happen?

In the 80s and 90s turntables just about disappeared, everybody just used CD players. But they've made a huge comeback, and sales of turntables are even higher than sales of guitars!

So a new music course for high school students in Western Australia is trying to keep up with the trend, by allowing students to learn how to create music using a turntable or a computer. Students will still have to learn how to read music, but they won't have to play music from a traditional point of view.

This is DJ Shep. He's been teaching kids how to create music on the turntable for 8 years. He thinks the new changes are a great idea.

DJ SHEP: Yeah for sure turntables are a new instrument so obviously they don't have the range of a violin would and things like that but it's definitely growing so as time goes on definitely gonna see it become more it's gonna progress and they're gonna do more and more of the turntable it's only at its real small stages at the moment.

Not everyone agrees that turntables and computers are musical instruments.

ROBERT: I think in an exam situation its kind of unfair if someone can prerecord sound effects on a computer and stuff and still put them in the same category as someone that's playing a violin, that requires a lot more skill and talent.

JANE: I understand that both the turntables and computers require a certain amount of arranging skills but its really not in my opinion its really not an instrument.

BEN: As an instrument for an exam I think it could be a little bit inappropriate competing up against people who play trumpet or who play violin or flute.

So the question is, what makes a musician? Well according to this dictionary, a musician is "a person who plays a musical instrument."

But is this a musical instrument? Back to the dictionary, and it says an instrument is a device for producing musical sounds by vibration, wind, or percussion.

So these are musical instruments. So are these. But what about a turntable or computer? Where's all this going to end? What if I create a little song on my mobile phone, does that make me a musician?

The content in these specials will support students in Years 5 - 8 to achieve a range of understandings within an Essential Learnings curriculum.

State / Territory Outcomes
Victoria Level 3 SOSE
4 & 5 Science
SA Society & Env Standard 3 & 4
WA Level 3 & 4 SOSE
Time, Continuity & Change, Resources
NT Band 3 & 4
SOSE: Environments
Qld Science & SOSE Level 3 & 4
NSW Stage 3 HSIE: Environments
Stage 4 & 5 Science
Tasmania Band B – Grade 5/6
Band C - Junior Secondary
ACT Upper Prim
Lower High School

Term 1 Schedule
On-air date Rpt
People and the Environment 23/2/07 11/5/07
Animal Care 2/3/07 18/5/07
Indigenous Initiatives 9/3/07 25/5/07
Health and Welfare 16/3/07 1/6/07
Technology in Society 23/3/07 8/6/07
Water 30/3/07 15/6/07

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