Learning Technologies Grants
Project Examples

Project Title Remote Digital Newsgathering & Editing Principal Investigator David Hazinski

The Learning Technology Grants funded a quantum leap forward in training students for careers in telecommunications and broadcast news. It purchased two electric cars and the associated equipment that allow students to produce live television anywhere on campus. This equipment is now used every day for the student news program Newsource 15, the student football sports show GameDay broadcast in the fall, and the student talk show TalkUGA. It's even been used for a student-produced live segment on CNN which featured UGA. The cars are equipped with technology that allows them to create a closed circuit TV channel on the car. This TV signal is then sent back through the University cable TV system to the Grady College, where it is converted to a professional video signal. The Learning Technology grant also paid for the associated equipment needed to coordinate the live productions: mobile TV cameras, walkie talkies, computers and adaptations to the University cable system. Hundreds of students have used the equipment in the two years since the grant was awarded. It is now used as part of normal student training for reporters, field producers, videographers and anchors, giving them an edge over graduates from other schools. This training has been institutionalized as part of Grady College classes but is also available to an increasing number of student volunteers from other colleges who want to sample television production. Approximate 350 students now take part in Grady College productions. The technology allows a different conceptual basis for visual communications. In most programs, audio and video material is collected, edited together, then presented at a later date. Live television is a completely different dynamic where previously edited material is combined with live, immediate presentation. It requires both organized pre-production and "thinking on your feet" critical thinking skills. Every television news station uses live remote broadcasting every day, but schools were not able to teach the skills needed to hone these talents. Stations use microwave or satellite trucks costing millions of dollars. The LTG program has funded an innovative way that allowed UGA to replicate this system without the expense.