Monday, July 30, 2012

The Future of Education... And Cue Point Juggling

Few would argue against the fact that the internet is the single greatest collection of information ever invented by man (the distinction being made for all of you who would contend that the universe itself is the greatest source of information, being that that's all anything is). The implications of a connected planet range from easy access to music, to ensuring that all can be educated regardless of location or finances. I believe the transitions education systems all over the world are making to the digital sphere are essential to progress and equality. Despite the idealistic (and distinctly American) notion that you can always rise above your current situation and educate yourself, access to higher learning concepts are either actively being barred (I'm looking at you, Texas GOP) or are simply far too expensive to attain without driving yourself into tremendous debt. The only way to continually educate the masses in a fair manner is to move the lessons and content to a free space where anyone can reach it. MIT caught on long ago that the web is the perfect way to take educational content straight from the classroom and put it into people's homes; many more universities have followed suit. The idea is that everyone benefits from an educated society- why wouldn't we all do our part to ensure that comes to fruition?


All of that aside (I could go on for days and really should cut myself off), I'm a big fan of online learning, whether it be from a hobbyist standpoint or an educational one. The instructional videos I usually end up watching mainly center around musical techniques that I'd like to learn. My favorite resource for instructional videos is DJ TechTools, a digital DJ blog. Their videos are always extremely informative and offer great tips and step-by-step guides on how to do just about anything related to electronic music performance and recording (something not too common in the sometimes pretentious and secretive world of DJing). The video above is a great example of the intuitive and laid-back style with which Ean Golden always handles his tutorials, showing what's going on with both the equipment and onscreen. It couldn't be simpler to learn the basics of cue point juggling with this video, an awesome little trick for your next DJ set (which I'm sure is coming up soon).

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