CBS News now publishes their reports and editorials online.

I think its the most user-friendly news site on the net today. Videos are categorized and easy to access. The player well designed and facilitates sharing. There is currently an error in their embedding code which renders that functin useless but I’m sure they will have it resolved shortly. The video is crisp and can be resized to fill the screen with a single mouse click. The sound is clear and the volume is easily adjustable. I found the default volume setting plenty loud enough. The offerings are complete from the evening news to 60 Minutes. There are even reports made especially for the web!

CBS is paying its way on the web though advertising. Each report begins with an advertisement. I watched a 44 minute episode of a 48 Hours and saw 6 advertisements. That’s far fewer than you’d see on broadcast television and a small price to pay for quality information.

Video on the World Wide Web is approaching a critical mass where paying for cable broadcasting will become unpopular. Why view your programming on the networks schedule when you can pick and choose your programming at will and for free?

This is an important new tool for educators. We can show relevant reports in the classroom and embed them into our web courses. These reports can help learners ground new information presented in our classes because they are timely and reflect the world we live in.

CNN is now offering the news as a series of podcasts you can include in your virtual classroom or broadcast in class. The podcasts feature embed code to allow easy inclusion into your course management software or blog. See below.

These podcasts are the same news reports and features as reported on CNN’s television broadcast. These means you can include timely information in your course. How long each podcast will be available is yet to be determined. I’ll see what I can find out and update you on this.

Adding a podcast is straight-forward. First equest the embed code. The CNN server is slow to respond but be patient and it will appear over the podcast. Then simply cut and paste it into your course or blog. I used the keyboard commands [CTRL]-[C] to copy and [CTRL]-[V] to paste. If you are using a Mac simiply replace the apple key for the control key.

CNN’s embedded podcasts produce annoying scrollbars. I did eliminate one by resizing the viewing window. Experimenting with the width and length parameters of the embed code should eliminate them entirely if you have the time and patience to experiment. I suggest living with the scrollbars.

Copyright? CNN is placing its material on the World Wide Web and freely offering the code to use it. I am not a lawyer but they’re behavior does not suggest this is an issue.

Overall I believe this is an important opportunity for educators to include high quality and current information into courses.