<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Technology Colleagues,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The ability to video record yourself may now be an essential tool to make your voice heard -- and seen -- in our democratic process.� You may be aware that YouTube has been providing opportunities for ordinary people to make short videos, post them, and perhaps to have them selected for presidential candidate debates.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://youtube.com/debates">http://youtube.com/debates</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span">Now, former Vice President, Al Gore, has created <I>Viewpoints</I></SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://current.com/viewpoints">http://current.com/viewpoints</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>which he describes as follows:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>"Viewpoints is a virtual town hall where you can share your opinions, in video, about the issues that matter in the 2008 election: from global warming to government eavesdropping, and many more.<P>This digital town hall is already bustling, and you can find viewpoints from me and from a lot of people, including the candidates running for President. Come and listen to their positions and, more importantly, tell them and the rest of the world what you think!"</P><P><A href="http://current.com/viewpoints">http://current.com/viewpoints</A></P><P>Is making short digital videos a new technology competency for participating in the democratic process?� Should we be teaching students how to make digital videos and how to upload them to Web sites? Should we also be teaching students how to use telephones and email to contact candidates' campaigns to make their concerns known? In a democracy is this a new basic communication skill?</P><BR> <DIV>David J. Rosen</DIV><DIV><A href="mailto:djrosen@comcast.net">djrosen@comcast.net</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"> <BR></DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></SPAN><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>