Case Study

Success StoriesObama’s First 100 Days Podcast: Orla De Burca

The Learning Technologies Group, located in Computing Services Department, finds new and innovative ways of using technology to enhance teaching and learning at Oxford University

“Podcasting is a fantastic way of sharing information and stories with other people quickly, simply and globally. I certainly hope to continue podcasting in the future”.

- Orla De Burca

http://oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg

ltg@oucs.ox.ac.uk

OUCS, 13 Banbury Rd,

Oxford, OX2 6NN

Background and ContextOrla De Burca is a final year MSc student of Global Governance and Diplomacy at St Cross College.

Orla had been interested in media production and wanted to find some way of gaining experience in this field, she found out about the Student Media Team through the Podcasting Service at Oxford University Computer Services and saw it as an excellent means to develop her media production skills.

As she says; “I was eager to get involved in student journalism at Oxford. As we are aware, the world of media - particularly print media is struggling to find a business model to ensure its survival. Consequently I was eager to learn about new forms of communication that utilise online technology. Podcasts are now a part of most online newspaper, radio and t.v. websites and I wanted to get in on the act and make my own!”

The University’s Podcasting Service was launched in June 2008 to provide students and members of the public with high quality audio and video academic podcasts that would enhance their learning experience and spark their interest in subjects available at Oxford. The podcasting team encourages lecturers, academics and students to contribute to this project by offering material for podcasting; lectures, seminars, specialist videos, discussions and debates have all been recorded.

Orla was a member of the Student Web Media Team; a small group of enthusiastic Oxford University students who are eager to learn about the possibilities that the new medium of podcasting can offer.

Orla produced an audio podcast of an interview she conducted with Professor Desmond King of the Department of Politics and International Relations. In this interview, Orla asks Professor King about President Obama’s first 100 days a time when ‘Americans traditionally take stock of their new president’. She asks how Professor King thinks Obama is coping with the American economy in the light of the recession, the war on terror, the war in Afghanistan and the possibility of finally closing the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

MethodIn order to create the podcast, Orla began by researching the topic, in this case, President Obama and the current state America is in, She contacted Professor King and persuaded him to be interviewed. Then she recorded the interview with him took the unedited recording away and edited it into a high quality audio file using the free audio editing software, Audacity. After Orla had finished edited, she converted the file into MP3 format and sent it to the Podcasting Department for it to be put online.

Images top: Album cover for ‘Interviews with Oxonians’ where Obama’s First 100 Days is found. Inset: Screenshot from podcasts.ox.ac.uk where the University’s podcasts are found

As Orla was a member of the Student Web Media Team, she received training and guidance on how to achieve her goals: “I found podcasting quite simple, especially with the guidance of OUCS and the Student Web Media Team” she says.

In addition to teaching the Student Web Media Team, the Podcasting Department also hosts training sessions for members of the university, from simple introduction to podcasting to intensive afternoon-long training sessions.

Technology UsedOrla used a Marantz digital recording device (see image, top right) to record the interview with Professor King. After recording the interview, she imported the unedited material into a free audio editing software called Audacity, which she used to edit the material into a publishable file. After she had finished editing, she exported the file as an MP3 and sent it over to the Podcasting Department who uploaded the file on to the podcasting website and ITunesU.

Were there any difficulties or considerations to make when creating the podcasts? “When recording people I needed to be aware of background noises conducting interviews. It was important to find a quiet room, generally away from a street where the person was unlikely to be disturbed. This made the post-interview editing process far simpler as loud noises did not need to be removed from the audio clip” Orla said.

Impact Orla was rewarded for her efforts at the 2009 Oxtalent award Ceremony; an event held by Oxford University Computer Services that highlights and celebrates members of the University who have found new and innovative ways of enhancing the teaching/learning experience at Oxford. Orla was awarded the prize for ‘Best Student Podcast’. The podcast has also received a a large number of downloads from users with it reaching number eight in the top ten most downloaded podcasts on Oxford’s ITunesU page.

Summary and ReflectionIn Summary, Orla De Burca has created a high quality, award winning podcast that takes an intelligent and insightful look at contemporary American Politics in her ‘Obama’s first 100 Days’ podcast. Using the knowledge gained from the Podcasting Department tutorial seminars and from the student media team, Orla was able to get to grips with the technology, both the hardware and software.

Her podcast has been highly successful; it has been featured on the front page of Oxford’s ITunesU site as well as it reaching number 8 in the most popular podcasts at Oxford. The experience of podcasting has given Orla knowledge in a number different fields; from the use of digital audio recording equipment, to editing audio recordings, to researching for interviews and presenting in a professional manner. This has enhanced her experience of being a student at Oxford.

Although Orla is graduating this summer, she is still keen on producing more podcasts for the university. As she says: “Podcasting is a fantastic way of sharing information and stories with other people quickly, simply and globally. I certainly hope to continue podcasting in the future”.

If you are interested in producing podcasts and would like some advice on it, please either visithttp://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/podcasts, or email us at podcasts@oucs.ox.c.uk . You can also book yourself on one of our podcasting tutorial sessions through the OUCS website.

You can also access all of Oxford’s podcasts through http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk or http://itunes.ox.ac.uk/

Orla receiving her award for ʻBest Student Podcastʼ from OUCS Director, Dr Stuart Lee at the 2009 OxTalent Award Ceremony