Engaging with Radio

Project description

Digital Planet and Material World are weekly half-hour magazine programmes, produced by the BBC Radio Science Unit for the World Service and Radio 4 respectively. Over the last five years, some editions of these strands have been co-produced with the Open University.

Purpose

Digital Planet is the programme that explains how digital technology affects people’s lives, both present and future. Its territory is the rapidly developing and hugely influential world of digits. It is essential listening for all whose life is touched by digital technology  - and that means everybody! The programme makes sense of the complexities of this new landscape and helps listeners to understand their place in it. 

Results/Outcomes

The BBC are in the process of producing six editions of Digital Planet in partnership with the OU.  In each of these, the content is grouped around a theme. The subjects have been determined in conjunction with academic Dr Tony Hirst, and have included the geoweb, the history of computing, high speed broadband coming to Kenya, and education.  The latter edition includes Martin Bean as the key contributor. Other OU academics have also appeared in the programmes.

Material World is a topical science programme broadcast on Radio 4 every week. For four years, the Radio Science Unit has made a series of between four and seven editions tied in with courses run by the OU. These have consisted of discussions about science and society, programmes about the experience of attending summer schools, and about research carried out by teams that included OU scientists.

In the case study presentation, Deborah discussed the variety of roles that academics have played in programmes made by the BBC Radio Science Unit, with particular reference to the Open University.