Matt Howcroft, Learning Technologist
Have you met BoB? BoB is a very useful person to know. BoB’s wealth of knowledge when it comes to British TV and radio is second to none. Take BoB to your local pub quiz and you wouldn’t need to worry about those obscure question on British broadcast TV and radio, post-2007. Obscure they might be, but if you think about the amount of knowledge gained from local, national and international news over the years, the number of different dramas and documentaries from all over the world, American sitcoms, British sitcoms! all stored in the head of BoB. BoB doesn’t just use this vast knowledge for that local pub quiz on a cold Thursday evening in November. BoB’s passion is to share the knowledge with institutes of learning, where BoB has come invaluable in these institutes to help and support staff to stretch and challenge their students, by giving them the mechanisms to research on current and past topics through broadcast media.
BoB can drone on sometimes though, especially when BoB is enthusiastic about that 2-hour documentary from the mid-80s (BoB likes repeats) on a South Yorkshire farm and their exploits in the world of competitive ploughing. You may not want BoB to go through the whole documentary, especially when you just want the bit where the farmer talks about the tractor used in these matches and how Old Bess (the tractor) has been by the farmer’s side for over 30 years. Or those 5 minutes near the end where the farmer has ploughed the straightest line to win South Yorkshire plougher of the year 1984 (a moment not to miss!).
BoB allows you to just go to those bits and just those bits. You may also want to put in your research where you got this information from. BoB will give you that information too (if you ask nicely). BoB is also a very inclusive person and loves to help everyone with the dissemination of knowledge. BoB has required in many different formats, transcriptions, captions, etc. lastly, BoB is always learning; every hour of everyday BoB is learning something new.
I think you need to sit down for this……. BoB isn’t a real person!! B.O.B stands for Box of Broadcast, a system that allows you to search and request and embed broadcast media from over 65 channels into your teaching and learning. This system is available for all staff and students at the University of Derby residing in the UK.
For more details on how to embed Box of Broadcast into you teaching and learning and how student can use it as a research tool. Go to Box of Broadcasts Digital Practice Handbook page.