Podcasting Success Stories

Dr Simon Benjamin: Caging Schrödinger’s Cat

Case Study

Background and Context

Dr Simon Benjamin is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Material Sciences Department. He has written extensively on the subject of Nanotechnology and Quantum technology.

He had been interested in finding a new way of reaching his students and explaining the fascinating yet difficult concepts behind his subject; quantum nanotechnology, he had researched the possibilities of creating podcasts as both an enhancement to his students learning experience and also to interest members of the general public in his research interests. He says he “saw podcasts from other universities, especially US ones, and I thought ‘wow that’s a great way to reach a lot of people’”.

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, seminar, specialist videos, among other things have all been included.

podcasts@oucs.ox.ac.uk

http://itunes.ox.ac.uk

http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk

OUCS, 13 Banbury

Rd, Oxford, OX2 6NN

Dr Benjamin’s podcasts represented a new and innovative way of conveying knowledge and information on a complex subject in an informative but interesting way. Please see below for a more detailed description of the material Dr Benjamin Submitted.

Dr Benjamin’s podcasts took the form of four short videos explaining the concepts and ideas behind Quantum nanotechnology. Using CGI animations, Dr Benjamin explains the complicated ideas behind quantum theory and the advances scientists are making in creating nanotechnology. Including the possibility of creating a quantum computer, one of the most exotic and powerful things ever conceived.

Method - Technology UsedThe use of a digital video camera on a tripod (see screen shot) in one of the materials department laboratories to create a simple scene from which he used to talk about nanotechnology. Following that, enlisting the help of independent Computer graphics artists, Nyman Digital Artists, to create the digital effects used to illustrate the atoms and molecules at a quantum level. After Dr Benjamin had taken enough footage, he began the process of editing the material into a series of good quality video podcasts. He also took the audio from the files to create a separate set of audio only podcasts. After he had done this, he sent all of the files over to the Podcasting Service who uploaded all of the material onto the podcasting site and ITunesU using the university’s file uploading program; Oxitems. This made Dr Benjamin’s podcast series available for viewing and download from the university’s websites.

Pictures from top left to top right: Album cover for Dr Benjaminʼs podcast series; screen shots from episode 2 of the series. Middle: Quantum Nanotechnology page on ITunesU

“I saw podcasts from other universities, especially US ones, and I thought ‘wow that's a great way to reach a lot of people’”

“it [podcasting] was great and I definitely intend to make more!” -Dr Simon Benjamin

The Podcasting Service at Oxford University provides innovative academic and educational audio/visual podcasts made by University staff and students. These are free to download from podcasts.ox.ac.uk and from ITunesU

Tangible Benefits The tangible benefits to the podcasting series are numerous but can be categorized in to three sections: Teaching and learning; the podcasts have improved his student’s understanding of the concepts involved in quantum nanotechnology, informal feedback from students has been very positive with many students saying that the podcasts have helped them understand the concepts behind quantum nanotechnology. Furthermore, Dr Benjamin recalls “one person got in touch to do a summer project because of the podcasts -- however, in the end she went to another university (London) for her project. Still, that shows the potential!”

Public: Since the podcasts are available free to view and download from http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk and ITunesU, there has been a large amount of interest from the general public. Many email messages of thanks, requests for more episodes, a Facebook fan page and online discussion groups have sprung up as a consequence of Dr Benjamin’s podcasts. It can be said that Dr Benjamin’s podcasts have helped the education and e-learning of members of the public as much as they have benefited his students.

Personal: Dr Benjamin has recently been awarded for his efforts at the 2009 Oxtalent award ceremony, an event run by Oxford University Computer Services (OUCS) that highlights and rewards members of the university who have excelled in finding new and innovative ways of using technology in their teaching and learning. Dr Benjamin’s series on Nanotechnology won the award for ‘Best Academic Podcast’.

Were there any drawbacks or difficulties when making these podcasts? One of the difficulties Dr Benjamin had while making the podcasts was sound recording. As he says; “I wanted the voice recording to be equally good. I had real trouble finding a place in the university where I could record sound without weird echos, or road noise, etc. In the end I did most of them in my flat, but even that was not really great”.Summary and reflectionIn summary, Dr Benjamin has created a series of award winning video podcasts looking at the strange and difficult concepts behind Quantum Nanotechnology that he presented in an interesting and accessible way. He produced these videos using a simple camera set-up and an independent production company to create the CGI sections of the videos.

The Podcasting Service uploaded the videos and the separate audio files onto the university’s podcasting website and on Oxford’s ITunesU site where they have become some of the most popular podcasts on ITunesU.

Dr Benjamin’s podcasts have been hugely popular; they have enhanced the learning experience of his students as well as sparking an interest in the field of Quantum Nanotechnology in the general public who also saw his videos. Dr Benjamin has said that the experience of podcasting “was great and I definitely intend to make more”.

Pictures: Above: Screenshot from Episode 3 of Caging Schrödinger’s Cat: Atomic Cat. Left, podcast series as it appears in podcasts.ox.ac.uk

Follow up:

If you are interested in producing podcasts and would like some advice on it, please either visit http://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/