Biographical notes on the French composer Aubert Lemeland, who greatly admired the work of Britis... more Biographical notes on the French composer Aubert Lemeland, who greatly admired the work of British composer Lennox Berkeley.
In 1979, Radio France broadcast a live performance of chamber pieces by the British composer Lenn... more In 1979, Radio France broadcast a live performance of chamber pieces by the British composer Lennox Berkeley. The broadcast was organised by the French composer Aubert Lemeland, an admirer of Berkeley's music. Berkeley and Lemeland were interviewed for the broadcast and the article presents part of their interviews.
This article offers reflections arising from a recent colloquium at the Open University on the im... more This article offers reflections arising from a recent colloquium at the Open University on the implications of the development of digital humanities for research in arts disciplines, and also for their interactions with computing and technology. Particular issues explored include the ways in which the digital turn in humanities research is also a spatial/visual one; the tension between analysis based on the extensive ‘hard’ data generated by digital methodologies and the more subtle evaluations of traditional humanities research; the advantages and disadvantages of online resources that distance the researcher from the actual archive, book, artefact or archaeological site under investigation; and the unrealized potential for applying to the humanities software tools designed for science and technology. Constructive responses to such challenges and opportunities require the full rigour of the critical thinking that is the essence of arts and humanities research.
Adult education at the BBC has a chequered history. During the 1920s and 1930s, the BBC invested ... more Adult education at the BBC has a chequered history. During the 1920s and 1930s, the BBC invested heavily in adult education, but after a promising start the scheme failed. Further rises and falls followed. The development of The Open University (founded in 1969) was seen as a new venture for adult-educational broadcasting, but broadcasts formed only a small part of its teaching material. Two extremely successful BBC literacy ventures during the 1970s and 1980s, however, showed what adult educational broadcasting at its best was capable of. Despite its chequered history, educational broadcasting has been deeply pervaded by ethical values and adheres to the founding principles of public service broadcasting.
During 1931–1933 several BBC radio broadcasts invited listeners to participate in what would now ... more During 1931–1933 several BBC radio broadcasts invited listeners to participate in what would now be termed ‘citizen science’ experiments. Scientists broadcast on a research topic, and asked for relevant data and observations from listeners. Most of these broadcasts were part of the Science in the Making series. Topics investigated ranged across natural history, meteorology, auditory perception, dreams and social science. One Science in the Making broadcast resulted in an article in a refereed academic journal.
This article describes these broadcasts, the listeners’ role, and the outcomes of the series. It situates them in the context of the BBC’s adult education provision, and examines their educational and scientific contributions. Although the broadcasts were considered successful, they were short-lived. The article investigates reasons for this. It also looks at the reasons for the demise of inter-war adult education provision at the BBC during the later 1930s.
In diesem Artikel befasse ich mich mit den Orchesterversionen dreier Gitarrenwerke der 1920er Jah... more In diesem Artikel befasse ich mich mit den Orchesterversionen dreier Gitarrenwerke der 1920er Jahre: Manuel de Fallas Homenaje pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy, Joan Manéns Fantasia-Sonata and Pierre-Octave Ferrouds Spiritual. In jedem Fall wurde die Orchesterversion vom Komponisten selbst erstellt.
http://egta-nrw.de/resources/EGTA-Journal-6-2018.pdf
During the course of several decades, several scientists and groups of scientists lobbied the Bri... more During the course of several decades, several scientists and groups of scientists lobbied the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) about science broadcasting. A consistent theme of the interventions was that science broadcasting should be given exceptional treatment both in its content, which was to have a strongly didactic element, and in its managerial arrangements within the BBC. This privileging of science would have amounted to ‘scientific exceptionalism’. The article looks at the nature of this exceptionalism and broadcasters’ responses to it.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/50180/
Link for author's manuscript: http://oro.open.ac.uk/45971/
Science writer, historian and adm... more Link for author's manuscript: http://oro.open.ac.uk/45971/
Science writer, historian and administrator J. G. Crowther (1899–1983) had an uneasy relationship with the BBC during the 1920s and 1930s, and was regarded with suspicion by the British security services because of his Left politics. Nevertheless the Second World War saw him working for ‘establishment’ institutions. He was closely associated with the BBC’s Overseas Service and employed by the British Council’s Science Committee. Both organisations found Crowther useful because of his wide, international knowledge of science and scientists.
Crowther’s political views, and his international aspirations for the British Council’s Science Committee, increasingly embroiled him in an institutional conflict with the Royal Society and with its President Sir Henry Dale, who was also Chairman of the British Council’s Science Committee. The conflict centred on the management of international scientific relations, a matter close the Crowther’s heart, and to Dale’s. Dale considered that the formal conduct of international scientific relations was the Royal Society’s business rather than the British Council’s. Crowther disagreed, and eventually resigned from the British Council Science Committee in 1946.
The article expands knowledge of Crowther by drawing on archival documents to elucidate a side of his career that is only lightly touched on in his memoirs. It shows that ‘Crowther’s war’ was also an institutional war between the Science Committee of the British Council and the Royal Society. Crowther’s unhappy experience of interference by the Royal Society plausibly accounts for a retreat from his pre-war view that institutional science should plan and manage BBC science broadcasts.
The immediate postwar period saw the emergence of the first digital computers as well as developm... more The immediate postwar period saw the emergence of the first digital computers as well as developments in cybernetics, brain research, and information theory. In this era, questions of mechanical intelligence came to the forefront in public media. In Britain the BBC broadcast radio talks by many leading practitioners in these fields in which they discussed their work and speculated on its implications for conceptions of intelligence. Generally, speakers were either sceptical or unsceptical toward the issue of intelligent behavior in machines. The sceptics, who tended to have backgrounds in physical science and mathematics, usually took reductive approaches to argue that machines could not be intelligent. The non-sceptics, who tended to have a biological orientation, usually avoided reductive approaches and conceded that the distinction between machines and animal brains might not be clear-cut.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/44038/
British Journal for the History of Science, viol 47 no.4, 2014
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elite world of institutional British science attempted to ... more In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elite world of institutional British science attempted to take control of the BBC’s management of science broadcasting. Delegations of scientists met BBC managers to propose an increased role for scientists in planning science broadcasts to a degree that threatened to compromise the BBC’s authority and autonomy. The culmination was a set of proposals to the Pilkington Committee in 1960, principally from the Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, under which a scientist-manager was to be appointed head of a unified science division in the BBC. BBC managers resisted these proposals. The outcome, in 1964, was a compromise giving the scientists little of what they wanted, and proving practically and strategically useful for the BBC. The article frames the story as a contest of jurisdiction between elite science and the BBC, and draws on scholarship relating to the social nature of authority and professions, and to the popularization of science. It shows the fundamentally different beliefs held by the scientists and the BBC about the purpose of science broadcasts and about the nature of the audience. The historical narrative is based on unpublished archive documents, and it contributes to the small but growing body of work on the historical background to the presentation of science in the broadcast media.
In Autumn 1931 and Spring 1932, at a time of global and national economic crisis, the BBC subsume... more In Autumn 1931 and Spring 1932, at a time of global and national economic crisis, the BBC subsumed all its adult education radio broadcasts under the title 'The Changing World'. The series was described in promotional literature as ‘an attempt ... to face up squarely to the present situation, and to provide a survey of the many changes in outward circumstance, and in the evolution of thought and of values, which have brought into being the world as it is to-day.’
The Changing World comprised 144 broadcasts, each lasting around 25 minutes. The broadcasts were presented by eminent figures, such as the poet T. S. Eliot, the writer Harold Nicolson, the scientist Julian Huxley, and the economist William Beveridge. All talks were transmitted at ‘prime time’ in the early evening, and were intended for general listeners. In addition, associated pamphlets were published by the BBC in which speakers developed their thoughts.
The series was avowedly based on the premise that the contemporary crisis was a singular historical episode, calling for special consideration. Its roots lay in the cataclysm of the First World War, but it was also a manifestation of the many conflicting philosophies which ran through public life: socialism versus capitalism; nationalism versus internationalism; science (or secularism) versus spirituality; and modernism versus classicism. The crisis was seen as pervading most areas of cultural, creative and economic life, such as politics, the arts, science, and education.
In another sense, though, the series was very much a product of its time. Broadcast radio, and in particular public service broadcasting, was barely ten years old, but in that short time it had developed from a specialist, minority pursuit to a cultural and educational resource in the lives of most of the population. This paper argues that 'The Changing World' therefore represents a coming -of-age of radio – a realisation among broadcasting staff that radio was especially fitted to tackle momentous topics on behalf of the public. The series marks a growing confidence among broadcasting practitioners in the medium, and a growing self-confidence in themselves as professional intermediaries between the public and the intellectual world.
The talk draws on original, unpublished archive material relating to the series, and on associated publications. Although no sound recordings of the series survive, many of the talks were published. Extracts from the talks give an impression of the approaches and styles, and internal BBC documents indicate the ambition and scope of the producers. Reviews and comments also indicate the reception of the series. The paper also locates The Changing World in the context of the BBC’s own historical development, and its sometimes uneasy political position as a quasi-autonomous body which was nevertheless subject in various ways to government pressure.
A major strand of science and technology studies in recent decades has related
to the social con... more A major strand of science and technology studies in recent decades has related
to the social construction of technology (SCOT) movement, whose adherents maintain that technological systems are determined just as much by social forces as by technological ones. Taking this SCOT notion as a starting point, and putting
a focus on the user, this paper looks at some examples of the educational
use of software tools that exploit the functionality of the software in ways far
removed from the original design. Examples include the use of spreadsheets,
graphics editors and audio editors, and online translation software. Connections
are made between the social construction of technology and constructivist pedagogy,
particularly in relation to authentic learning.
Mary Adams was a science producer at the BBC from 1930–6. She is shown to have played a crucial r... more Mary Adams was a science producer at the BBC from 1930–6. She is shown to have played a crucial role in shaping science broadcasts, in particular devising formats and styles of presentation. However, her approach is shown to have been primarily motivated by broadcasting considerations rather than by the popularisation of science. Through her interaction with scientists she helped to construct a new professional domain, that of the science-broadcasting professional, at a time when other producers were creating analogous roles in other areas of broadcasting. This paper is based largely on unpublished archival documents.
Biographical notes on the French composer Aubert Lemeland, who greatly admired the work of Britis... more Biographical notes on the French composer Aubert Lemeland, who greatly admired the work of British composer Lennox Berkeley.
In 1979, Radio France broadcast a live performance of chamber pieces by the British composer Lenn... more In 1979, Radio France broadcast a live performance of chamber pieces by the British composer Lennox Berkeley. The broadcast was organised by the French composer Aubert Lemeland, an admirer of Berkeley's music. Berkeley and Lemeland were interviewed for the broadcast and the article presents part of their interviews.
This article offers reflections arising from a recent colloquium at the Open University on the im... more This article offers reflections arising from a recent colloquium at the Open University on the implications of the development of digital humanities for research in arts disciplines, and also for their interactions with computing and technology. Particular issues explored include the ways in which the digital turn in humanities research is also a spatial/visual one; the tension between analysis based on the extensive ‘hard’ data generated by digital methodologies and the more subtle evaluations of traditional humanities research; the advantages and disadvantages of online resources that distance the researcher from the actual archive, book, artefact or archaeological site under investigation; and the unrealized potential for applying to the humanities software tools designed for science and technology. Constructive responses to such challenges and opportunities require the full rigour of the critical thinking that is the essence of arts and humanities research.
Adult education at the BBC has a chequered history. During the 1920s and 1930s, the BBC invested ... more Adult education at the BBC has a chequered history. During the 1920s and 1930s, the BBC invested heavily in adult education, but after a promising start the scheme failed. Further rises and falls followed. The development of The Open University (founded in 1969) was seen as a new venture for adult-educational broadcasting, but broadcasts formed only a small part of its teaching material. Two extremely successful BBC literacy ventures during the 1970s and 1980s, however, showed what adult educational broadcasting at its best was capable of. Despite its chequered history, educational broadcasting has been deeply pervaded by ethical values and adheres to the founding principles of public service broadcasting.
During 1931–1933 several BBC radio broadcasts invited listeners to participate in what would now ... more During 1931–1933 several BBC radio broadcasts invited listeners to participate in what would now be termed ‘citizen science’ experiments. Scientists broadcast on a research topic, and asked for relevant data and observations from listeners. Most of these broadcasts were part of the Science in the Making series. Topics investigated ranged across natural history, meteorology, auditory perception, dreams and social science. One Science in the Making broadcast resulted in an article in a refereed academic journal.
This article describes these broadcasts, the listeners’ role, and the outcomes of the series. It situates them in the context of the BBC’s adult education provision, and examines their educational and scientific contributions. Although the broadcasts were considered successful, they were short-lived. The article investigates reasons for this. It also looks at the reasons for the demise of inter-war adult education provision at the BBC during the later 1930s.
In diesem Artikel befasse ich mich mit den Orchesterversionen dreier Gitarrenwerke der 1920er Jah... more In diesem Artikel befasse ich mich mit den Orchesterversionen dreier Gitarrenwerke der 1920er Jahre: Manuel de Fallas Homenaje pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy, Joan Manéns Fantasia-Sonata and Pierre-Octave Ferrouds Spiritual. In jedem Fall wurde die Orchesterversion vom Komponisten selbst erstellt.
http://egta-nrw.de/resources/EGTA-Journal-6-2018.pdf
During the course of several decades, several scientists and groups of scientists lobbied the Bri... more During the course of several decades, several scientists and groups of scientists lobbied the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) about science broadcasting. A consistent theme of the interventions was that science broadcasting should be given exceptional treatment both in its content, which was to have a strongly didactic element, and in its managerial arrangements within the BBC. This privileging of science would have amounted to ‘scientific exceptionalism’. The article looks at the nature of this exceptionalism and broadcasters’ responses to it.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/50180/
Link for author's manuscript: http://oro.open.ac.uk/45971/
Science writer, historian and adm... more Link for author's manuscript: http://oro.open.ac.uk/45971/
Science writer, historian and administrator J. G. Crowther (1899–1983) had an uneasy relationship with the BBC during the 1920s and 1930s, and was regarded with suspicion by the British security services because of his Left politics. Nevertheless the Second World War saw him working for ‘establishment’ institutions. He was closely associated with the BBC’s Overseas Service and employed by the British Council’s Science Committee. Both organisations found Crowther useful because of his wide, international knowledge of science and scientists.
Crowther’s political views, and his international aspirations for the British Council’s Science Committee, increasingly embroiled him in an institutional conflict with the Royal Society and with its President Sir Henry Dale, who was also Chairman of the British Council’s Science Committee. The conflict centred on the management of international scientific relations, a matter close the Crowther’s heart, and to Dale’s. Dale considered that the formal conduct of international scientific relations was the Royal Society’s business rather than the British Council’s. Crowther disagreed, and eventually resigned from the British Council Science Committee in 1946.
The article expands knowledge of Crowther by drawing on archival documents to elucidate a side of his career that is only lightly touched on in his memoirs. It shows that ‘Crowther’s war’ was also an institutional war between the Science Committee of the British Council and the Royal Society. Crowther’s unhappy experience of interference by the Royal Society plausibly accounts for a retreat from his pre-war view that institutional science should plan and manage BBC science broadcasts.
The immediate postwar period saw the emergence of the first digital computers as well as developm... more The immediate postwar period saw the emergence of the first digital computers as well as developments in cybernetics, brain research, and information theory. In this era, questions of mechanical intelligence came to the forefront in public media. In Britain the BBC broadcast radio talks by many leading practitioners in these fields in which they discussed their work and speculated on its implications for conceptions of intelligence. Generally, speakers were either sceptical or unsceptical toward the issue of intelligent behavior in machines. The sceptics, who tended to have backgrounds in physical science and mathematics, usually took reductive approaches to argue that machines could not be intelligent. The non-sceptics, who tended to have a biological orientation, usually avoided reductive approaches and conceded that the distinction between machines and animal brains might not be clear-cut.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/44038/
British Journal for the History of Science, viol 47 no.4, 2014
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elite world of institutional British science attempted to ... more In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elite world of institutional British science attempted to take control of the BBC’s management of science broadcasting. Delegations of scientists met BBC managers to propose an increased role for scientists in planning science broadcasts to a degree that threatened to compromise the BBC’s authority and autonomy. The culmination was a set of proposals to the Pilkington Committee in 1960, principally from the Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, under which a scientist-manager was to be appointed head of a unified science division in the BBC. BBC managers resisted these proposals. The outcome, in 1964, was a compromise giving the scientists little of what they wanted, and proving practically and strategically useful for the BBC. The article frames the story as a contest of jurisdiction between elite science and the BBC, and draws on scholarship relating to the social nature of authority and professions, and to the popularization of science. It shows the fundamentally different beliefs held by the scientists and the BBC about the purpose of science broadcasts and about the nature of the audience. The historical narrative is based on unpublished archive documents, and it contributes to the small but growing body of work on the historical background to the presentation of science in the broadcast media.
In Autumn 1931 and Spring 1932, at a time of global and national economic crisis, the BBC subsume... more In Autumn 1931 and Spring 1932, at a time of global and national economic crisis, the BBC subsumed all its adult education radio broadcasts under the title 'The Changing World'. The series was described in promotional literature as ‘an attempt ... to face up squarely to the present situation, and to provide a survey of the many changes in outward circumstance, and in the evolution of thought and of values, which have brought into being the world as it is to-day.’
The Changing World comprised 144 broadcasts, each lasting around 25 minutes. The broadcasts were presented by eminent figures, such as the poet T. S. Eliot, the writer Harold Nicolson, the scientist Julian Huxley, and the economist William Beveridge. All talks were transmitted at ‘prime time’ in the early evening, and were intended for general listeners. In addition, associated pamphlets were published by the BBC in which speakers developed their thoughts.
The series was avowedly based on the premise that the contemporary crisis was a singular historical episode, calling for special consideration. Its roots lay in the cataclysm of the First World War, but it was also a manifestation of the many conflicting philosophies which ran through public life: socialism versus capitalism; nationalism versus internationalism; science (or secularism) versus spirituality; and modernism versus classicism. The crisis was seen as pervading most areas of cultural, creative and economic life, such as politics, the arts, science, and education.
In another sense, though, the series was very much a product of its time. Broadcast radio, and in particular public service broadcasting, was barely ten years old, but in that short time it had developed from a specialist, minority pursuit to a cultural and educational resource in the lives of most of the population. This paper argues that 'The Changing World' therefore represents a coming -of-age of radio – a realisation among broadcasting staff that radio was especially fitted to tackle momentous topics on behalf of the public. The series marks a growing confidence among broadcasting practitioners in the medium, and a growing self-confidence in themselves as professional intermediaries between the public and the intellectual world.
The talk draws on original, unpublished archive material relating to the series, and on associated publications. Although no sound recordings of the series survive, many of the talks were published. Extracts from the talks give an impression of the approaches and styles, and internal BBC documents indicate the ambition and scope of the producers. Reviews and comments also indicate the reception of the series. The paper also locates The Changing World in the context of the BBC’s own historical development, and its sometimes uneasy political position as a quasi-autonomous body which was nevertheless subject in various ways to government pressure.
A major strand of science and technology studies in recent decades has related
to the social con... more A major strand of science and technology studies in recent decades has related
to the social construction of technology (SCOT) movement, whose adherents maintain that technological systems are determined just as much by social forces as by technological ones. Taking this SCOT notion as a starting point, and putting
a focus on the user, this paper looks at some examples of the educational
use of software tools that exploit the functionality of the software in ways far
removed from the original design. Examples include the use of spreadsheets,
graphics editors and audio editors, and online translation software. Connections
are made between the social construction of technology and constructivist pedagogy,
particularly in relation to authentic learning.
Mary Adams was a science producer at the BBC from 1930–6. She is shown to have played a crucial r... more Mary Adams was a science producer at the BBC from 1930–6. She is shown to have played a crucial role in shaping science broadcasts, in particular devising formats and styles of presentation. However, her approach is shown to have been primarily motivated by broadcasting considerations rather than by the popularisation of science. Through her interaction with scientists she helped to construct a new professional domain, that of the science-broadcasting professional, at a time when other producers were creating analogous roles in other areas of broadcasting. This paper is based largely on unpublished archival documents.
Biographical note Angelo Gilardino was born in Vercelli, in northern Italy, in 1941. A chance enc... more Biographical note Angelo Gilardino was born in Vercelli, in northern Italy, in 1941. A chance encounter with Ida Presti at an early age (he mistakenly wandered into a concert hall where she was to perform, and stayed) sealed his fate. Studies in guitar, cello and composition followed, and from 1958 to 1981 he pursued a career as a performer, with modern music forming a significant part of his repertoire. During this period, he was invited by the Italian publisher Edizioni Musicali Bèrben to supervise a new series devoted to modern guitar music.
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-learning, 2016
Review of Neil Selwyn's 'Digital technology and the contemporary university: degrees of digitizat... more Review of Neil Selwyn's 'Digital technology and the contemporary university: degrees of digitization'.
Uploads
Papers by Allan Jones
This article describes these broadcasts, the listeners’ role, and the outcomes of the series. It situates them in the context of the BBC’s adult education provision, and examines their educational and scientific contributions. Although the broadcasts were considered successful, they were short-lived. The article investigates reasons for this. It also looks at the reasons for the demise of inter-war adult education provision at the BBC during the later 1930s.
http://egta-nrw.de/resources/EGTA-Journal-6-2018.pdf
http://oro.open.ac.uk/50180/
Science writer, historian and administrator J. G. Crowther (1899–1983) had an uneasy relationship with the BBC during the 1920s and 1930s, and was regarded with suspicion by the British security services because of his Left politics. Nevertheless the Second World War saw him working for ‘establishment’ institutions. He was closely associated with the BBC’s Overseas Service and employed by the British Council’s Science Committee. Both organisations found Crowther useful because of his wide, international knowledge of science and scientists.
Crowther’s political views, and his international aspirations for the British Council’s Science Committee, increasingly embroiled him in an institutional conflict with the Royal Society and with its President Sir Henry Dale, who was also Chairman of the British Council’s Science Committee. The conflict centred on the management of international scientific relations, a matter close the Crowther’s heart, and to Dale’s. Dale considered that the formal conduct of international scientific relations was the Royal Society’s business rather than the British Council’s. Crowther disagreed, and eventually resigned from the British Council Science Committee in 1946.
The article expands knowledge of Crowther by drawing on archival documents to elucidate a side of his career that is only lightly touched on in his memoirs. It shows that ‘Crowther’s war’ was also an institutional war between the Science Committee of the British Council and the Royal Society. Crowther’s unhappy experience of interference by the Royal Society plausibly accounts for a retreat from his pre-war view that institutional science should plan and manage BBC science broadcasts.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/44038/
The Changing World comprised 144 broadcasts, each lasting around 25 minutes. The broadcasts were presented by eminent figures, such as the poet T. S. Eliot, the writer Harold Nicolson, the scientist Julian Huxley, and the economist William Beveridge. All talks were transmitted at ‘prime time’ in the early evening, and were intended for general listeners. In addition, associated pamphlets were published by the BBC in which speakers developed their thoughts.
The series was avowedly based on the premise that the contemporary crisis was a singular historical episode, calling for special consideration. Its roots lay in the cataclysm of the First World War, but it was also a manifestation of the many conflicting philosophies which ran through public life: socialism versus capitalism; nationalism versus internationalism; science (or secularism) versus spirituality; and modernism versus classicism. The crisis was seen as pervading most areas of cultural, creative and economic life, such as politics, the arts, science, and education.
In another sense, though, the series was very much a product of its time. Broadcast radio, and in particular public service broadcasting, was barely ten years old, but in that short time it had developed from a specialist, minority pursuit to a cultural and educational resource in the lives of most of the population. This paper argues that 'The Changing World' therefore represents a coming -of-age of radio – a realisation among broadcasting staff that radio was especially fitted to tackle momentous topics on behalf of the public. The series marks a growing confidence among broadcasting practitioners in the medium, and a growing self-confidence in themselves as professional intermediaries between the public and the intellectual world.
The talk draws on original, unpublished archive material relating to the series, and on associated publications. Although no sound recordings of the series survive, many of the talks were published. Extracts from the talks give an impression of the approaches and styles, and internal BBC documents indicate the ambition and scope of the producers. Reviews and comments also indicate the reception of the series. The paper also locates The Changing World in the context of the BBC’s own historical development, and its sometimes uneasy political position as a quasi-autonomous body which was nevertheless subject in various ways to government pressure.
to the social construction of technology (SCOT) movement, whose adherents maintain that technological systems are determined just as much by social forces as by technological ones. Taking this SCOT notion as a starting point, and putting
a focus on the user, this paper looks at some examples of the educational
use of software tools that exploit the functionality of the software in ways far
removed from the original design. Examples include the use of spreadsheets,
graphics editors and audio editors, and online translation software. Connections
are made between the social construction of technology and constructivist pedagogy,
particularly in relation to authentic learning.
This article describes these broadcasts, the listeners’ role, and the outcomes of the series. It situates them in the context of the BBC’s adult education provision, and examines their educational and scientific contributions. Although the broadcasts were considered successful, they were short-lived. The article investigates reasons for this. It also looks at the reasons for the demise of inter-war adult education provision at the BBC during the later 1930s.
http://egta-nrw.de/resources/EGTA-Journal-6-2018.pdf
http://oro.open.ac.uk/50180/
Science writer, historian and administrator J. G. Crowther (1899–1983) had an uneasy relationship with the BBC during the 1920s and 1930s, and was regarded with suspicion by the British security services because of his Left politics. Nevertheless the Second World War saw him working for ‘establishment’ institutions. He was closely associated with the BBC’s Overseas Service and employed by the British Council’s Science Committee. Both organisations found Crowther useful because of his wide, international knowledge of science and scientists.
Crowther’s political views, and his international aspirations for the British Council’s Science Committee, increasingly embroiled him in an institutional conflict with the Royal Society and with its President Sir Henry Dale, who was also Chairman of the British Council’s Science Committee. The conflict centred on the management of international scientific relations, a matter close the Crowther’s heart, and to Dale’s. Dale considered that the formal conduct of international scientific relations was the Royal Society’s business rather than the British Council’s. Crowther disagreed, and eventually resigned from the British Council Science Committee in 1946.
The article expands knowledge of Crowther by drawing on archival documents to elucidate a side of his career that is only lightly touched on in his memoirs. It shows that ‘Crowther’s war’ was also an institutional war between the Science Committee of the British Council and the Royal Society. Crowther’s unhappy experience of interference by the Royal Society plausibly accounts for a retreat from his pre-war view that institutional science should plan and manage BBC science broadcasts.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/44038/
The Changing World comprised 144 broadcasts, each lasting around 25 minutes. The broadcasts were presented by eminent figures, such as the poet T. S. Eliot, the writer Harold Nicolson, the scientist Julian Huxley, and the economist William Beveridge. All talks were transmitted at ‘prime time’ in the early evening, and were intended for general listeners. In addition, associated pamphlets were published by the BBC in which speakers developed their thoughts.
The series was avowedly based on the premise that the contemporary crisis was a singular historical episode, calling for special consideration. Its roots lay in the cataclysm of the First World War, but it was also a manifestation of the many conflicting philosophies which ran through public life: socialism versus capitalism; nationalism versus internationalism; science (or secularism) versus spirituality; and modernism versus classicism. The crisis was seen as pervading most areas of cultural, creative and economic life, such as politics, the arts, science, and education.
In another sense, though, the series was very much a product of its time. Broadcast radio, and in particular public service broadcasting, was barely ten years old, but in that short time it had developed from a specialist, minority pursuit to a cultural and educational resource in the lives of most of the population. This paper argues that 'The Changing World' therefore represents a coming -of-age of radio – a realisation among broadcasting staff that radio was especially fitted to tackle momentous topics on behalf of the public. The series marks a growing confidence among broadcasting practitioners in the medium, and a growing self-confidence in themselves as professional intermediaries between the public and the intellectual world.
The talk draws on original, unpublished archive material relating to the series, and on associated publications. Although no sound recordings of the series survive, many of the talks were published. Extracts from the talks give an impression of the approaches and styles, and internal BBC documents indicate the ambition and scope of the producers. Reviews and comments also indicate the reception of the series. The paper also locates The Changing World in the context of the BBC’s own historical development, and its sometimes uneasy political position as a quasi-autonomous body which was nevertheless subject in various ways to government pressure.
to the social construction of technology (SCOT) movement, whose adherents maintain that technological systems are determined just as much by social forces as by technological ones. Taking this SCOT notion as a starting point, and putting
a focus on the user, this paper looks at some examples of the educational
use of software tools that exploit the functionality of the software in ways far
removed from the original design. Examples include the use of spreadsheets,
graphics editors and audio editors, and online translation software. Connections
are made between the social construction of technology and constructivist pedagogy,
particularly in relation to authentic learning.