Digital Citizen’s diary; end of the course- beginning of the future

Day 12

Megan Garvey

As the digital citizen’s course came to an end it was time for all our hard work to be put into place. The live 30 minute radio show was a mix of all our promotional adverts, our own scripts, a live interview, our vox pops and of course, our very own voices for radio.

It was a relief that all our efforts were now being put to good use and what’s more, everything we did from day one helped in some way towards the live radio show, meaning that no time was wasted over the 7 weeks.

Although the show was really just for fun, I took it seriously, as this could have been my only chance to be live on internet radio. As I put on the head phones and I was given the cue to talk, I began my show.

I was so nervous in the first minute, but after that, nerves turned into adrenaline and I was really enjoying it. The show felt like it lasted for 5 minutes, but the fact that I got through it without making any mistakes was a real achievement for me, still being quite an amateur in radio.

It was strange to think that it was now all over and I really didn’t want to go. Everyone on the course had learnt something new and we were all good friends. The digital citizen’s course tutor had showed us a different side to radio, one which we all loved and wanted to be a part of in the future.

Looking back to that girl with butterflies on the train seven weeks ago and seeing the girl who had just done a live radio show, proved to me that doing the course was the right thing.

 

Even though I’m not ready to start a career straight away, the things I have learnt on the course will certainly stay with me until I can start a career. Hopefully I will work hard enough to find a job which I love, and will think back to Ariel Trust and all the inspiration they gave to me over the summer of ’11

 

Tags: Ariel Tust, broadcast, Digital Citizens, live, Megan Garvey, Radio, Vox Pop

Digital citizen’s diary; an opportunity in radio

Day 11

By Megan Garvey

Today at Ariel it was time to perform our scripts which we had previously written. With a few practices I had my final recording. Everyone was surprised at how confident they were about performing the cue, as it had to be done in a professional manner, which many of us were not accustomed to.

The fact that we had tried so many things that tested our confidence over the six weeks, meant that we were all now eager to try different aspects of broadcasting media.

In reality, over the course of about 6 weeks, we had all changed in our attitudes towards radio and television broadcasting, as we were all now experienced in the job.

I was enjoying every minute of it and hoped that this was something I could continue in my career in the future. However, the course was finally coming to end which only meant one thing; it was time to go it alone, live on internet radio.

Tags: ariel trust, autocue, Broadcasting, Digital Citizens, Megan Garvey, Radio

Digital Citizens – Live News Day

Tune in today to listen to our Digital Citizens’ students broadcast live in the Ariel Trust studio.

The students will be broadcasting live via our web stream which you can access here. 

Each student will get a half hour slot to present their own show, which will consist of presenting cues and scripts, news reading, a pre-recorded interview, a live phone interview, vox pops; and feature their own adverts.

Here is the running order of today’s broadcast:

11:00am – Craig Adamson

11:30am – Tessa Foster

12:00pm – Megan Garvey

12:30pm – Michael Allen

1:00pm – Claire Bynoe

1:30pm – Emily Stewart

2:00pm – Owen Fanning

2:30pm – James Nolan

3:00pm – Daniel Daley

Don’t miss out and tune in to this brilliant show!

Tags: ariel trust, broadcast, Digital Citizens, live, news reading, vox pops

Digital Citizen’s diary; happy to be independent

Day 8

By Megan Garvey

Previously on the Digital Citizen’s course we recorded some simple questions about our life in pairs, such as questions about school, jobs and our future plans.

 This task was to help us learn how to use a recording device properly and test our voices on the recorder. So today we were using the resource to make an interactive CV.

 At first I wasn’t sure if there was such thing as an interactive CV, thinking a CV could only be found on paper. Yet, a CV can be found on not only paper, but on a PowerPoint presentation, complete with buttons to click, sounds and pictures.

 Using the information we collected earlier on the course, we would make an interactive CV about the person we were interviewing, and tailor it to fit the person. Not only this, the interactive CV’s could be used by schools as a learning recourse.

 Using power point was something I had already done, however I had never inserted a sound clip from digital editing software into a power point.

 Again I had learnt something new on the digital Citizens course, and was surprised at how everyone, myself included, was learning skills so quickly.

 I felt that I could rely on myself much more now, whereas before I started on the course I was often nervous about working on my own.

 I was learning skills at Ariel Trust which I would take away with me, long after the course had finished. What’s more, the skills would certainly be at my advantage in any future careers which I may get involved in.

 

Tags: ariel trust, Digital Citizens, interview, Megan Garvey, power point, recording

Digital Citizen’s diary; from novice to expert

Day 7

By Megan Garvey

Week 3 at Ariel Trust saw the start of another aspect of radio, Sponsorship and promotions. S&P, is an essential part of any business or organisation, but is important in radio, as it gets listeners involved and makes people more interested in listening.

Also many businesses have strong links in radio; especially radio channels with adverts, as their products are advertised on air, so can increase the businesses’ credibility. Today we created a sponsored competition which would be integrated into our Live Radio Broadcast at the end of the course.

However, there were so many aspects of the competition we had to take into consideration. The prize, the sponsor and the rules of the competition had to be decided, as well as a written cue for the radio presenter.

There was so many things to take on board which proved to me how little I knew about working in radio. However, I knew that the less I knew, the more there was to learn, which is why I enrolled on this course.

Everyone is a novice at some point in their lives, it just takes time and patience to become an expert.

Digital Citizen’s diary; gaining life long skills

Day 6

By Megan Garvey

On the Digital Citizen’s course today we were essentially the producers in Radio, having to decide how a concert promotion would be styled.

It sounded like quite a difficult task to begin with, as we had to decide how it would be styled, what would be said and who would say it, meaning we had much more independence to the task in hand.

 In spite of this, I noticed that each one of us was becoming more confident about working in Radio as the days progressed.

Moreover, each one of us had a different talent from the next person. Some of us had amazing Radio voices which could be used on the advert, and some of us had expertise in radio editing, so if any of us were confused there was always plenty of people to calm our technical worries.

 Moreover, we were working against time to get the task complete. This meant we were actually getting an experience of what life would be like working in a radio station, an experience which could be used for jobs in the future. Ariel Trust was providing us with life long skills, not just in radio, but in many other jobs too.

Digital citizen’s diary; Writing and recording for radio

Day 5

By Megan Garvey

Today the group learned something completely different about radio broadcasting and what we would integrate into our projects at the end of the course. We learnt how to write for radio, or in broadcasting terminology, a cue. It was different from writing essays at college because in radio, the time you have to say your words is limited.

We would have the chance to write our own cues on a topic of our choice to use in our radio broadcast, which would last around 30 minutes. Today was the first day where we really thought about the project and it was quite daunting at first, because this was a task that we would do on our own.

Luckily, everything we do before the project contributes to it in some way, so we have a lot of practice before we get thrown into the final production.

As well as writing, we had another challenging task ahead of us today. We were asked to go out into the street to ask people questions about a topic in the news, to then apply to our radio projects.

This type of recording is also known as a Vox-Pop, which in Latin is “voice of the people”, and it really does mean that! Everyone was eager to talk and some gave very strong opinions, which would sound great on air.

Each day at Ariel Trust we were being given entirely different aspects of Radio, which made the course exciting, as each day there was a fresh new challenge.

 

 

Tags: ariel trust, Broadcasting, cue. writing, Megan Garvey, Radio, Vox Pop

Digital Citizen’s diary; Building on foundations

Day 4

By Megan Garvey

After working on recording techniques, it was time to return to the computer based tasks, essentially helping us in the long term. ICT skills can often be an essential part of radio, and we were learning these skills to use in our projects later in the course.

The task involved editing a recording which we worked on yesterday were, in pairs, we traveled out into the city to interview each other for 3 minutes about our basic profile. We would later be using this recording technique, called a vox-pop, to interview the public about a news headline for our project.

Today, however, we had a chance to edit our interviews. We were taught how to edit the important information, using it to build a suitable interview. We were all slowly building up a body of work, showing how many skills there were to be learnt at Ariel Trust, after just 4 days.

As the work was our own, and it would be used at the end of the course via internet radio, we all felt a sense of pride towards it, meaning that we had an actual reason to be involved in the course.

Over the next few weeks we would start producing work to add to our project theme, which all schools across Liverpool could use, and we were the designers of it.

At the end of the second week, I had learnt skills which I could use in later years, meaning that the course was laying valuable foundations for me, and other students to build on.

Tags: Ariel Tust, Broadcasting, Editing sound, ICT, Megan Garvey, Vox Pop

Hate Crime- No such thing as low level

By Megan Garvey

The dictionary definition of hate is intense animosity or dislike, whilst the dictionary definition of crime is an action or activity considered to be evil, shameful, or wrong. So what do you get when both hate and crime come together?

A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence, is the outlining of Hate Crime and it exists in strong force across the community.

Ariel Trust has worked alongside agencies, to produce a short piece of film which looks at how a “low” level crime, can have an extremely large effect upon a person’s life. The film also highlights how more must be done in order for communities to be a safer place for all those currently under attack.

The film looks at two sides of a victim’s harassment; how victim’s lives are being improved by relocation and arrest, but also how many victims have received little or no support, so their situation has escalated and resulted in, more often than not, murder or suicide.

During the film agencies offer hope for victims of hate crimes, but do highlight how many attacks there are per year. The film highlights that in Merseyside alone, there were 144 homophobic attacks last year and 40% of lesbian and gay people live in fear of being attacked. More alarmingly, out of around 52,000 Hate Crime incidents, over 43,000 of those incidents were influenced by a person’s race.

A lot of the shocking figures used in the film highlight how there is still so much hate crime, making many sufferers wonder how much is actually being done to solve the ever-growing problems of hate crimes in many communities across the nation. Yet, the Hate Crime film reminds us that these incidents aren’t just numbers, but rather individual people. People who are suffering daily and people who have received help but is often not enough to live a safe life, free of abuse.

For many people, the help they received was simply too little, or too late, and murder or suicide was the only option left for the abuser and abused.

However, Merseyside police have now developed a one to one programme whereby more help is being offered and one officer is assigned to a hate crime victim. This communication from agency to family has had a positive effect on many families across Liverpool, proving how measures are being put in place to make a difference. A brighter picture is being painted and now more victims are prepared to speak out, in order for communities to be safer and happier places across Britain.

Tags: ariel trust, Hate Crime, Megan Garvey, Merseyside police, violence

Digital Citizen’s diary; the reality of radio

Day 3

By Megan Garvey

This day saw the start of the second week and the beginning of our biggest and possibly most challenging task yet. At Ariel Trust, there is a sound booth full of recording systems and microphones, and today we could put this to good use, along with our very own voices for radio.

In teams of four we would get to host our own news flash and, being an over enthusiastic amateur, I volunteered to be in the first group. However, I immediately realised my error when sitting next to me was a fellow student who worked part-time for a hospital radio station and two fellow students who had deep, loud voices, perfect for radio!

However, my cue went in a flash and we all wanted to do it again, just showing how fun it was. Although I had never done anything like that before, having someone who had experience in radio in your group, made it somehow easier and not as daunting, as there was always someone to turn to if you needed to ask for advice.

But more over, day 3 showed how diverse the course was; last week we were working with editing software, and today we were hosting a news programme. Two completely different things somehow had a link. I began to realise that there is so much more to radio that speaking into a microphone and saying hello. You have to edit what you say, change the pitch and delete errors.

Today proved how challenging working in radio could be, but also how different each day could be for both presenter and producer.

Tags: Broadcasting, Digital Citizens, Editing sound, Megan Garvey, Producing, Radio