Resource Review: BoB, Box of Broadcasts/Learning on Screen

Bob, Box of Broadcasts, or Learning on Screen (they’ve gone by many names over the years) is a tool which I’ve used for a number of years on my modules. As a resource , when you pick the right programmes and documentaries, it can add considerable depth to the resources available to students to contextualise the subject matter you’ve been exploring in lectures and seminars.

The main benefits of using BoB is that all the material is pre-validated for teaching use so there’s no tiresome checking with the library for permissions etc. If it’s available on BoB it can be inserted into your module as a teaching resource. Possibly more useful for a generation used to Youtube and iPlayer, the BoB controls are highly intuitive.

BoB themselves are continuously improving the site and over the last 2 years have added much better VLE integration, so it’s possible if you’ve reviewed this resource before and found it “clunky” it could have had a sizeable improvement since then.

Some of the most useful improvements (which will also carry over to Canvas) is the improved share options which BoB now has. Including one of the share options being a direct iframe code which can be inserted straight into a VLE. This user friendliness means that with a very short copy and paste into the VLE you can add a video using an pre-setup embed code. WAYFless Links are also available to speed students directly to the resource (see some useful Youtube’s below from the Learning Technology Development team of Edge Hill University).

One of my favourite uses of the resource is to set up playlists for students which will lead them to a range of resources from which they can pick from.

In terms of integration with the learning experience I’ve used this resource in a number of ways including getting students to watch documentaries and write reflective blogs comparing and contrasting what we’ve taught them in the classroom with their views after watching some real world practise. I’ve also used it in a flipped classroom technique for a seminar, where students were to watch after a lecture a documentary on Mercedes’s merger with Chrysler, and the seminar was very much them debating the issues arising.

The downsides of the resource are that it can take a little time to curate and find the videos you want. There is a little set-up time here. A quick time saver can be though to search through other peoples playlists in the search function, you can do this by selecting “search public playlists” on the search function instead of just searching programmes. The last downside is that while it does have a great deal, it doesn’t have everything. I’m still waiting for Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room to show up sometime.

Academic research which has been published regarding the integration of BoB into the curriculum is sparse (and potentially an area for pedagogic research). However JISC have published some insightful guides on using video in teaching and learning, within their larger “Using digital media in new learning models” guide. My favourite part of the guide being one of my favourite views of the use of technology in teaching overall:

“Technology should never be used for ‘technology sake’. There should always be an underlying pedagogical reason for its use.”

Please do leave a comment below if you yourself have had any positive/negative experiences with BoB, or would like to share any further resources or help guides associated with this resource.