Digital Voices

Overview

Interviewing is a way of capturing the personal voices, views and memories of those narrating their own experiences and it can provide a rich and vibrant angle to your project. Collating digital voices can provide us with a fascinating account of the reflections of the individual and can be used alongside other resources to gain an insight into creative practice, oral histories or humanities projects. It can also be taken as an employability skill, relating to marketing.

You will design and record an interview using digital technology to document a conversation relevant to a project idea of your choice. Using technology such as a smart phone or digital recorder, you will develop effective questioning techniques to create an overall narrative by capturing and editing voices.

This course would suit artists or creative practitioners, those working with community programmes, archivists looking to increase professional skills, local historians, or simply someone who is wanting to capture the voices and memories of those you care about.

This is a self-paced online module that is accessed through the virtual learning platform.

Programme

The course will provide you with the practical knowledge and experience to prepare, conduct, record and edit interviews. The material covers the technology needed for recording, how to prepare for an interview, questioning techniques to get the best from your interviewee, how to edit your recordings and overcome problems and what to do with your recordings once they are finalised. 

The skills you will learn are transferable in many areas, including:  

• marketing, 
• advertising,
• community engagement, 
• digital storytelling,
• social media,
• podcasting, 
• digital radio,
• personal histories,
• artistic processes and activities. 

The course encourages you to take control of your learning and delve deeper into topics of interest. It provides opportunities to ask questions and share your learning, ideas, and experiences with your fellow students. You can also contact me via email and request one-to-one online meetings. 

You may want to take this course at your own leisure, working flexibly around your usual commitments, yet we do recommend that you access your learning materials each week. Small tasks will be set along the way, enabling you to practice your new skills and receive feedback on your progress. 

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:  

1. Show how a persons’ reflections can contribute to research / oral history projects or web page dialogue.
2. Plan and create effective interviews.
3. Use smart technology to capture, edit and transcribe voice recordings.
4. Explain and present findings visually and creatively. 

Assessments

1. Blog/ Discussion Board (250 Words) - 10%
2. Audio recording portfolio (500 Words and a small selection of recordings) - 40%
3. Statement of intent presentation (100 Words) -10%
4. Planning and execution - Presentation submission with transcribed interview - 40% 

Reading Suggestions

Reading suggestions will be offered throughout the course. 

Entry Requirements

This course is for everyone. No previous experience is needed and there are no formal entry requirements.

What Do I Need?

As this is an online course, you would need the following:

• Internet access
• Access to a laptop or computer with a web camera and microphone; the use of headphones might also be of benefit
• Use of the Chrome web-browser where possible.