The RadioActive platform has been designed to be as simple as possible to establish and maintain. We wish to focus on the pedagogy and utilize technologies for developing critical literacies, rather than focus on technologies in themselves. Indeed radio has been around for many years. However in developing an internet radio platform, this opens the media for use in community settings. The radio platform is based on an Icecast server with a streaming server allowing access to the stream through any online MP3 player. Input is provided through a portable mixing deck with remote radio microphones. Audio Hijack Pro software allows the signal to be channeled to the Icecast server on an Apple MacBook, meaning the whole radio station is portable rather than relying on a studio, or this is the ‘radio station in a box’ concept. Other industry standard and open source software can be used for music mixing etc.

The technology is also relatively cheap. it is possible to set up a basic internet radio station for around £200, assuming access to a computer and an internet connection although obviously more sophisticated equipment can cost more. Whilst in the past access to a streaming server has been a barrier, it is now possible to purchase bandwidth on a ‘pay as you go’ basis starting from as little as £10.

We are developing a wiki providing full technical details of equipment and how to set it up.