I spend a fair amount of time commuting and one of my favourite pastimes while driving is to listen to podcasts. I enjoy listening to new ideas and perspectives without the interruption of commercials. It’s the perfect time for me to continue my own learning on topics of personal or professional interest. Luckily, this week’s topic was the use of podcasts in elementary education.
As usual my first step when locating a new podcast was to head over to the iTunes store. A quick search of ‘elementary education’ produced over 120 results. The bulk of results focused on language education, and professional development. I downloaded a number of the professional development podcasts for later reference and continued my search. I was hoping to locate a podcast that could be used in a classroom lesson and that was appropriate for elementary aged children.
The podcast that I chose was titled, “Activated Stories” and was a weekly broadcast that had the narrators tell new folktale from a different culture and in a new location. The episode that I listened to was entitled, “The Book of Magic” and was a Russian folktale. The narrators told the story in animated voices and added sound effects. It seemed age appropriate for children in grades two to six. At the end of the story the authors asked some good follow-up questions that children could respond to. I think this podcast could be used in a fairytale unit in language arts or in a social studies unit that looked at world cultures or country studies.
By listening to the podcast I learned a couple of important points. First, teacher needs to pre-screen the content to check that it is suitable. Second, you don’t always need to start at the beginning of the podcast. For example, I would have started “The Book of Magic” at 5 minutes to avoid some banter that did not contribute to the story. Finally, I think you could pause the podcast at various points to ask students questions about the story, find locations mentioned on a map, or let the students predict outcomes.
Overall, podcasts seem to be a useful resource for teachers. They are affordable, interesting, and provide a broader context for students. I look forward to further exploring their uses, especially in other subjects like science and mathematics.
Oh look at you a seasoned listener to podcast. Loved the idea f listening to it on the way to school, so much more productive then listening to the radio. Where do you get more your podcasts from? any favorite programs? I do look forward to using them in subjects, as learning tools!
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions - especially that we don't need to listen to the whole thing, and that it might actually be more powerful to zero in on what you really want children to focus on.
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