Thing 19: Podcasts

I have always enjoyed listening to the radio, and so listening to podcasts is .....  I use them regularly with my students for lots of different reasons, to relax, to teach and to inform. 

For this topic I decided to do Option One as I am under pressure!!

But first I must say I do use Audacity and upload to SoundCloud regularly mostly my student's work/oral presentations.  They enjoy getting involved in WRaPP (Writing Reading and Performance Poetry) initiatives.  We have used this approach as an alternative to traditional book reviews.  We use SoundCloud to share their work.  They like to have a copy themselves and some have even used their work as their ringtone! Here is the latest one.  Students have access to microphones which automatically download the files into audacity so they/we can edit their work on the library computers. 

Music and spoken word are great ways to tap into the teenage psyche.  It is fantastic that there now is an oral component in the Junior Certificate English curriculum and currently we are researching and preparing students for their Oral English as part of CBA1 (Classroom Based Assessment).  I expect listening to podcasts and making podcasts will be used more frequently as a learning tool in Irish schools.

Back to the task.... 

Yes I decided to listen to a podcast about:
"The Letter Of The Day is "S":  Seasame Street an Avenue for good."

Who isn't a fan of Sesame Street?  Yes I know some people find it a little too old fashioned and perhaps it tries too hard to be politically correct.  This podcast gives insight into the Sesame Street Community Workshop approach for inclusion and tackling the Big Issues that impact us all and especially the under fives!!

I listened to this through Podcast Addict which I downloaded to my phone.  It has lots of support on YouTube.  The app is free but there is a lot of advertising which was a little irritating.

Back to "The Letter Of The......  this aired earlier in the week on NPR.  It was a discussion  about Sesame's Street content with Sesame Street Executives Ginette Bentancort and Leslie Kellerman. What does it take to create socially conscious television for children that is entertaining and fun?  Sesame Street is a global brand and has been at the forefront of children's TV since 1969.  I found this podcast because I was searching for podcast discussions about Autism.  Sesame Street introduced a character last year "Julia"  who has autism. It has been a year since this character was included.  This podcast touched on her inclusion but it really was more about their approach to BIG ISSUES in general. So not really what I was looking for.  But interesting nevertheless, especially the localistation of the series to the country it is aired on.  I assumed the US version was the only version because that's the only one I have seen!   But in fact, there are many versions of Sesame Street reflecting a country's culture.  Here's the Arabic version. 

Podcasting offers huge opportunities,  the challenge is to produce meaningful relevant content that is "fit for purpose".