Making classes interesting is a constant challenge for high school teachers and college professors, especially those particularly energetic educators always looking for the next best thing.
Listening to public radio will break up the monotony of assigned class reading for students; this in itself is a great reason for educators to consider using podcasts in their classrooms. Most students are much more interested in their classes when they feel like they can relate the material to what is going on around them.
Classroom supplements like textbooks and primary source readings are educational, but they do not typically capture the latest developments in that field. This is where public radio podcasts can become a shining star for students unmotivated by hundreds of pages of textbook reading.
The most notable benefit of having students listen to public radio podcasts is that they are current; most programs have new shows daily or weekly. For college professors and high school teachers, especially those teaching the social sciences and humanities, daily news shows like Fresh Air, Tell Me More, Morning Edition, and All Things Considered can show how the theories and ideas they teach in class play out in real life.
They can spark unique classroom discussion because students can relate the world around them to the class material. If an educator can show students the class material is applicable in real life, they will generate a new understanding of the importance of that material.
Thinking back to high school history classes, we can all remember the emphasis our teachers placed on using primary sources: they are the most reliable, the most relevant to the era, the most telling. Public radio is one of the best primary sources available. Experts, scholars, the people making history today, tell their stories and provide insight students cannot find in their textbooks.
Terry Gross airs on NPR’s Fresh Air five days per week. Her interviews are not only incredibly interesting and insightful, but her interviewees range from world-class journalists to Nobel Prize winners to state department officials to high ranking military personnel. There really is no better way for a student to understand the importance of course material than to hear how it affects the world today.
NPR has podcasts for a wide range of interests, going beyond news and current events. Talk of the Nation Science Friday discusses a range of scientific topics. NPR’s Education podcast discusses education-related events across the country, as well up-and-coming techniques and ideas in the world of education. Podcasts are free and easily available on NPR’s webpage.
Students will hear learn from interviews of experts who have gone to some of the best law schools and the best business schools in the country, and from individuals who work for top ranking institutions in their field. Educators should take the time to find podcasts that will benefit their students; what they will find is students who are much more interested in what the class has to offer.
Angela Ballard works for FindTheBest where you can compare anything from the best summer camps to the best airlines.
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