Podcast Synopsis

After checking out a few educational and art related podcasts for this assignment, I finally landed on one to profile that I think encompasses everything I like in a podcast: Education: NPR.  I know this site is more of a composite of educational related radio stories not necessarily by a single source, but it's an excellent resource for everything from statistical analysis to quirky stories in typical NPR fashion.  There were a couple things I really love about the site.  First, it's not just a site for educational related podcasts, but also for educational blogs and articles.  Second, the podcasts themselves are generally around 4-6 minutes in length; not great for the long distance commuter, but definitely a good bite-sized chunk of time.  Finally, the site is easily navigable, updated almost daily, and tracks listening activity.

To give you an idea of the range of stories Education: NPR covers, I'll share a couple.  The first I listened to was one related to how schools in Pennsylvania are using the sharing of personal stories in front of a crowd to build empathy in students.  The podcast talked about how after Columbine, officials at the school thought that if they could get students to open up and relate to others, students would be less likely to feel isolated and thus less likely to commit violent crime.  This podcast then goes into the personal stories of a few students and then gives the reactions of students hearing the stories.  The stories are heavy and sometimes hard to listen to, but showcase the true vulnerability of these students and the support of their peers.

Another podcast I listened to followed a reporter interviewing 4th graders in the Bay Area about the Common Core.  The podcast starts off by him asking the students if they know what the Common Core is and how they would rank the difficulty of the Common Core Standards.  It then transitions into the students explaining math techniques taught with the Common Core and the reporter admitting that he knows little of the techniques they're using.  He counters by offering the technique he was taught, of which the students know nothing about.  It's an interesting bit that makes one question the process by which students arrive at a solution. 

Other such podcasts on Education: NPR include: Does Smuggling a Cow into School Make You a Creative Genius? and Anatomy of a Great Commencement Speech amongst hundreds of others.  It's fun and educational.  Check it out!