The Edible Schoolyard/A Night in the Global Village

How inspiring! "The Edible Schoolyard" was so very inspiring. This podcast takes place at Martin Luther Kind Junior Middle School.It was about how kids are working in the garden and the kitchen as part of their education. The garden part is partly used for social studies. A few of the things mentioned were about photosynthesis, composite, condensation, etc. Also, there is a "kitchen classroom" where they cook and learn different concepts about the kitchen that kids back in the day learned at home. It also talked about how kids are learning about where their food comes from, working in a community, etc. Also, the kids do not feel like it is school, so its a better environment for learning. The kids also get to taste all different kinds of foods from the ground, etc.

Unfortunately, "A Night in the Global Village" would not work. I tried it several times, but every time it would get to "28 seconds" it would go back to zero. I tried to fast forward ahead, but that would not work either.

I think the big thing that these podcasts can do for me, as a teacher, is just broaden my view of education. It can give me good, creative ideas that I have not thought of to educate my students and get them excited about learning. I feel the traditional way of schooling is just plain boring. With entertainment at the root of our existence, nowadays, education has to be modified to fit this age of technology and entertainment around every corner.

It can also give my students a way to kind of have a say in their education. They can watch different edutopia podcasts and can tell me which ones they would like to experience. I also believe that these podcasts can be shown to inspire my students.

iTunes University

iTunes University, or iTunes U, is a remarkable idea. Things can be looked up by category or by specific universities. It is completely free. College students always love hearing that.

As a student, I believe that iTunes University would dramatically increase my interest in lecture classes. I love my hands on/active classes this semester, but during my Freshman and Sophomore year, I hated sitting in class for hours and hours. It is education on-the-go. If I took notes, but did not understand what I meant from what I wrote, I could just go back and listen to the lecture again. Also, I could listen to lectures over and over and rewind to parts that were more difficult to understand and fast forward through the things I already got.

As a teacher, I would probably spend less time repeating myself if my students used iTunes U. Because we all know that teachers get asked the same questions over and over because there is always someone that is not paying attention. Also, as one article said, teachers would have more time for their students, like interacting with them, and not just lecturing them and spitting information at them.

Click here and here for links to the information I found.