Articles tagged "Podcasts"
Weekly post #38 - Family focused - a podcast, a toolkit and some apps
This is the 38th 'weekly post' that I have added to digitaltechnologies.education. The 37 other posts where primarily aimed at educators. From now on I am going to try and add a monthly post focused upon digital citizenship considerations that both educators and families may find engaging.
Is it possible to make the internet safe for children?
An interesting listen from the UK based 'The Guardian' newspaper. The nature of the risks parents have to think about, the effectiveness of the approaches which can be used to reduce them, and the possible limitations of any such systems are all discussed in a sensible and balanced manner.
If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised by the podcast - please do not hesitate to contact me at school.
Childnet International Parent and Carers Toolkit
Childnet International is a non-profit organisation "working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children".
The Childnet International Parent and Carers Toolkit provides resources that offer practical tips and advice upon:
- Starting discussions about their online life
- Setting boundaries around online behaviour and technology use
- Finding out where to get more help and support
Does your child have a Nintendo Switch?
Does your child have a Nintendo Switch?
The UK Safer Internet Centre has a useful post about the available parental controls on the Switch.
Parental controls are useful tools as part of a larger discussion between parents and children about gaming console use, screen time and the appropriateness of certain game titles.
Helping your child to 'get things done'
Students have lots of things to juggle - and it only gets more complicated as they get older.
Google Workspace, that all the students at the International School of Geneva - Campus des Nations have access to, has two in-built digital task manager options - Google Tasks and Google Keep.
For those students looking for something a little more evolved I would highly recommend Todoist.
The effective use of a digital task manager takes practice and support. Todoist recently released A Student’s Guide to Todoist which is an interesting read for all older students (and their parents) who are looking for a tool to help them get things done in a deliberate and organised way.
Weekly post #21 - teaching with podcasts and taking your calendar offline
Four things to check out.
Using Google Podcasts
You can find Google Podcasts in your 'waffle'. This is a great option if you want students to listen to podcasts without having to download or subscribe to a service or application.
classtechtips.com has a great article about 'How to Use Google Podcasts with Students' here.
Using podcasts as a teaching resource
Podcasts have a massive potential as a teaching resource. It is always interesting to ask a class to listen to an audio podcast rather than watch a video.
There are many different sources of podcasts out there. Podcasts tend to range in duration from 10 minutes to 60 minutes+. I would suggest that podcasts around 25 minutes long are a 'sweet spot' in terms of the topic depth that can be explored and optimal student engagement time.
A couple of series that are worth checking out →
- 50 Things that made the Modern Economy - all 10 minutes long
- 39 Ways to Save the Planet - all 14 minutes long
podcasts.geographyalltheway.com is a app I 'built' that curates 200+ podcasts useful for the teaching of IB DP Geography.
The whole app is driven by a Google Sheets spreadsheet. If you are interested in the potential of such things - get in contact.
Resizing the left-side navigation of Gmail
You can now resize the Chat and Rooms sections in the left-side navigation of Gmail.
This makes it easier to stay on top of your most important conversations and navigate to relevant chats faster.
Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Resize the Chat and Rooms sections in Gmail on the web
Take your Google Calendar offline
You can now enable offline support for Google Calendar on Google Chrome. When enabled, you can view your calendar and events from four weeks prior or any time in the future by week, day, or month.
This is particularly useful when you’re offline or have unreliable internet access.
Read more here → Google Workspace Updates - Enable offline support for Google Calendar on web from your computer
Eight sources of podcasts that will be useful for IB DP Geographers students and educators
Many times, while leading IB DP professional development workshops, I have mentioned how geography teachers like to write in reports ‘it would be beneficial to ENTER STUDENT NAME HERE to read around the subject more’. What I usually go on to discuss is the use of Flipboard as somewhere where worthwhile digital articles can be curated and therefore student’s reading efforts directed.
Not all students (or teachers...) like to read. Are there some students you teach that would benefit from you writing on their reports: ‘it would benefit ENTER STUDENT NAME HERE to listen to a geographical themed podcast each week’?
Even though they have been around for years podcasts are enjoying a renaissance.. Although there are few podcasters producing content that is purely ‘geographical’, there are plenty producing content that touches upon the knowledge, understanding, themes and concepts that we teach.
Eight suggested sources of podcasts to keep an eye on:
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - BBC World Service
No longer providing weekly updates, but with all 51 episodes on the BBC World Service webpage indefinitely, this series (from 2016-2017) is a goldmine of content with strong geographical links. All the episodes are under 10 minutes in duration. Try the following five suggestions for their links to the course: Plastic, Infant Formula, Contraceptive Pill, Billy Book case, Concrete.
Costing the Earth - BBC Radio 4
“Programme looking at man's effect on the environment and how the environment reacts, questioning accepted truths, challenging those in charge and reporting on progress towards improving the world”. Try the following: Demolishing Dams, America's Climate Resistance, Where Does Our Waste Go? and Dare to Share.
The Inquiry - BBC World Service
“The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.” Try the following: How Do You Close The Gender Pay Gap?, Why is Cape Town Running Out of Water? and How Did We Get Hooked on Plastic?
The Documentary - BBC World Service
Longer (and more detailed) than some of the other podcasts suggested earlier. Try the following: Japan: New Ways to Grow, China's Generation Gap: Beijing and Digital Migration.
Discovery - BBC World Service
“Explorations in the world of science” and around 27 minutes in length. Try the following: The Day the Earth Moved, Cheating the Atmosphere and Africa’s Great Green Wall
Under the Weather - BBC Radio
Two meteorologists joined by a range of experts as they answer some of weather’s most challenging questions. Although there is not a great deal of metrology in the IB DP Geography syllabus there is plenty of geography in this new series of podcasts. Try the following: How does it feel flying into a hurricane?, Whatever happened to acid rain? and Could climate modification save the planet?
And now stepping away from the BBC here are another two sources of geographical themed podcasts.
Global Development - The Guardian
Usually 15 minutes in length and updated weekly at the moment - these podcasts from the Guardian have some useful podcasts from alternative/personal perspectives. Try the following: Famine as mass atrocity and We need to talk about … Population and climate change (over an hour long).
In Depth, Out Loud – The Conversation
I really like the writing of ‘The Conversation’ with their byline of ‘academic rigour, journalistic flair’. Each week or two one of the long form stories is read out loud to form this podcast. Try the following: Why life expectancy in Britain has fallen so much that a million years of life could disappear by 2058 – podcast and Africa’s missing Ebola outbreaks – podcast.