I have two great podcasts I want to share with everyone. One of these podcasts I heard this morning in the car; the other was recommended to me by my “Innovative Schools” professor, Dr. Kamen, here at Southwestern.
This first discussion was aired on KUT this morning, entitled “Kids Discuss the Impact of School Closures”. This news coverage caught my intention given the disproportionate amount of student voices in the media with all the recent budget cuts for Texas Public Education. The students on-air are from Austin ISD schools. Here is what they have to say.
“Kid Politics”, recently aired on “This American Life”, is quite different from the KUT podcast. Ira Glass broadly discusses education models everywhere from the US to China. As “This American Life” describes the coverages: “What if, say, the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 had been decided, not by Ronald Reagan, but by a bunch of middle-schoolers? And what if every rule at your high school had been determined, not by teachers and administrators, but entirely by teenagers? This week, stories about whether, when it comes to governing, kids do any better than grown-ups”. The Brooklyn Free School–an innovative NY school–also sparks a discussion given the school’s lack of grades, testing, homework, and technology (phones and computers).
I highly encourage everyone to listen to these fantastic podcasts. The Grenada re-enactment on This American Life is especially provocative.
Hey Melissa! Thought this article/podcast might fit in well with the above info. Basically, it talks about Obama’s plans for incorporating technology into education (it’s about a week old, so sorry about that!):
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/podcast-obamas-plans-for-advanced-ed-tech-center/29614?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en