#6 Podcasts

Podcasts are a very interesting form of learning. For visual learners, like me, podcasts would not be the way to go. It is something that you have to focus on and listen to without having anything in front of you to read about the subject that is being talked about. I think it is a good way to listen to information, but at the same time I think it is more difficult to comprehend than reading something out of a book or seeing in on a PowerPoint. There are some people out there that like to listen to things rather than read them. Podcasts are a very convenient source that can be downloaded to any smart phone, computer, or tablet and listened to wherever and whenever you feel like it. It is a good tool to have, but not something I prefer.

The first podcast I listened to is called “What’s the Best Way to Teach Teachers?” This podcast is about how teacher preparation should be more demanding and how there should be stronger certification requirements. One thing that the world needs to do is get rid of the myth of “natural-born teachers.” We assume that there are good teachers and bad teachers and we need to get rid of the bad teachers and get more of the good ones, but in reality teaching is a knowledge and skill and goes beyond knowing a subject really well. Teachers don’t anticipate the mistakes that kids are going to have and just have answer-getting strategies. Skilled teachers learn to anticipate how students are going to miss problems and how they are going to help them find a path to the right answer. This podcast really helped put an idea about how teaching is in reality in my head. I have never thought about these problems before but they are problems that should be addressed to improve teaching and the school systems.

The second podcast I listened to is called “Online University Skips Class to be More Accessible.” This article is about how students are reevaluating the value of today’s college education because of high tuition, scarce job opportunities, and student debt. For more than a century, higher education has relied on the credit hours in class and those credit hours add up to a college degree. At Southern New Hampshire University, they have launched College for America which is an online degree program with no classes, no teachers, and no credit hours. This program measures how much is learned rather than how much time a student sits in a classroom. It is an innovative way to make college more affordable and still learn as much information without taking so much time out of a person’s day. I think this idea is a great idea for people that can learn on their own, but I don’t think it is a good idea to have all classes like this because some people need assistance and visuals besides what’s provided on online classes.