How Can Educators Use Podcasts in Teaching?
We at Footnoting History believe that podcast episodes not only can be used in teaching but SHOULD BE used in teaching for the following reasons:
1. Educators can't be experts in all fields. Podcasts allow us all to gain new knowledge we can use in our classrooms to enhance lectures and projects.
2. With the shift towards "flipping the classroom" more and more educators have begun to embrace the idea of students learning from lectures - like podcast episodes - outside the classroom in order to drive better discussions and hands on learning inside the classroom.
3. Many students have access to smartphones or computers and podcast apps are mostly free. A great deal of podcast content (all of ours) are also free.
4. Podcast episodes can be listened to while students are commuting.
5. Podcast episodes help improve student listener skills.
What to Look for When Choosing Podcast Episodes
Educators spend a lot of time teaching students how to find credible sources. Podcast episodes should be no different. Make sure you can identify who the podcasters are, why they are experts in their field, and if they include a list of works used in creating the episodes. Then, of course, always listen to the episodes before assigning them to make sure that they are appropriate for the grade level.
How to Find a Footnoting History Episode to Assign
For a number of years now, Elizabeth has assigned podcast episodes as homework for her AP US History classes and also Modern World History classes. Click the image below to access the Google sheets that Elizabeth created to better organize our episodes by topic (World History or US History). Within these sheets, episodes are broken down by time period and have relevant keywords. In addition, Elizabeth has included samples of her assignments.
We would love to hear from you on how you use podcast episodes in teaching!
We at Footnoting History believe that podcast episodes not only can be used in teaching but SHOULD BE used in teaching for the following reasons:
1. Educators can't be experts in all fields. Podcasts allow us all to gain new knowledge we can use in our classrooms to enhance lectures and projects.
2. With the shift towards "flipping the classroom" more and more educators have begun to embrace the idea of students learning from lectures - like podcast episodes - outside the classroom in order to drive better discussions and hands on learning inside the classroom.
3. Many students have access to smartphones or computers and podcast apps are mostly free. A great deal of podcast content (all of ours) are also free.
4. Podcast episodes can be listened to while students are commuting.
5. Podcast episodes help improve student listener skills.
What to Look for When Choosing Podcast Episodes
Educators spend a lot of time teaching students how to find credible sources. Podcast episodes should be no different. Make sure you can identify who the podcasters are, why they are experts in their field, and if they include a list of works used in creating the episodes. Then, of course, always listen to the episodes before assigning them to make sure that they are appropriate for the grade level.
How to Find a Footnoting History Episode to Assign
For a number of years now, Elizabeth has assigned podcast episodes as homework for her AP US History classes and also Modern World History classes. Click the image below to access the Google sheets that Elizabeth created to better organize our episodes by topic (World History or US History). Within these sheets, episodes are broken down by time period and have relevant keywords. In addition, Elizabeth has included samples of her assignments.
We would love to hear from you on how you use podcast episodes in teaching!
Sample Assignments
Here are examples of questions Elizabeth assigns in her Modern World History classes:
Listen to the FH episode on the Life and Crimes of Caravaggio.
In 150 words, define "Renaissance Man" and determine if Caravaggio fits your definition. What does that reveal about the term?
Listen to this episode on the Reformation and the Mughal leader Akbar's Divine Faith.
Write 150 words on the following questions: Would you use the word "reformation" to describe what happened in the Mughal Empire? What does this episode reveal about religious tolerance in the Mughal Empire?
Listen to this episode on Louis XIV's teeth.
Write a 150 word response on how absolute monarchy did not mean absolute medical care the way we imagine it today. Would you want to be an absolute monarch in the 1600s? Why or why not?
Listen to this episode on Poison in Colonial India.
In 200 words, explain what datura is and how British officials felt about it. What motivation for imperialism by the British does this episode show and why?
Here are examples of questions Elizabeth assigns in her AP US History classes:
Listen to the episode on American Indian Prisoners of War.
In 200 words, reflect on the shifting concept of slavery and compare Native American slavery to what you know about African slavery in the Americas. How did the concept of slavery change over time in the Americas?
Listen to The Marriage of John Quincy and Louisa Adams.
Write 200 words on whether John and Louisa's relationship fit a new pattern of marriage and how their relationship reflected the American upper class of the early 1800s.
Listen to Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon and Jumbo the Elephant.
Then, in 200 words, answer: do these episodes demonstrate change or continuity in the treatment of animals in the late 19th and early 20th century?
Listen to the episode on Yolande Du Bois and in 150 words answer how her life was shaped by her father's belief in the Talented Tenth.
Listen to Belle Gunness: Black Widow and Distrust of Chinese-Americans in Early 20th-Century New York City.
In 250 words, explain the diverse reactions to crimes committed by members of these different immigrant communities.