How real world engagement can benefit students

A blog by @mircwalsh

How real world engagement can benefit students

A couple of weeks ago my students asked could I teach them podcasting. I rarely say no so I nodded and smiled and promised ‘next week’. I figured I would google it teach myself how and then show them but didn’t really share their same enthusiasm.

Luckily for me I have a good educator friend Martin Coutts who agreed to FaceTime in and show them how. So that Friday they had about 40 minutes of a lesson from Martin who unlike me shared their enthusiasm of podcasting.  Fast forward a few days and they had produced their first podcast all by themselves the only thing I had to do was listen to It if I wanted.

Using Anchor they were totally independent and two students took it on themselves to create a weekly podcast. Something they enjoyed and looked forward to each week.

They discussed real world issues like mental health, equality, homelessness in the city and more. They also used its as a source for interviewing creatives like Marty from ShadowDraw App.

Without this real world engagement and them having learnt from a pro they would have never had the skills to know how to do this. Sometimes it is difficult to look beyond the four walls of the classroom but when you do you might be surprised by the results.