Benefits of Using Podcasts in School
At Tinkercast, we make cartoons for your ears! Our shows tell stories that inspire listeners to use their imagination and follow their curiosity. Stories that invite kiddos to lean in and say “Wow!” Our podcasts explore a wide variety of topics with everything from science and engineering, to history and mystery, to animal tales and more. So how can using these podcasts benefit your students?
Benefits of Podcasts in the Classroom
There are endless benefits of podcasts in the classroom, especially when the podcasts themselves are engaging, educational, and paired with projects that allow students to listen, wonder, tinker, and make! When used strategically, podcasts for elementary schools are an excellent teaching tool.
- Engages students with high quality content
- Helps build listening, vocabulary & comprehension skills
- Accessible to all—podcasts are free to stream or download
- Requires no special materials or equipment
- Ease of accessibility—students can access the information they want anytime
- Easy to integrate—no special materials or equipment required
- Medium is highly engaging
- Helps meet academic standards
- Allows students to learn from someone other than their classroom teacher(s)
- Provides access to content children might not be able to access in their reading—students comprehend content 2-3 grade levels higher than they can when reading
- Content is accessible for a wide (or mixed) age-range of learners
- Accessible to children with different ability levels
- Helps to reach students who best retain information aurally
- Second language learners may benefit from hearing spoken English
- Fantastic way to introduce new topics/units of study
- Helpful for teaching note-taking skills
- Provides a wonderful way to infuse more technology into your instruction
And there’s lots more where that came from! The impact of podcasts in education is extensive, especially with a podcast learning program designed to bring out the creativity in students and help them see more WOWs in the world.
Meet Listening Comprehension Standards
According to research, students can comprehend two to three grade levels higher than their reading level when they listen to audio stories. Audio improves language skills by making complex ideas more accessible and exposing students to new vocabulary and language patterns. The results are so compelling that Common Core State Standards now include guidelines for listening comprehension starting in kindergarten.
To meet this guideline through podcasts for elementary schools, TinkerClass became the first interactive learning tool specifically designed to engage and support learning via listening combined with project-based learning for K-5 students.
[TinkerClass] puts all of my students on a level playing field where we can listen to something together as a community and then take what we’ve listened to and put the ideas that we have into action. It activates the students to want to listen more, do more, and learn more.
Carole Paterson, K-5 Science Teacher
Ready to Bring Podcasts to Your Classroom?
Sign up for TinkerClass, the first ever FREE podcast- and project-based learning program that invites K-5 students to listen, wonder, tinker and make like scientists and engineers. Includes ad-free WOW IN THE WORLD episodes and NGSS-aligned curriculum.