Edutopia

Wow! Edutopia offers amazing podcasts that really hit home on global matters. The Edible School Yard, one of the podcast available for free download, talks about how one middle school has used gardening to integrate learning. The students are doing hands on gardening and they are able to see the results of their own work. It integrates concepts of Science, Math, Social Studies, and Life. They learn about photosynthesis, conversions, what foods were important for survival in the past, and how to work with others in a community. I would love to be able to teach children these important values by doing something to this degree of hands-on learning. The other video I watched from Edutopia was A Night in the Global Village. This was about an incredible learning experience that teaches adolescents about global poverty and hunger. It is through The Global Gateway Program where students learn about poverty, hunger, and living conditions of less fortunate people around the world. The students had to spend the night and experience the living conditions similar to that of different places, including refugee camps where they no resources.

These Podcasts and others like them would be a great thing to show in my classroom since I can not easily offer the actual experience that are shown. I think that they would still be effective in raising awareness about global issues and help students learn the importance of community values. They would also be helpful to demonstrate the importance of learning and its relevance.
I could introduce concepts through the use of Edutopia and related podcasts on iTunes U and then expand on them. Students could create projects, we as a class could go on mini-adventures that offer hands on learning, or the could write about issues. Podcasts like these offer ideas and motivation I would not otherwise think of.