Oral Communication: TED Radio Hour (NPR)

Screen Time - Part 1

NPR (2015). Screen Time - Part 1 [Online Image].
Retrieved from: http://n.pr/1KbeEb

Podcasts are a wonderful source of media for teaching students about oral communication (specifically listening) since there are podcasts covering almost every topic under the sun, and they're typically more interesting than a book being read aloud since they're designed to be consumed orally. The specific podcast I chose to discuss today is one by the radio station NPR (National Public Radio) that brings together several TED talks of similar topics. This one, screen time - part 1, talks about how advances in technology are changing not only how we communicate but who we are. The language can be challenging at times and the topics fairly advanced, but it may be what's necessary to spark interest in students and push them to more advanced listening and thinking.

Before, and During, the Podcast

I would prepare students for a podcast by asking them to make inferences about the title. For example: 

1. What do you think this podcast is going to talk about?
2. Why do you think they made this podcast?

As well, I would preface the podcast by saying if they don’t understand everything the speakers are saying then that’s completely okay; as much as they can get from the podcast is enough. I would also tell them that if at any point they feel completely lost then they just need to give a thumbs up in front of their chest (so only the teacher can see) and I will stop the podcast so we can discuss as a class what's going on; since if one person is confused then likely other people are confused too.

Once students are primed to listen to the podcast, I would present the activity which would be using a graphic form of expression to depict the important ideas in an oral text (expectation 1.4 of oral communication, grade 7, page 124). It would be more challenging than a reading of the Nelson articles (for example) since it’s designed for adult consumers, but I’m sure grade 7s will be able to relate to the TED talks in some way. And there would be no ‘right’ way to format the organizer; whatever the student gets from the podcast is important, but we each need to be able to communicate what we learned. If students are not familiar with graphic organizers then I would suggest a few and put them on the board. There are some examples here, here, and any of the downloads here. As well, students can write down any words they don’t understand which can be discussed at the end of the class.

This activity addresses multiple forms of literature, but only assesses one expectation. The same lesson could be applied again using a different podcast and a different activity in order to assess a different specific expectations of oral communication like analyzing the oral text for effectiveness (1.7), point of view (1.8), and  presentation strategies (1.9).

After the Podcast

After listening to the podcast (which may take two lessons) I would then facilitate a think-pair-share discussion so that students could compare notes on what they thought was important in the podcast. Some questions could be:

1. How do you think these new technologies will influence society? 
1. Would you buy any of the technologies discussed? 
2. Have you ever been embarrassed on social media? If not, can you think of anything you've seen online that must've been embarrassing for the people involved?  
3. After listening to this podcast, do you think you will change which TV shows you watch? 

These questions attempt to help students relate the podcasts to their real life, but depending on what kind of discussion you're hoping to generate I would change the questions to reflect that.