This task required myself and my classmates to produce
a podcast to show
how an out of classroom environment can develop children's scientific and
innovation skills. In order to successfully achieve
this, Gavin, Mathew and myself devised a plan of action. I believe that this
task is worth partaking because it can enhance a child’s education and
learning. Bentley (1988 cited in Sherrington,
R. 1993, p.207) states “There is no doubt that education outside school can be
very rich in helping children to understand the environment.” As a group, we
decided that Plantasia would best convey scientific learning due to it being a
natural learning environment for children to understand about plants, animals,
and other cultures. After deciding where we would like to podcast, we next created a plan of action, deciding deadline dates for specific tasks to be completed and vital roles in the creation of our podcast. The first thing we decided was to attend Plantasia in order to gain first-hand information about the learning environment and about the specific topics that the attraction covers. We decided prior to this visit that I would be provide the film for the podcast and therefore I knew what equipment I would need to take with me to the attraction. We also brought notepads and pens in order to take notes of our experience. When we arrived, we first questioned the receptionist about where we could find the best information about Plantasia and he directed us to their website which provides further information about the attraction. I filmed all of the information plaques, along with the animals and plants at the attraction. I feel that I filmed all of the parts that children would see when attending Plantasia along with the parts that I felt most important for a scientific learning environment.
After attending Plantasia, we next devised roles on the
editing, researching and uploading of the podcast. Although we all helped out
on each of these, my main role was to research books and to assist in editing
and uploading the podcast. I searched through a variety of books in order to
find quotes relevant to include in our podcast speech.
We then created a script to include all of the information
learned at Plantasia, along with why we felt that Plantasia is necessary to a
child’s learning and education. The Welsh Assembly Government (2007) states that “…children gain their
most powerful understanding of their natural environment through exploring it
for themselves.” Plantasia offers this to children through giving them time to
explore the attraction, allowing them to accumulate questions, before
reinforcing their learning in the school and exhibition room. We all had a part in the execution of the
script, taking it in turns to read out the information.
Overall, I feel that my role was very important in the
successful execution of this task. This is because I knew what I needed to
record on film for the podcast to be both informative and interesting. In the
podcast we used a range of quotes that I had found in various books meaning I undertook
a great deal of research. I feel we worked very well as a team, all involving
ourselves in various parts of the task.
Click here to watch our podcast
Click here to watch our podcast
References
Sheradon, R. (1995) The ASE Primary Science Teachers' Handbook. United Kingdom, Nelson Thornes Ltd.
WAG (2007) Out of Classroom Learning
http://bees.bridgend.gov.uk/media/1234/Out%20of%20Classroom%20Learning%20%28English%29.pdf Accessed on: 18.02.2015
