Walking Classroom Podcasts

What we love about Walking Classroom Podcasts App

The Walking Classroom title sums up this app pretty well. Using it, children can learn as they walk and that is a great thing.

This joining of learning and walking together in an app is an inspired idea. Podcasts for children are not new but by pushing the idea of walking while listening to them, this app brings with it the suggestion of engaging in an activity known to improve physical and mental wellbeing. 

There's a wealth of best educational podcasts for learning that will inspire and motivate students and teachers. The Walking Classroom podcasts cover diverse topics including history, science, and language. Each Walking Classroom episode also begins with a health message which provides a further prompt not to lapse into sedentary use of this app.   

Is Walking Classroom Podcasts App easy to use?

Once the app is downloaded, all of the podcasts are accessible in just a few clicks through logical topic and subtopic headings.

Children are reminded in each Walking Classroom Podcast to keep safety in mind as they walk and use the app. In particular, they are reminded to only use a single earpiece as they listen so that they remain aware of their surroundings.

The podcasts are superbly produced. The speech is clear and the presenters lively and informed. It really is like a walking classroom in the podcast as the presenters are a mix of children and a teacher. Their conversations about the topic sound like the type of classroom discussions of which teachers dream. The two-way exchanges between children and adults display genuine enthusiasm, interesting facts and inciteful thoughts.

Whether directly relevant to their week's lessons or not, listening to one of these 15-minute podcasts each week (or more often) would make a great piece of homework for teachers to set. Children will expand their breadth of knowledge and the content will form a useful basis for continuing the discussions held in the podcasts once back in the non-walking classroom.

Useful additional resources, thinking points and ideas are available on the app's website to support teachers using this app with their children.

Despite the age group that Walking Classroom Podcasts App is aimed at, parents can enjoy them too. They are simple and clear but not childish. Listening in with their child, by using the second earpiece and joining in the walking, parents will refresh or build their general knowledge and gain material for further discussion with their child as their walk continues.

What Walking Classroom Podcasts App can improve on

The content is the most important thing in this app and that is superb. The app that delivers it still needs to get its part right, though, and there is little wrong with it. It makes it easy to browse and find content and then fades into the background while the Walking Podcasts are played. 

There is just one feature that your children might wish for and that is the ability to download podcasts in advance of listening to them. This could be useful for places where data signals are weak. There is a workaround of sorts where podcasts can be started a couple of minutes ahead of time so that they buffer the material but this is not quite the same.

It is also difficult to find the web-based version of the app on the website so this could usefully be given prominence equal to the downloadable apps.

How much does Walking Classroom Podcasts app cost?

This app is free to download. At the time of review, its full content is included but this will be reduced to 20 podcasts in the long term. The full content is accessible for a subscription fee that is entirely reasonable for what it includes - both new and past podcasts.

Is Walking Classroom Podcasts App safe to use?

As this app encourages children to go out and walk, parents and teachers must ensure that children know how to keep safe. The app begins each podcast with safety reminders but adults should ensure that children heed these messages and understand why they are important.

In particular, children should never cover both ears. This, of course, is in addition to the usual safety rules that parents and teachers should instil in their children.

About the developer: thewalkingclassroom.org

The developer of Walking Classroom Podcasts is a not for profit organisation from the USA. Their website includes additional material for parents, teachers and children who use their app. 

Overall rating of Walking Classroom Podcasts App

There are lots of benefits to using podcasts in the classroom. This is a superb app. Its premise of walking, learning, and thinking would be praised by the many creative and innovative people who believed that walking helped them achieve great things - Dickens, Wordsworth and the mathematician, William Rowan Hamilton all held walking in high regard for aiding the thinking process. Perhaps your children will follow in their (walking) footsteps.

With great production values, fantastic hosts, and an easy-to-use app, Walking Classroom Podcasts App is fully entitled to its 5 stars.

You can download Walking Classroom Podcasts on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Walking Classroom Podcasts app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.