Showcasing Digital Education Tools for Discerning Educators

Topics

  1. Digital Audiobooks

  2. NonFiction Sources

Digital Audiobooks for Free

The Research

Valuing research insights, Listenwise includes its own collection of research. You will find research, white papers, and case studies on listening in the classroom.

For example, consider these quick summations:

  • Listening comprehension is a fundamental building block to reading comprehension development. Now there is new research evidence concerning a growing number of children who fail to develop adequate reading comprehension skills primarily due to poor listening comprehension.

  • Ever notice that good stories get better student engagement? This research highlights the power of a meaningful story to specifically impact listening behavior.

  • Why would we want to do this and how does listening affect learning? Our white paper highlights some of the key research in this area as we consider the value of listening skills for our children.

  • Many English learners are not acquiring the level of academic language needed for college and career readiness. Are we underestimating the impact that ongoing work with oral academic language can have?

The Problem

Do you know of one challenging aspect of bringing audio content to children? As librarians and teachers, we can’t record our own using copyrighted materials.

Where can we find amazing audio content for our students and children?

Solutions Abound

There are many solutions available to us now during this time that are not often. Let's take a quick look at them.

Solution #1: Non-Fiction Audio Source - ListenWise

Listenwise is a web-based resource for three to six minute podcast lessons from non-fiction storytellers that include listening comprehension quizzes for your classroom. Once you join, you can get into their library of non-fiction podcasts which are organized in various ways.

In the Teacher Dashboard, you can search the content. Current events are featured, including COVID-19 news and feature stories.

Listenwise Premium makes age-appropriate, non-fiction podcasts in several subjects available. You can listen to ELA, social studies, and science podcasts at a cost. When you first sign up as a teacher, you get a thirty-day free trial of Listenwise Premium which gives you access to a full podcast library and interactive transcripts. You also get listening comprehension quizzes and more. How much more? You get access to upcoming Lexile audio measures for content.

Solution #2 - Audible Stories

We know listening to stories has the same benefit as reading with one’s eyes. Audible Stories is now offering, at no charge, a collection of audio stories.

Stories are organized into a variety of categories, such as the following:

  • Littlest Learners

  • Elementary

  • Tween

  • Teen

  • Literary Classics

  • Folk & Fair Tales for All

Their stories are also available in various languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian and more.

No login is required.

Solution #3 - StoryNory

Storynory offers a variety of stories and tales in video format. It is also available as an iOS or Android app that you can get on your device.

Solution #4 - Free Stories from David Walliams

"All those stuck at home with their kids may be able to relate to ‘The World’s Worst Children’!" as David Walliams revealed that he'd be sharing his stories with the nation.

"I’ll be releasing an audio story every day for the next 30 days absolutely free," he said. "First up is The Terrible Triplets!" (Source: Good Housekeeping)


Stories Available Now

Solution #5 - Loyal Books Free Audiobooks

You can get audio versions of many books in the public domain (such as these Lit2Go) at LoyalBooks. These are older titles you may find of interest.


Solution #6 - Make Your Own

Ever wish you could turn student-created ePub files into narrated audio books? Or make any ePub into an audio book? You can on your Windows 10 computer, by taking advantage of the Freda ebook’s built-in audio reader.

Before we go through the process, let’s take a moment to revisit how you can create an ePub-formatted ebook for free.

Learn more

NonFiction Media for Remote Learners

Source #1: Netflix Documentaries

In an April, 2020, announcement, Netflix says you can now screen documenaries. While intended for classroom viewing, they have made a new option available.

This option allows a select number of documentaries available via Netflix US YouTube channel.

You can find a complete list online. Here are three that caught my eye:

  • Babies: A series that explores the first full year of life.

  • Chasing Coral: Follows marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera. The purpose is to record bleaching events in real time.

  • Our Planet:Explores the natural world. It comes from the creators of the award-winning series Planet Earth.

Source #2: Open Culture

Need access to over two-hundred and fifty documentaries? Look no further than Open Culture’s collection.

They have a rich list of content you will need to review as an educator.

  • Conversations with Myself – Free – Alan Watts walks in the mountains. Talks about the limitations of technology and the problem of trying to keep track of an infinite universe. (1971)

  • Creative Process: Norman McLaren – Free – Explores Norman McLaren’s process of artistic creation. (1990)

  • Future Shock – Free – A short documentary based on a book written by futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. It’s narrated by Orson Welles. (1972)

Source #3: Top Documentary Films

A mind-boggling collection of documentary films are available online. Top Documentary Films offers a searchable index of websites.

My quick picks: