In an effort to explore a wide-variety of issues that affect the lives young children, the students in Education 265:Social and Cultural Processes in the Early Childhood Years have created and produced podcast presentations. Each presentation examines a specific issue of interest to educators of young children and is based upon topics addressed within texts that the students selected and reviewed. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the effects of media culture, issues of gender and ethnic identity, roles and functions of parents and families, and issues of socioeconomic disparity.

• NPR-like book reviews

• Student	Book	Author	Description	Review
  Lindsey Dorko	American Dream:Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nations Drive to End Welfare	Jason DeParle	Based on Jason DeParle's American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nations Drive to End Welfare, this podcast explores America's effort to reform the welfare system. Through conversation about the policy and the portrayal of life as a poor, single mother, the pros and cons of the welfare system are discussed.	Podcast file
  Megan Earle	The Children are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity	Carlos Cortés	This podcast contains an interview that captures the ideas from a novel by Carlos Cortés called The Children are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity. The parents and children interviewed explain which television programs they watch and whether or not they believe the content is appropriate.	Podcast file
  Angela Evans	Amazing Grace	Jonathon Kozol	Based on Jonathon Kozol's Amazing Grace, the following diary entries are about a teacher's visit to the South Bronx for the first time. She is visiting her only student who is from the South Bronx. On her visit to the Bronx, she observes the inequality that exists in our social system and how this ultimately affects children's education and lives.	Podcast file
  Aislinn Manning	A Hope in the Unseen	Ron Suskind	The affect of violence on students' learning in school is a very real issue in the education world today. Here is a student's perspective on the issue. What can we do to help our students futures?	Podcast file
  Jillian Pape	Failing at Fairness	Myra and David Sadker	This is a short podcast that focuses on the way that gender roles play out and are reinforced during the holiday season.	Podcast file
  Victoria Peterman	KinderCulture: The corporate construction of childhood	Shirley Steinberg and Joe Kincheloe, eds.	Based on the chapter "Mom, it's not real!" from the book KinderCulture: The corporate construction of childhood edited by Shirley Steinberg and Joe Kincheloe, the interviewer is trying to find out what people think about the controversial children's series called Goosebumps. By interviewing a teacher, parent, and child, the listener can learn who reads the books more and why this may be an important trend to have.	Podcast file
  Matthew Phelps-Rohrs	The Children are Watching: How the Media Teach About Diversity	Carlos Cortés	Television: Friend or Foe? Based on Cortés' premise that parents act as 'gatekeepers' to what media their children are exposed to, this NPR broadcast style podcast explores the use of television in today's classrooms. It examines whether television is an appropriate medium for classroom learning, or if the use of television only raises parental issues involving discretion.	Podcast file
  Danielle Rusen	The Internet Playground: Children's Access, Entertainment, and Mis-Education	Ellen Seiter	Based on The Internet Playground: Children's Access, Entertainment, and Mis-Education by Ellen Seiter, this newscast investigates teacher's and student's thoughts and opinions about internet usage in school, as well as proper computer guidance and instruction.	Podcast file
  Jeanne Simons	It's Not The Media: The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence on Children	Karen Sternheimer	After reviewing Karen Sternheimer's It's Not The Media: The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence on Children, I thought it would be interesting to interview four princesses on how they defy the stereotype of being ditsy females awaiting their prince charmings. Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty join me in Cinderella's Castle to share their thoughts.	Podcast file
  Clinton Steinbrunner	Other People's Children	Lisa Delpit	Inspired by Lisa Delpit's book Other People's Children, this podcast examines the academic lives of two German speaking children at an American preschool. By looking at the issue of acquiring a second language from the point of view of parents, teachers, and children, general conclusions are drawn about what is best for students who must juggle two or more languages.	Podcast file
  Alexandra Storch	There are No Children Here	Alex Kotlowitz	My podcast is based on the ethnography, There are No Children Here, written by Alex Kotlowitz. After reading the story of Lafeyette and Pharoah, two young boys growing up on the West Side of Chicago, I was inspired to further explore the topic of gangs and how drug related violence has effected the young children growing up in the slums of America.	Podcast file

• Technology used

  Audacity or Garageband were used to create the audio files. Students had training sessions on the use of Audacity and several classroom discussions about what they were trying to produce.