Authentic Audience

Imagine playing a baseball game without the fans.  Or writing a book with no readers.  It would be a very different, and probably less engaging, experience.  

One of the superpowers of interdisciplinary instruction is that learning connects students to the world around them.  It gives them an authentic audience to show their work to, connections to community members, and time to receive meaningful feedback.  In short, authentic audiences give purpose to students' work.

Authentic Audience Infographic

 


Developing Authentic Audiences
Authentic audiences are a key part of interdisciplinary instruction since they give students a purpose for their work. This short video gives actionable tips for developing authentic audiences.
Audience Ideas

Whether you are new to developing audiences or an expert, here are some ideas to get you started.

Low to high prep audience ideas

 

Edutopia: Creating Authentic Audiences for Student Work

Additional Resources

Articles

Sharing Student Work Beyond the Classroom (Edutopia)

4 Paths to Engaging Authentic Purpose and Audience (Edutopia)

How to Prepare Students for Explaining their Work in Public (PBLWorks)

Podcasts

Don't send a professional to do an 8th grader's job (PBLWorks)

How One Teacher Started an Urban Gardening Revolution (Cult of Pedagogy)

Books

Worldwise Learning

The Curious Classroom