A Renaissance in Educational Podcasting – Moving at the Speed of Creativity

For the past year, I’ve been LOVING what I perceive to be a renaissance in educational podcasting. Since 2002 or 2003 when I first heard David Warlick share an educational podcast, podcasting has been a huge part of my ongoing professional learning as a teacher. My current podcatcher app of choice on my iPhone, PocketCasts, is filled with an eclectic mix of subscriptions. The number of educational podcasts I’m subscribed to and listen to periodically has risen markedly in the past 12 months. (Update Feb 8: A linked list of all 63 podcasts is now available, including an importable OPML file.)

by Wesley Fryer

Part of this renaissance has to do with the success of the awesome EdReach network, but EdReach isn’t responsible for the entire renaissance. My awareness of different educational podcasts was heightened last year as I finished writing the “Radio Shows” chapter of Mapping Media to the Common Core: Vol 1. As I’ve participated and presented at different educational conferences both in the U.S. and internationally in the past few years, I’ve connected “long term” with inspiring educators not only through Twitter but also through educational podcasts.

When you listen to a regular audio podcast show, you can really get to know someone (and a group of people) at a much deeper level than you can reading blog posts. Of course this all depends on the content of what is shared, and the spirit in which it is shared, so it’s impossible to generalize with complete accuracy. I’ve had people come up to me at conferences and after introductions, they’ve said they “feel like they know me” because they’ve subscribed to my podcast (now up to 400+ episodes) for years. Educational podcasting has and continues to be a huge blessing to me as a learner and educator, and if you’re not currently listening to educational podcasts at least periodically I strongly encourage you to consider doing so.

This week I shared a proposal with a few other Oklahoma teachers to possibly start an Oklahoma STEM teachers’ podcast show. In that process, I collected links to some of the educational podcasts I’m subscribed to now which have inspired me to think about this. There’s SO much value in asynchronously collaborating locally, but also “amplfying globally.” Here is my current list of podcast links – check them out, and subscribe with PocketCasts or another podcatcher app on your smartphone so you can always have innovative educational ideas readily at hand!

Podfaders (past favorites that have either been discontinued or haven’t posted in awhile)

In addition to these openly subscribable podcasts, don’t forget to install and use iTunesU if you use an iPhone or other iOS device. That’s how I subscribe to the Classroom 2.0 Live audio and video podcasts, and they are SUPER! Some of the best professional development I’ve participated in the past few years has come from Classroom 2.0 Live! They have a regular Saturday show at noon Eastern time, and it’s great to be able to listen or watch shows afterwards when I can’t attend live.