4 Exemplar Podcasts for Educators
2018 is the year of the podcast. So, here’s 4 podcasts that every educator should check out if they want to stay relevant
It’s official, 2017 was the year of the PLN in education. In case you’ve been on sabbatical, that’s a Professional Learning Network.
So, if you are like millions of other educators around the world who used 2017 to network with other educators on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Medium for the sake of curating, communicating, collaborating, and connecting, then what now?
Well, the next logical step in the progression to becoming a fully connected educator is to find resources that will give you material and inspiration to become your own editor-in-chief. So that you too can start producing compelling content that your connections will want to consume and share. You see, the brave new era of the PLN has made it so that everyone is their very own mini-media outlet. We all have a voice and a story, and with this comes the responsibility to share our knowledge.
Remember, being a connected educator is about being a connected learner first. That means that you are both creating and consuming content freely and openly. It’s not a one-way street. It takes work. Here’s a link to one of my latest articles on the topic of connected learning for educators if you’re interested in finding out more about the topic.
Why Podcasts? I thought video was king?
In 2018 podcasts will be the key resource for educators. Why? Because they are the most cost-effective means for gaining knowledge. Podcasts do not require your undivided attention. Videos, blog posts, articles, and books do. Podcasts also do not require the time commitment that many of these other resources require.
Podcasts are the most passive form of content consumption available. They require little effort on the consumers part, and the rewards are huge!
Finally, from an economic POV there is absolutely nothing prohibitive about podcasts. They cost nothing. They are even reasonable in terms of data usage. You can choose to download to the cloud from iTunes, but if you prefer to stream to save on storage and you are not on wi-fi then you will only use about 1 MB a minute. That’s a far cry from the data consumption of a YouTube video which will burn 340MB of data in just 10 minutes at 1080p HD resolution.
The 4 principles
In the world of education today there are four principles that really matter. These concerns trump all others because they are universal. They apply to all of us, regardless of the age group we serve or the content area that we work in. Here’s my list of the 4 crucial areas for professional development that matter most today:
- Expertise — Applying principles used by the world’s most productive, creative, and successful individuals.
- Attention — Understanding where learner attention is, and how to capture it.
- Technology — Leveraging 21st century technologies to make our practices more efficient and effective.
- Innovation — Recognizing the value of change, and how to promote the innovators mindset in your learners.
The 4 exemplar podcasts that you should check out immediately
So, after realizing the high value of podcasts I’ve done the heavy lifting of listening to thousands of them over the last few years. In an effort to find which ones have the most value for educators. With these four principles in mind, I’ve selected four must listen to podcasters. One for each principle. Here they are:
#1 — Tim Ferriss — Expertise: Tim Ferriss invites the world’s greatest talents on his show and he interviews them thoroughly. He’s constantly introducing his audience to new topics, even one’s that you may have not had any interest in before. One day he’ll have a chef on, and then the next day he’ll have a marine on. You never know what is coming, but the results are always mind blowing. He shares stories of success, strategies, habits and how-to’s. Here’s the link to his podcast:
Tim is best known as an author. Here is a link to a great review by Tim Denning of Ferriss’s most recent master piece Tribe of Mentors:
#2 Gary Vaynerchuk — Attention: Gary Vaynerchuk has made a career out of understanding attention. It goes deeper than that though, he is a master at gaining and maintaining attention. In his words, he believes he is “day trading attention” for a living. He is practical about the world we live in. He’s not necessarily trying to change it, he’s just trying to master it. Educators need to listen to him because he offers a pragmatic approach to captivating an audience. He is also extremely big on empathy which is perhaps the only thing more important than attention in teaching and learning.
Gary is probably producing more content across more platforms than any other individual in the world. He’s everywhere. A multiple times New York Times best-selling author, YouTuber, Podcaster, and social media juggernaut. Here is the link to one of his most recent podcasts, on guess what topic? Teaching.
#3 Abbie Brown & Tim Green — Educational Technology: Abbie and Tim are e-Learning professors. They have been running a podcast for years called Trends and Issues in Educational Technology. They provide key insights on trends, fads, and long-term technology solutions in education. No where can you find as rich of a collection of episodes and information on technology in schooling.
Here’s a recent episode that includes a discussion on Net Neutrality:
#4 Don Wettrick — Innovation: Don Wettrick produces a podcast called the StartEdUp Podcast that is all about teaching learners to be innovators and entrepreneurs. He celebrates the success stories of his uber-talented young students who have gone on to be successful young entrepreneurs. His show and message are one of a kind. If you want to be inspired to challenge yourself and your students to do great things, then Don’s podcast is a must listen!
Here a recent episode that Don co-hosted with Sarah Thomas from #EduMatch
I hope that you will share your favorite podcasts in the comments below! If you enjoyed the content, then consider sharing it with your networks! As always, thank you for your time & attention.
Finally, please consider following me on Medium, Twitter, Instagram & subscribe to my YouTube channel today!
#socialmedia #education #podcasts #2018
