Podcasts are an easy way to stay current on educational activities around the globe. The best part? You can listen to them in the car, on the bus, while going for a run, or even as you drift off to sleep. (Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the last one. I tried listening before bed but I always ended up getting inspired by something someone has said and I often found myself hopping out of bed to make notes or check out a website, etc. So, be forewarned, podcasts and bedtime may not mix.
Another really useful means of connecting with educators both locally and internationally, is by participating in webinars.
What’s the difference between a podcast and a webinar? Usually podcasts are on-going, in other words, they are usually part of a series. For instance, iTunes Univeristy offers a number of educational podcasts that release a new podcast every week or so. This website will give you an idea of just how many educational podcasts are available on iTunes U. Even if you do not have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad you can still access iTunes U! You can also set it up so that new podcasts download to your computer automatically. If you do have an iPod or other mobile device you can then listen on the go. I download the podcasts to my iPod and listen while I am on my way to work. Webinars are often live events that you can particpate in (almost like going to a seminar, but it happens online and you can participate from the comfort of your home).
A couple go-to podcasts that I follow are: The Teachers’ Podcast, which covers all things teaching – pedagogy, lessons, insights, and reflections. You can also access this podcast outside of iTunes U at www.teacherspodcast.org;K-12 Greatest Hits offers podcasts from 14 different educational organizations. This one is great for parents as well as educators! Here is the link their site http://www.bamradionetwork.com/. I’m also inspired by the Whole Child Podcast, which can be found here http://www.wholechildeducation.org/podcast and Teachers Teaching Teachers is also very good, it can be found here: http://www.teachersteachingteachers.org/. Be sure to check out the iTunes U link above as there are so many podcasts to choose from – podcasts on AP math to podcasts on learning French, to podcasts on how to be an effective principal.
If you are game for participating in a webinar, a couple of good sites are I would recommend are the Education Week site or the ASCD website is also great for those things 21st century teaching and learning. If you are looking for webinars on educational technology I highly recommend the Edtechteacher website. Most of the time webinars are recorded so that those who were unable to partiipate live are still able to benefit from the discussion of others. There are numerous webinars always taking place, simply type “eduational-webinar” into your search engine and you will have a wealth of webinars to choose from.