
By Jessica Sanders
Podcasts are an easy way to facilitate your own professional development, whether you’re relaxing at home or driving to and from school. What’s more, most podcasts are free to access.
For educators, there are hundreds of podcasts to choose from, whether you want to learn about implementing technology in the classroom or discover how other schools are using iPads to improve personalized learning.
Tune into these 10 podcast channels to expand your professional development network and learn something new in just a few minutes.
The State of Tech
If you want to learn about anything and everything edtech, check out the State of Tech podcast. This group of tech-savvy educators covers a variety of topics including edtech issues, upcoming conferences, helpful resources and best practices for implementing technology in the classroom.
Start With: Paperless Classroom
The EdReach Network
The EdReach podcast creators want to do one thing: “move education forward by bringing voices together.” As such, they focus on innovation in education, specifically how you can become more innovative in your teaching, by featuring tools, resources and new ideas. Look for special shows featuring popular edtech figures such as Alice Keeler and Jeff Peterson.
Start With: Teachercraft: How Teachers Learn to Use Minecraft in Their Classroom
PBS NewsHour: Education
Stay up to date with what’s happening in education with this news-based podcast series. New episodes are posted to iTunes at least once a week, and last just 3-13 minutes, so you can easily tune in and out during your drive home from school.
Start With: First Generation Students Face Unique Struggles at Elite Colleges
#NerdyCast
Get the perspective of not one, but two passionate educators and advocates, when you listen to #NerdyCast. Each podcast, created by Nicholas Provenzaro, feature at least one expert guest. These guests range from principals to technology integration specialists, and each one helps Provenzaro provide a well-rounded view on each topic.
Start With: Season 3 Episode 2 with Starr Sackstein—All About Grading
Ask a Teacher
This podcast channel, created by the bloggers of Schooled (part of Slate.com), covers out-of-the-box topics relevant to educators—think: what to do when you don’t like a student? Tune into this podcast for real talk about real issues that teachers face today.
Start With: What’s the Best and Worst Advice You’ve Ever Received
The Whole Child
This podcast, with new episodes released on the first Thursday of every month, focuses on changing the conversation about education—how you can ensure that every student is challenged, safe, engaged and supported, in your classroom and at the local, state and federal levels.
Start With: How Do We Create Equitable Learning Environments?
BAM! Radio
This education-focused publication provides insight for everyone in the education world, including teachers, principals and parents. Learn about the inner workings of your principal’s mind with their NAESP podcasts or brush up on the latest in technology with the EdTech radio show.
Start With: Do Teachers Learn Differently Than Students?
The Future of Education
We’re all talking about the future and how it will change education—good and bad. This podcast series, created by Steve Hargadon, has more than 300 recorded interviews, providing insight on nearly every “Future Ready” education topic you could think of, including global reform and student voice. Browse this large library of podcasts and choose a few to tune in to.
Start With: The Randomness of Success
Classroom 2.0
Classroom 2.0, hosted by three educators with more than 50 years of combined experience, uses Blackboard Collaborate to present their podcasts in video, accompanied by a podcast version. Tune in weekly to hear what their newest guest has to say about digital workstations, popular edtech tools and much more.
Start With: Assessments That Don’t Suck
Concordia Ed Tech Podcast
Listen in to this education podcast to enjoy fun banter about technology in education, interviews with great thinkers and tech tips in a digestible format. This show comes to you all the way from Concordia International School in Shanghai, and is hosted by three passionate educators looking to share their excitement about education and technology with every listener.
Start With: Three People and 4 Definitions of Digital Literacy
Talks With Teachers
Learn about how to better connect with students or bring more creativity into your classroom with this simple and eclectic podcast series. Hosts Jessica and Brian Sztabnik feature a variety of topics, teachers and education professionals in an effort to bring the most inspiring ideas directly to you, and help teachers become better at what they do in the process.
Start With: Creativity and Imagination: A New Way to View Student Ability
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