As education leaders, we often find that there are not enough hours in the day. The “job” never really has an ending point. We have to figure out for ourselves how to carve out some time for our own professional learning so that we can keep up with the very fast pace of change.
What if we did some learning while working (or walking, or working out)?
Podcasts are one way to learn while you work. If you have an mp3 player, you can download podcasts from a number of different sources and listen to them when you are exercising, washing dishes, or commuting to work.
If you aren’t sure yet how to download podcasts, you can also listen to many of them from your laptop. Some examples have been provided below.
The Whole Child Podcast (ASCD)
Moving at the Speed of Creativity (edtech from Wes Fryer)
The Current (CBC Radio)
You can find information on how to download podcasts to your iPhone, iPad or iPod here, or you can use one of the many podcasting apps available free.
Ontario teacher Royan Lee tells about his love of podcasts here, and suggests “Downcast” as one of the best apps for accessing podcasts.
If you are already a podcast fan, what are some of your favourite educational podcasts?
Responses (This form will take some time to update after your contribution)
OSSEMOOC 
…or, go ‘old school’. I listened to all of Hargreaves & Fullan’s ‘Professional Capital’ over the course of a few weeks while driving to work. Then loaned it out.
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Awesome. That is a great read – even better to “read” and drive! There are so many ways to listen and learn. We need to think about how to do this for our students as well. Why not podcast eLearning materials so students are not sitting at a desk all day long?
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What about the poor Android users? 😉
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We would love to hear how you listen to podcasts! Share with us?
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To be honest I don’t have too much experience with podcasts per se. I started a bit last year when I found Mike Reading who had published Google Apps for EDU video podcasts – which were recorded Hangouts on Air with a colleague. It’s definitely a great way to learn something when you want to – throw it on a tablet and press play when driving (thx PeterLeblanc – great idea. eLCs are never on the road… )! 🙂
I’ve deviated from podcasts – in fact, I never really got into the habit of using them, as I seem to find what I need through my Twitter network. If a recording is tweeted, I simply mark them as a Favourite, come back to my Tweetdeck Favourite column and press play when I get the chance. This way, recordings/podcasts are with me wherever I am – on my phone, tablet, or on computer.
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Great ideas! I think the main thing is getting information into an audio format that you can listen to while driving, walking, hiking, running, raking, vacuuming…. you get it. Like Peter L., I do so much of my learning while commuting (though I worry about just how loud those podcasts need to be to drown out the noise on a Porter flight….).
Keep learning and sharing!
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I travel A LOT…so podcasts are my go to as the highway in Northwestern Ontario can be a bit “quiet” (except for those Moose!). My colleague started me listening to Growing Leaders, Teaching Learning, Leading, K-12 and ASCD’s The Whole Child. I use an android and the Podcast Addict app manages my podcasts and connects nicely to my car!
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