Professional Learning Through Podcasts

Tim Cavey (@MisterCavey) is the facilitator of the podcast @TeachersOnFire and an 8^th grade educator from Surrey, BC.  As well as this Tim has completed a masters degree at Vancouver Island University and a 60 page thesis on educational podcasts having impact on educational practice.  The podcast Teachers on Fire was a passion project that Tim started in hopes of contributing to the profession through intentional conversations to “inspire innovative practices by educators around the globe”.

I have now listened to a few of Tim’s podcasts and have resonated with some of the points that Tim made during his presentation to us.  Tim gave us several reasons as to why he creates podcasts:

6 Reasons Why I Podcast

1. Podcasts share best practices for teaching and learning
   1. Podcasts have instant delivery
2. Podcasts are accessible from around the world
   1. Global audience
3. Podcasts amplify the voices of inspiring educators
   1. Making others known and giving them recognition
4. Podcasts continue my own professional learning
5. Podcasts allow me to build relationships with other current educators
6. Podcasts are highly valued by listeners
   1. Professional growth while you can do other things like commuting

I do agree with Tim’s points surrounding the value of professional learning and networking.  I have found podcasts to be something I can indulge in as a busy second year student teacher candidate.  Podcasts have become valuable to me because I can listen to them at 1.5 speed (faster than normal) while I am getting ready in the morning or driving to work.  This allows me to cover content quickly that I may not access while in class in an efficient way.  I can then take time later on in my day to think about the content I listened to and apply it to the practices I am currently learning.

One thing I really enjoyed about the Teachers on Fire podcast was that Tim is interviewing mostly current educators.  This means that the content is socially relevant with what is happening in classrooms right now.  The content that is included in the Teachers on Fire podcast is also from a variety of sources that include individuals in administration and educators from various locations (including various provinces and countries).  I think that as an emerging educator I will do my best to engage in professional learning outside of daily practice and podcasts make this easily accessible.