Podcasting for Teachers

From Converge Online:
http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=422&storyid=106727
Podcasting for Teachers Creates Anytime, Anywhere Teacher Conferences
Digital Media is Answer for Teacher Time Crunch
By Jeana Graham
March 12, 2008

...It's a common conundrum in K-12 schools, says Mark Gura, a consulting advisor for Fordham University as well as an educator for 35 years. As technology advances at a near-dizzying pace, sporadic conferences become more and more inadequate. But more regular meetings require more time away from the classroom ? time that teachers don't have. "Podcasting is really a great answer to that because it's what we call time-shifting. People can make more time in their lives. What used to be down time can now be filled with good stuff," Gura says.

Gura, also a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education, and Dr. Kathy King, a professor of adult education for Fordham University, started "The Teacher's Podcast" to help solve this problem. Originally produced under the name Podcasting for Teachers, it's now well past 3 million downloads and on its 105th episode since 2005. The two have also written a book about their experiences, Podcasting for Teachers: Using a New Technology to Revolutionize Teaching and Learning. Gura says that podcasting may not replace conferences, but if planned carefully, should free up conferences so more ground can be covered. He says a level of synergy can be obtained between the two.

Podcasting might be a bit intimidating to the individual educator with limited resources. But Lee Baber, one of the creators of "Teachers Teaching Teachers," (TTT) says that it is not an "insolvable problem." TTT, a part of the EdTechTalk family, launched in early 2006 with the help of the WorldBridges network. WorldBridges is a community focused on "homegrown webcasting." The TTT site saw nearly 120,000 visitors between September 2007 and November 2007, with almost 38,000 of them being new users.

Baber says a unique aspect of TTT is that it is live with teachers having online chat capabilities during the recording. This enables anyone to come and ask questions during the show. She describes it as a continuous conversation. "It's like a faculty meeting that doesn't end ? and there's no leader," Baber says. The podcast is later posted to the site to be downloaded. "I think what it is, is a whole lot of people trying to share their individual versions of expertise and all collectively, you know, we feel like we have a whole lot of strength in numbers."

Gura says it's crucial to remember the importance of planning to produce a quality podcast. "A good podcast is conceived as a podcast," he says, meaning that simply recording a conference will not produce the desired result. Background noise, raising of hands that the listener cannot hear and unexpected happenings are all things that can detract from the podcast experience.

Baber says the secrets to success are community and networks. For TTT, that help came from the Webcast Academy, part of the WorldBridges network. She says having someone to reach out to when problems arise is of the utmost importance. "It was a very hard learning curve, but it was easy to do because we had people to support us, to be our mentors and to help us get through that problem solving. We could always fall back on people that knew how to do it."

The technology may be taxing and the planning may be tedious, but both Gura and Baber would agree that the benefits outweigh the costs. Baber points to the valuable information and connections she has gleaned from her experiences. She says during one podcast, Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a technology and education consultant and adjunct instructor in the School of Education at The College of William and Mary, shared ideas from the K-12 Online Conference 2007. Since that time, Baber uses the conference for professional development on a daily basis.

For Gura, podcasting for professional development is not only a handy tool to have, it's a catalyst for great change. "I firmly believe that this is really part of a revolution for education, when teachers can get their PD in this kind of free or inexpensive, casual format. This is really important stuff we're working on. I've been an educator for 35 years. Trust me; this will make a difference in the end.

"It will be the collective groan heard 'round K-12 classrooms everywhere. Those glorious few days off for students ? also known as teachers' conferences ? might soon be a rare occurrence.Podcasting ? creating digital media files that can be listened to on demand by way of portable media devices ? was a buzzword in 2004 and has been increasing in popularity ever since. However, technology-adept teachers are just beginning to scratch the surface of its potentially huge implications for education.It's a common conundrum in K-12 schools, says Mark Gura, a consulting advisor for Fordham University as well as an educator for 35 years. As technology advances at a near-dizzying pace, sporadic conferences become more and more inadequate. But more regular meetings require more time away from the classroom ? time that teachers don't have. "Podcasting is really a great answer to that because it's what we call time-shifting. People can make more time in their lives. What used to be down time can now be filled with good stuff," Gura says.

Gura, also a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education, and Dr. Kathy King, a professor of adult education for Fordham University, started "The Teacher's Podcast" to help solve this problem. Originally produced under the name Podcasting for Teachers, it's now well past 3 million downloads and on its 105th episode since 2005. The two have also written a book about their experiences, Podcasting for Teachers: Using a New Technology to Revolutionize Teaching and Learning. Gura says that podcasting may not replace conferences, but if planned carefully, should free up conferences so more ground can be covered. He says a level of synergy can be obtained between the two.

Podcasting might be a bit intimidating to the individual educator with limited resources. But Lee Baber, one of the creators of "Teachers Teaching Teachers," (TTT) says that it is not an "insolvable problem." TTT, a part of the EdTechTalk family, launched in early 2006 with the help of the WorldBridges network. WorldBridges is a community focused on "homegrown webcasting." The TTT site saw nearly 120,000 visitors between September 2007 and November 2007, with almost 38,000 of them being new users.

Baber says a unique aspect of TTT is that it is live with teachers having online chat capabilities during the recording. This enables anyone to come and ask questions during the show.

She describes it as a continuous conversation. "It's like a faculty meeting that doesn't end ? and there's no leader," Baber says. The podcast is later posted to the site to be downloaded. "I think what it is, is a whole lot of people trying to share their individual versions of expertise and all collectively, you know, we feel like we have a whole lot of strength in numbers."

Gura says it's crucial to remember the importance of planning to produce a quality podcast. "A good podcast is conceived as a podcast," he says, meaning that simply recording a conference will not produce the desired result. Background noise, raising of hands that the listener cannot hear and unexpected happenings are all things that can detract from the podcast experience.

Baber says the secrets to success are community and networks. For TTT, that help came from the Webcast Academy, part of the WorldBridges network. She says having someone to reach out to when problems arise is of the utmost importance. "It was a very hard learning curve, but it was easy to do because we had people to support us, to be our mentors and to help us get through that problem solving. We could always fall back on people that knew how to do it."

The technology may be taxing and the planning may be tedious, but both Gura and Baber would agree that the benefits outweigh the costs. Baber points to the valuable information and connections she has gleaned from her experiences. She says during one podcast, Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a technology and education consultant and adjunct instructor in the School of Education at The College of William and Mary, shared ideas from the K-12 Online Conference 2007. Since that time, Baber uses the conference for professional development on a daily basis.

For Gura, podcasting for professional development is not only a handy tool to have, it's a catalyst for great change. "I firmly believe that this is really part of a revolution for education, when teachers can get their PD in this kind of free or inexpensive, casual format. This is really important stuff we're working on. I've been an educator for 35 years. Trust me; this will make a difference in the end."

Resources:
edtechtalk.com/teachersteachingteachers

www.infoagepub.com/products/content/p45f87061c70e9.php
(where Gura's book is located)

http://www.worldbridges.com/www.webcastacademy.net/
http://www.teacherspodcast.org/

Published in the Special Issue 2007 of Converge