On May 1, Learning Forward and featured guests Nader Twal, Amy Pendray, and Jennifer Crockett of Long Beach Unified School District led a conversation on how to boost learning with podcasts. This chat was based on an article from the April issue of The Learning Professional that discussed the Long Beach district’s approach that enables anywhere, anytime learning for educators.

In case you missed the Twitter chat, below are the questions that we asked participants:

  1. What makes podcasts a unique and beneficial form of professional learning?
  2. How are podcasts keeping you connected while teaching and learning remotely because of COVID-19?
  3. With so many podcasts (and other content) available, how do you choose which ones to pay attention to?
  4. How can you continue and deepen the learning from a podcast so that it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other?
  5. What podcast topics would be most helpful for you right now?

Participants made a lot of great contributions and podcast recommendations in response to the above questions. Below are some takeaways from the Twitter chat:

  • Podcasts are a unique and beneficial form of professional learning because they are on-demand, personal, topical, brief, manageable, and accessible.
  • Educators are staying connected during COVID-19 through podcasts by keeping the conversations focused on timely topics. Podcasts are helping educators feel grounded and are keeping them up-to-date with what other educators are doing to navigate these uncertain times.
  • In order to choose the right podcasts for their needs, many educators prioritize the ones with learning that is not readily available to them through their school or district. To find podcasts, they ask their peers for recommendations, look for topics that will push their thinking, and look at who the guest speaker(s) are.
  • Participants had plenty of suggestions for how to deepen the learning from podcasts that included: listening with others and continuing the conversation; conducting a podcast club (like a book club); writing down learning intentions; downloading resources listed in the show notes; and writing down notes while listening to the podcast.
  • Some podcast topics that educators would find helpful during this stressful time include adult social-emotional learning, trauma-informed pedagogy; digital equity; building trust & culture in online classrooms; learning versus grading, helping students become effective distant learners; virtual coaching; and creating and maintaining authentic relationships via virtual platforms.

You can view the archived version of the full chat here or view all of the tweets from the chat, including participants’ podcast recommendations, below. To be notified of future Twitter chats, follow us on Twitter @LearningForward. If you would like to start your own discussion with other educators to help you navigate these times, visit our new COVID-19 Support community. Thank you to our featured guests and participants for contributing to this conversation on #PersonalizedPD.