Podcasting 101 – Week 2 – What am I doing?

Ok, so I started to dive into the world of podcasting. First, I wanted to set out defining the intention of what I am trying to accomplish with this concept.

Am I looking to:

• Entertain teachers?
• Inform teachers about today’s issues?
• Create access to free PD?
• Discuss new pedagogy?
• Explore new theories?
• Create “how-to” guides for the implementation of procedures?

There is an endless amount of potential in this field.

I began to search Apple Podcasts to explore what was already available to teachers. What is the point of reinventing the wheel and wasting my time on something someone has already put out there? I found a lot of PD, “how to” and even a few critical theory podcasts. One thing that I did not find was a podcast that focused on the teacher themselves. There are a multitude of issues that affect us in the classroom, but where can we find the information we need to address it? And, where do we find the time to do the research with all of the other responsibilities we have? Not everyone has the time, money, or will power to go back to university and work through a graduate program. Maybe, they have their graduate degree, but have not had time to keep up with the current theories.

I think that maybe my efforts should be focused on the teacher, and not the methods used in a classroom to obtain results.

Ok, so I have an idea. Where do I go from here?

 

If we look at this neat “how to” guide I found online, it says the next step is to figure out the format. Do I want to go into this alone? Do I interview people? Should I find a co-host? There are endless opportunities. As much fun as it could be to banter with another person, I think finding two teachers who have the same passion (and time available) is a little too difficult for me. So, maybe we will backburner that for the time being. Interviewing people would be a great experience… a little ways down the road when I am more comfortable online. I don’t want to waste someone’s time if it isn’t going to be useful. So, for the time being, I think going solo is a good idea.

Now, I do have the format that I have been using for final assignments. I enjoy sarcasm, puns, and coffee. I think I am going to continue that quirky angle on this journey. If I allow myself to get too serious, I feel like the information might come off as too “preachy”.

I think using the concepts of Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History might be a good springboard. With this in mind, I am not implying that I will be doing a 3 hour podcast. Could you imagine a 3 hour educational theory podcast?! Yikes! My attention span can sometimes be short. So, I am thinking that maybe 20-30 min podcasts would be a good length. If I need more time, I can always split a topic into multiple episodes. Now, when working on these assignments, I have learned my lesson with the creation time. It takes a lot longer than you think, especially when dealing with technology. I honestly think that with the responsibilities I have in my life at the moment, I can only commit to once a month… MAYBE once every 3 weeks. I understand that is not very frequent, but I would rather be accurate, thoughtful and insightful than constantly turning out shoddy information.

 

So, there is the decision making process so far.

Next week, I am going to work on the production aspects, and then use a Alitu Showplanner tool to see if this is a viable option.