Podcast Review

"The Teachers' Podcast" - http://teacherspodcast.org/

One podcast that I found to cover a broad range of educational issues with an extensive amount of resources is “The Teachers’ Podcast.” Dr. Kathy King and Mark Gura discuss different issues surrounding education such as the recent speech that President Obama gave to students around the United States. The website where they post the different podcast episodes is a little busy, but it is because they have so many written comments, links to social network services (Twitter), upcoming events, articles and other resources to support what they discuss on their podcasts. For example, episode 44 (Prime Time for Virtual Learning) includes the podcast of the episode, a summary of the topic, upcoming events (Creative Pursuits Conference, and Virtual School Symposium), links to discussed articles (New Online School Caters to Gay Students and 7 Myths of Distance Learning), and links to videos of the episodes as well as the social networking site, Twitter.
Listening to “The Teachers’ Podcast” was similar to listening to a radio talk show except that the topics were always tied into education in some way. They spend the first five or ten minutes of their segments discussing things that are happening in their own lives and commenting on listener feedback. They receive emails and Twitter comments on a regular basis and incorporate these comments and suggestions into their show. The remainder of the podcast is devoted to discussing hot topics surrounding education. For example, in the episode about President Obama’s speech to students, Mark Gura discusses how No Child Left Behind does not help to inspire students and teachers. He says that it is great for President Obama to talk about how teachers have a responsibility for inspiring students; however, NCLB is “holding students’ feet to the fire to take tests.” I enjoy listening to “The Teachers’ Podcast” because it feels as if I am listening to a radio station created just for me, a teacher!