Teaching In Higher Ed Podcasts: 5 that Inspire and Inform
The podcast, radio’s internet-based sister, is on the rise. The number of people ages 12 and up who have listened to a podcast has been rising since 2014 and was up to 40 percent in 2017, according to data from Edison Research and Triton Digital.
The report also found that podcast listening in the demographic for higher ed educators and administrators (ages 25 to 54) has risen 15 percent since 2013.
While many of the popular podcasts have a mystery or crime angle, a number of university educators and thought leaders have created podcasts in recent years.
With podcasts ranging from teaching to institutional innovation, university educators and leaders have a lot to choose from for professional listening.
We’ve gathered five podcasts worth a listen:
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1. Higher Ed Live
Those who work on campus have a lot of facets of academics and life to contend with. Higher Ed Live, a weekly podcast, focuses in on everything from student affairs to testing out new technologies in the classroom.
“Higher Ed Live offers [listeners] direct access to the best and brightest minds in education and allows [listeners] to share knowledge and participate in discussions around the most important issues in the industry,” reads the podcast’s description.
Most importantly, as The Tech Edvocate blog reports, the podcast also regularly features interviews with professionals and thought leaders in the industry.
2. The Pulse
E-learning and educational technology are at the heart of The Pulse, Rodney B. Murray’s podcast on Inside Higher Ed. Murray, the executive director of the office of academic technology at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, leverages his career of advancing instructional technology to discuss how tech is reshaping the university experience.
Some recent episodes of The Pulse have featured interviews with tech industry executives and USciences leaders.
3. Leading Lines
Vanderbilt University launched Leading Lines, a podcast on educational technology, in 2016 as a way to showcase “creative, intentional and effective uses of technology to enhance student learning.”
The podcast is produced through a partnership between several teaching and administrative offices at Vanderbilt and often features insightful interviews with faculty and staff from the university.
For example, in a recent episode, Melissa Mallon, the director of Vanderbilt’s Peabody Library, discussed the library’s importance in helping students develop digital literacy skills.
4. Stanford Innovation Lab
In the Stanford Innovation Lab podcast, Tina Seelig, professor of the practice in the department of management science and engineering, explores the creative processes behind engineering and offers up tips on how other professors can bolster creativity and innovative thinking.
Seelig’s podcasts often include other Stanford professors, authors and business leaders, and usually focus on the earliest stages of innovation. For example, in “Breakthrough Ideas Require Advanced Planning,” Seelig speaks with Alphabet X’s Emily Ma in the first of three episodes about the key ingredients to a successful brainstorming session.
5. TOPcast
University of Central Florida’s TOPcast, or Teaching Online Podcast, concentrates on the biggest issues in online education, from blended programs to mobile learning opportunities.
Hosted by UCF’s vice provost for digital learning Tom Cavanagh and executive director for the Center of Distributed Learning Kelvin Thompson, TOPcast includes interviews with experts on everything from instructional design to digital learning initiatives.
