Empowering Educators Through Podcasting

TL;DR:

The post discusses the importance of showcasing the “teacher voice” in education through podcasting, exemplified by the voicEd Radio podcast hosted by Doug Peterson.
The podcast provides a collaborative platform for educators to share knowledge and insights, complemented by Doug’s education blog, “doug — off the record.”
This post highlights education’s transformative journey toward innovation and excellence. It also emphasizing the role of insightful questions and educational podcasts in inspiring professional growth among listeners.

Empowering Educators Through Podcasting: Inclusive Voices for Positive Change

Showcasing and bringing out the “teacher voice” in education is an important consideration with podcasting. When I started listening to the voicEd Radio podcast, “This Week in Ontario Edublogs” hosted by Doug, a retired teacher now turned podcaster and blog host, I was excited about the opportunity that teachers had to collaborate and share their knowledge. He writes an education blog titled: “doug — off the record” with a recurring Friday morning post “This Week in Ontario Edublogs.” He shares honest perspectives and thoughts about the education world around us by reading new and up-to-date blogs that have come out.

We definitely grow in education as we teach.

Education has undergone a transformative journey in recent years, adapting to stay aligned with current policies and traditions that fuel our innovation, creativity, and overall excellence. As we step confidently into 2023, we are fully equipped to make our mark. This phase marked my personal journey as a learner, prompting me to pose insightful questions aimed at garnering valuable insights. These revelations will be shared through educational podcasts, serving as a source of inspiration for listeners as they navigate their daily routines. As we nurture our aspirations to lead in our unique manner, I humbly urge you to embrace the spirit of learning and attentive listening on this platform. Together, we will embark on a deeper exploration of Educational Radio!

I opted to co-write this blog with Doug because I have been tuning in to his podcast whenever possible, relishing the educational journey and diverse perspectives it offers. I’ve noticed a rich array of viewpoints that contribute to the enrichment of educational philosophies within today’s podcasting landscape, a fact that should bring a smile to every educator’s face.

This particular podcast is centered around teaching and learning. It provides us with an opportunity to listen, comprehend, and subsequently incorporate perspectives that invigorate educational engagement and foster professional development.

As we aspire to lead in our own way, I ask you to be open to learning and listening as we dive a bit deeper into Educational Radio and the importance of bringing in diverse perspectives!

As we aspire to lead in our own way, I ask you to be open to learning and listening as we dive a bit deeper into Educational Radio and the importance of bringing in diverse perspectives! Click To Tweet

Nilmini asks: What made you start the podcast? And more importantly, what has been the driving force behind continuing the podcast?

In a world of podcasts everywhere, Stephen and I have decided to do a live radio program. Wednesday mornings at 8:45 is a comfortable (and unbooked) time for the two of us and so we went with that. Unfortunately, most of our potential audience is working at that time so the show is recorded and available later as a podcast. The original idea for the podcast came from Stephen. He wanted to move the thoughts from my Friday morning blog post to radio. He had just started the radio station and was looking for content and so he reached out. We’ve been doing it for years now and Stephen and I have become good friends as a result of this partnership.

We deliberately went live to have that niche in the online audio space.

You never know what will happen when you’re “live” and that adds a uniqueness to the program. One of my pet peeves is podcasts that are overproduced and overedited. Stephen takes great delight in making me laugh online and won’t edit it out. We have a blooper reel where there are silly things like the time I sang along with the closing song, not realizing I was in a live recording session. I can be emotional at times and have choked up during the show a few times and I like to think it just adds to the authenticity. I will admit that I’m just a hack at this and Stephen is most definitely the smooth and professional sounding one.

We’ve taken the show live in various locations, including a Grade 5 classroom, and the Bring IT, Together conference. During the summer, we go a little bit further and invite an Ontario Educator to join us as a co-host. We were delighted that you were available to join us last summer.

Nilmini asks: How do you plan your music that blends into the blogs that you are discussing?

Thanks for noticing the music. It takes a while to select them as I try to pick a song that is tied to one of the blog posts that we’re going to be talking about. Since the incident between Russia and Ukraine over a year ago, I’ve made a conscious effort to include songs about War, Love, and Peace. All of the songs are available in a Spotify playlist. Sadly, the playlist is very long and continues to grow. I’m committed to continuing this until peace has been restored.

We can’t talk about music without talking about copyright. voicEd Radio holds a copyright license to make what we do legal. We deliberately don’t play songs at full length and just include a snippet to set the stage. I think it makes it unique as opposed to having a canned intro and outro.

Effective Strategies for Podcasting from Podcast Movement

Find your true interest in podcast topics.
Make it current and meaningful.
Connect others to capture audiences.
Make it accessible to all listeners.
Get technology upgrades as needed such as a mic and audio editing to make your podcast have strong sound quality.

This month’s blog aims to bridge the gap between inclusive voices from the education sector and our community of educators. By doing so, we can collectively foster growth within our profession through shared insights. The essential elements for successful podcasting underscore the significance of top-notch audio and video output. The featured must-have items, such as high-quality microphones and technical equipment for sound enhancement, revolve around ensuring the recording of the utmost audio quality.

I have developed a strong affinity for the video podcast editing process, particularly as I collaborate with SchoolRubric to ensure that our visuals are clear and captivating, effectively conveying the intended message. Here, I proudly present a video rendition of podcasting that serves as a testament to the significance of comprehending students’ passions and fostering self-directed learning avenues. In a recent endeavor, I had the privilege of collaborating with the dedicated staff at a school in India, gaining valuable insights into their student-centric approach to education.

Nilmini asks: Tell me how your intuition and insight as an educator gets passed down through your work.

That’s an interesting question. I’m a Computer Science/Business Education secondary school teacher by qualification. In some worlds, it may be considered nerdy or quite nerdy. I finished my career as a Computers in the Classroom Teacher Consultant which saw me go into every grade level and every subject area in schools across our district. I learned so much in those classrooms and I conducted many workshops on topics across the curriculum. I’ve also presented at conferences and have helped create conference programs for the Bring IT, Together conference, Computer Science Teachers Association, and the Western Regional Computer Advisory Committee. You sure learn a lot in a hurry. Also, I was the chair of all of these conferences at one point and that certainly raises the bar.

I served for years on the OSAPAC (Ontario Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee) Committee which recommended software titles for the Ministry of Education to license for Ontario Classrooms. I spent hours, days, weeks, immersed in curriculum documents looking for curriculum connections. As for intuition, I think that all educators develop those “eyes in the back of your head” for classroom management along with other things and you immediately get inspiration about how something might fit. Others might just walk by but educators see curriculum opportunities. That’s what makes us so valuable to society.

It makes it so easy with the incredible blog posts that make it to the show. In my humble opinion, Ontario educators are among the best in the world. Those who blog show it off so well. I like to think that we promote best practices. It also has been my passion to show off what we do so well across the province.

Here’s our current list of bloggers. I’m always on the lookout for new bloggers.

[scroll down to keep reading]

Nilmini asks: Share a bit about yourself that you want to come out in the blog. Your decision how you want this to sound.

That’s a tough question to answer. I started as a blogger years and years ago and maintain doug — off the Rrecord even as we work on this article. I have two signature posts: Friday-This Week in Ontario Edublogs and Sunday-Whatever happened to…

I’ve always maintained that this is a hobby and, if it ever became work, I’d probably quit. Every now and again, I get the opportunity to interview someone “interesting” and certainly you were one of them.

An interview with Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge

Quite honestly, I thought the voicEd Radio show would have just been fun and run its course in a couple of months. After all, we’ve seen podcasts come and go because people lose interest or run out of ideas. Since we’re inspired by Ontario Edubloggers, we really don’t run out of ideas.

It’s great to read the posts and share our thoughts about them.

It’s kind of like leaving a reply to a blog post, only we work it into a fun discussion.

On Friday mornings for years, I’ve done this #FollowFriday thing on Twitter. The very first post always identifies the educators we talk about on the show along with a couple more bonus posts.

We live in a world where we don’t have to look too deeply to find someone dumping on educators. Through our show, I like to think that we’re a very positive and supportive voice. I’ve never had anyone send me a message and asked not to be included. On the other hand, I get thank yous and comments every week and that makes it all worthwhile.

Plus, I get to meet interesting people like you. What’s not to like?

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts, Nilmini. I truly appreciate it.

A sincere thank you to Doug Peterson for his collaboration in providing insights on podcasts and the art of conveying teaching stories through the discussions shared on the show’s blogs.

Blog Reflection Questions

Which podcast would you listen to from Doug’s series on education so you can try out a new idea?
What would you podcast about hypothetically?
Would you like to share your views? Please reach out to others to check into trying out something new!

Yours in Education,

Nilmini

References

Podcast Communication Guide Harvard University, United States of America

Podcast Movement

SchoolRubric Podcast: Supporting Students Through Self-Guided Learning and Internships (Thank you to my producer Wallace Ting)

About Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge

Nilmini lives in Ontario, Canada. She was born in Sri Lanka is immigrated Canada. Educator at heart, she is passionate about equity, inclusion, social justice and human rights in education.

She believes in understanding people as she travels to explore cultures in our world during her spare time, loves cooking at home and trying out new flavours, and continues to follow the latest fashion news!

Nilmini loves staying connected with global educators via social media: author, blogger, podcaster and most importantly, just exploring life.