Thursday is App Day- TeacherCast

I downloaded the free (yes, free) TeacherCast app a few months ago and it is a really convenient resource to have whenever I want to listen and learn. Based in Philadelphia, Jeff Bradbury hosts educators from around the country and talks about technology in the classroom. He is a music teacher in North Brunswick and started TeacherCast "to help teachers learn about educational technology." For people without an iPhone or iPad, you can also access these podcasts through Teachercast.net.

I have used this app as a resource to link me to audio lectures. I have listened to several of the podcasts and they have all inspired me.  Podcast 18, "Digital Citizenship," inspired me to join Twitter, an incredible source of learning. Podcast 21, "Creating a Digital Footprint," made me think not only about how I teach students to use the internet and social media, but also how I parent my daughters to think about their electronic trail. I listened to a few other podcasts driving to South Carolina and was especially inspired by the interview that Jeff had with Angela Meiers about her TED Talk where she talked about spreading the concept of "mattering." Jeff has other podcasts about specific apps, Web 2.0 skills and classroom applications, leadership styles, and internet safety, just to list a few. One of my favorites is Podcast 39 "The Many Hats a Principal Wears" and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about entering educational administration. Shira Leibowitz and Jessica Johnson are two amazing principals I follow on Twitter.

In addition to the podcasts, TeacherCast also features links to Live Binders, Professional Learning Networks, and categorized blogs. There are also app reviews, screencasts, and featured articles. Basically, no matter how much time you want to spend investigating links and opportunities to learn, you can occupy yourself through the various activities of this app/website.

One frustrating part about the TeacherCast app is that once you start a lecture, you have to listen to it all the way through because if you pause or try to open another app, it stops and you can not return to the place where it stopped. If you enter the site through iTunes, you do have the option of entering the podcast wherever you want. I'm hoping that the app gets an upgrade that fixes this issue.

These lectures have provided me with an incredible amount of learning. Whenever I have a long car ride or a walk by myself, I listen to one of the podcasts and am guaranteed a new idea. Thank you to Jeff and to all of his contributors!