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Among the millions of podcasts that have been launched in the last several years are a growing number focused on teaching and learning in higher education. They cover a variety of topics including professional development, career advice for faculty, classroom practices, equity practices, data-informed teaching, trends in learning science, and emerging digital learning technologies.
Below are details on 10 teaching and learning podcasts recommended to us. We’ve embedded sample episodes for many shows for the reader to try from this page, but the most convenient way to listen for most people will be via one of the podcast distribution platforms, which we’ve included links to.
Many shows, but not all, include transcripts — either on page or downloadable — to make them more accessible.
An emerging trend in podcasting generally is to capture video of the interview and share that via YouTube. One of the teaching and learning podcasts below has started to do that.
Regardless of which platform you access the shows on, be sure to visit the home webpage for individual episodes. The show notes on those pages are often packed with useful resources such as links to research reports, classroom materials, and digital learning tools.
Editor’s note: Information is up to date as of April 2023. Most of the shows included are active, but dormant and limited-series podcasts are included for the value of their archived episodes. A hat tip and a thank you to the team at TOPCast for recommending some of the shows below.
1. The Teaching Online Podcast (TOPCast)
Thomas Cavanagh, Vice Provost for Digital Learning at the University of Central Florida (UCF), and Dr. Kelvin Thompson, Vice Provost for Online Strategy and Teaching Innovation at the University of Louisville, lend their experience and expertise in digital teaching and learning to TOPCast. It is active, with over 130 episodes.
Hosted at the University of Central Florida’s Central for Distributed Learning webpage, this monthly podcast takes the form of a coffee break that features expert guests in online education discussing issues for faculty.
For example, in Episode 130, “Data, DETA, Design and More,” Tanya Joosten, Senior Scientist at the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA), discusses findings from the center’s eight years of research on best practices in online teaching.
TOPCast is available on Apple, Google Podcasts, PodBean, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
Video versions of the podcast are available at the UCF Digital Learning YouTube Page.
2. Teaching In Higher Ed
Bonni Stachowiak, Professor and Dean of Teaching and Learning at Vanguard University, hosts Teaching In Higher Ed, a weekly podcast available on her professional website. Stachowiak invites expert guests to offer insight on teaching in digital spaces, teaching philosophies, course design, disability inclusion, implicit bias, ADHD support, and cultural competence.
This active podcast includes close to 450 episodes. Some episodes feature discipline-specific discussions, such as Episode 346, “Filling the Equity Gap in STEM Fields” and “Teaching Writing in an Age of AI,” Episode 449.
Teaching In Higher Ed is available on Apple, Audible, Google Podcasts, PodBean, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
3. Northwestern Digital Learning Podcast Series
The Northwestern Digital Learning Podcast
is a limited series hosted at the Digital Learning webpage for Northwestern University. Episodes feature faculty and researchers focus on interdisciplinary work with new methods and technologies.
For example, Episode 10 highlights a music lecturer who developed an app for tracking speech and fluid intake to help voice students combat vocal fatigue. Episode 9 spotlights undergraduate research and the role it can play in students’ professional aspirations.
The Northwestern Digital Learning Podcast Series is available on SoundCloud.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
4. Leading Lines
Vanderbilt University’s Leading Lines: A podcast on educational technology zeroes in on ways to use technology to improve teaching and learning in higher ed. The 115 episodes of this now-dormant show feature interviews with educators, technologists, and researchers from a variety of institutions. It was produced by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching and The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.
Episode 110 features a conversation with Bowdoin College history professor Patrick Rael who moved beyond gamification exercises in the classroom to establishing game labs where students learn by playing board games. Another example of active learning is presented in Episode 104, featuring Princeton Theological Seminary’s Farminary which combines theological education with small-scale agriculture.
Leading Lines is available on Apple, Google Podcasts, PodBean, SoundCloud, Spotify, TuneIn.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
5. The Higher EdTech Podcast
Irvine Valley College instructional technologist Tim VanNorman and ESL professor Brent Warner offer support for using technology in the college classroom on their active, bi-weekly show, The Higher EdTech Podcast.
The hosts’ goal is to save instructors time and increase student engagement through the use of technology. Most episodes feature practical advice and tips. Season 4, Episode 11 helps Canvas users take advantage of lesser-known features. Season 4, Episode 5 gives advice for dealing with tech emergencies, from blown fuses to uncooperative software. Other episodes explore emerging technologies, such as Season 4, Episode 12 discussing generative AI.
The Higher EdTech Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
6. Higher Education Anti-Racist Teaching (H.E.A.R.T)
Co-hosted by education scholar Dr. Milagros Castillo-Montoya and doctoral student Omar Romandia, the Higher Education Anti-Racist Teaching (H.E.A.R.T) Podcast is supported by the Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut. The H.E.A.R.T podcast is active, but the podcast distribution platforms below may be more regularly maintained with new episodes than the host page at UConn.
This podcast focuses on expanding conversations around anti-racist teaching and challenges listeners to design courses that consider and center the learning of minoritized students.
The series features educators from a variety of institutions and disciplines. Season 1, Episode 5 explores antiracist teaching in a community college context, as faculty from Estrella Community College describe how intersectionality functions as a lens for their work with students both in and out of the classroom. Season 2, Episode 2 considers anti-racist teaching through visual arts and design.
The H.E.A.R.T Podcast is available on Apple, Podbean, and Spotify.
7. WCET Frontiers Pod
WCET Frontiers Pod from WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, an Every Learner Everywhere network partner, features guest hosts and interviewees discussing digital learning in higher education. The episodes prioritize issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This new podcast is active, with its first episode airing in 2022.
In Episode 1.3, Dr. Elaine Villanueva Bernal, STEM, Digital Learning Strategist for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with WCET, and Dr. Patrice Prusko, Director, Learning Design at Harvard University, discuss creating community in online and hybrid learning modes and how trauma-informed teaching can support both students and instructors. Episode 1.8 features Bernal with guest Denise Castro, Policy Analyst at The Education Trust, exploring equity in college math classes.
WCET Frontiers Pod is available on Google Podcasts, PodBean, and Spotify.
8. Tea for Teaching
Tea for Teaching
, hosted by economist John Kane and graphic designer Rebecca Mushtare from the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at the State University of New York at Oswego, features conversation with innovative researchers and advocates dedicated to supporting all learners. It is active, with over 275 episodes.
This series of informal chats covers a range of educational topics such as antiracist pedagogy, student mental health, and critical thinking. For example, Episode 274 features a discussion with two University of Mississippi professionals about the use and concern of ChatGPT and how AI is changing writing and learning at colleges.
Tea for Teaching is available on Apple, Audible, PodBean, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
9. Let’s Talk Teaching
Let’s Talk Teaching
from the Center for Integrated Professional Development at Illinois State University invites expert guests to discuss teaching and learning for all instructors, including graduate assistants. Let’s Talk Teaching is active, with over 80 episodes.
Queer allyship in the classroom is the theme of Episode 80, featuring the center’s Coordinator for Scholarly Teaching and Learning. Episode 70 includes guests who are experts in building student-centered courses in blended environments.
Let’s Talk Teaching is available on Apple and PodBean.
Transcripts for individual episodes are available in the show notes.
10. The Lasallian Way Online
The Lasallian Way Online is a podcast series from the Center for Digital Instruction at Christian Brothers University. This occasional podcast is active, with 12 episodes that emphasize whole-student principles from the Lasallian tradition.
For example, an episode titled The Hyflex Model discusses how that digital learning mode can include core Lasallian principles. Academic Integrity in Online Classes with Dr. Paul Haught is the first episode in a three-part series of discussions on plagiarism and cheating in online courses.
The Lasallian Way Online is available on Apple, Audible, Spotify, and TuneIn.
Other higher ed podcasts of interest
While the list above refers to podcasts particularly about teaching and learning, colleagues have recommended to us a number of other shows devoted to higher ed more broadly, including:
- The EdSurge Podcast, available on Apple, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
- The Key from Inside Higher Ed, available on Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.