House of #EdTech Podcast Review

 

Over the last week I spent a few hours listening to a few episodes of the House of #EdTech podcast hosted by Chris Nesi.  The House of #EdTech podcast is meant to help educators learn how to better integrate technology into education by listening to Chris and some of his guests discuss their experiences as teachers, as well as what tools and tips they have found useful in their classrooms.

Chris Nesi is currently a high school social studies teacher from New Jersey, who describes technology and its role in education as his professional passion.  He has “developed and presented professional development workshops to K-12 and collegiate educators about social meida, connected learning, technology integration strategies, and podcasting,” (Nesi).   In addition, Chris was named one of EdTech’s 30 Must-Follow K-12 Education IT Influencers by EdTech Magazine in 2019.

The episodes that I listened to varied from thirty minutes to just under an hour.  The format for each episode seems to be pretty standard.  Chris opens the episode by often giving updates about things he has talked about in recent previous episodes.  He then moves on to an “EdTech Thought” that is related to teaching, but not necessarily what that particular episode is about (E.g. making sure that educators are getting enough sleep).  Next, Chris moves on to his “EdTech Recommendations”, which are tools, websites, etc. that he has been using or just learned about that are helpful for teachers.  These recommendations seem to be mostly technology tools, but again not specific to the topic of the episode.  Chris then moves onto the “Featured Content” of the show, where he also sometimes invites a guest educator to discuss their experiences with him, before moving onto the “House of EdTech VIP”, (a plug for another educator that he suggests you should follow on social media).

I thought that the episodes that I listened to (The Benefits of Blended Learning, What Would You Do Differently? A 2020 Reflection, and the 4 C’s – Real Talk) were interesting and informative, and found Chris to be knowledgeable about technology tools and resources.  As someone who has not taught before, I especially found his recommendations for different tools that he has used and continues to use in his classroom to be helpful.  I also really liked that he sometimes brings on other educators to discuss the featured topic so that you get to hear additional viewpoints. 

While I would recommend this podcast to others, I would do so with a few caveats.  You should know that the episodes are fairly long and that only a portion is covering what is mentioned in the title.  While I’m sure some people are interested to hear updates from previous episodes, if you haven’t listened to the particular episode that Chris is referencing you can feel lost for parts of the podcast.  Similarly, the EDTech VIP seems to just be a plug that he adds at the end of the podcast, often unrelated to the rest of the episode.  For this reason, when I listen to future episodes I plan to just skip to the recommendations and featured content portions of the episode which he has timestamped on his website for easy navigation.  That will allow me to get the tools and information that I want in a less time-consuming way going forward.   

 

Image Reference:

Nesi, C. (nd). House of #EdTech. https://www.chrisnesi.com

Reference:

Nesi, C. (nd). House of #EdTech: About. Retrieved from https://www.chrisnesi.com/about