There's no doubt that an educator's life is extremely busy. The demands of the job can be exhausting and making the time to be consistently informed about developments in the education sphere can be a serious challenge.

Podcasts are a great tool to overcome some of that time deficiency - listen on the commute, during lunch, or just before bed. Get your professional development in manageable bites and spark a conversation with co-workers! 

Below are a few of the most highly-reviewed educational podcasts to get your teacher brain examining pedagogy, EdTech, and classroom management.

• The Cult of Pedagogy - many interviews with education professionals that cover the gamut of teaching strategies, child psychology, and school social dynamics. A wide array of topics each week keeps this podcast fresh and interesting.

• The Creative Classroom - if you're excited for new, innovative ways to teach students, this podcast introduces a variety of ideas about project-based learning, growth mindset, and design thinking to challenge educators to break new ground with thought-provoking strategies.

• 10-Minute Teacher Show - this show has a unique format in that each day of the week is dedicated to a particular theme: Motivational Mondays, EdTech Tool Tuesdays, Wonderful Classroom Wednesdays, Thought Leader Thursdays, and Five Idea Fridays.

• The House of EdTech - if Educational Technology is in your wheelhouse, this resource will acquaint you with How To guides on a multitude of apps, websites, and digital assets and it hosts an assortment of interviews with prominent EdTech professionals.

This week's theme is about: Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.

Some 800 universities around the world offer mostly self-paced courses that cover nearly every academic topic available. What this means for students is a resource to deepen knowledge, enhancements for the Flipped Classroom model, higher-level learning they can access without tuition being a factor, and the independence to choose what compliments their interest areas.

See the list in its entirety, compiled here. A few notable highlights include:

• Computer Science at Harvard - take classes on an introduction to CS, the principle of the subject, or how computer science relates to business.

• Engineering at University of Colorado, Boulder - learn about electronics, circuitry, sensor, or LED design throughout a dozen different online seminars.

• Social Sciences at the University of Michigan - study about democracy in the digital age, social work research techniques, civil rights, and critical thinking skills.

• Mathematics at the Santa Fe Institute - explore fractals, differential equations, functions and Game Theory through hours of self-paced courses.

Users often see apps as standalone programs that don't communicate or connect with each other.

Why not exploit the features of one app to enhance another? This has become a technique known as App Smashing. It's a way to move beyond a core set of apps and leverage the power of each one in a way that creates a package for an overall more dynamic artifact. 

Some of the benefits of App Smashing for students include increased engagement, greater vehicles for creativity, and a wider range of resources for expression. Some examples below will get you started to craft amazing projects! 

• Padlet/Adobe Spark + Google Sites - If you're using Sites to host a page for curriculum, a particular lesson or project, or just as a general page for your classroom, the digital corkboard known as Padlet can be an incredible way to enrich the functionality as a discussion board, a place for feedback or a real-time source for communication. Use the visually stunning elements of Adobe Spark to embed a page into Google sites and go beyond its simple component offerings.

• Wakelet + Google Drawings - Curate a series of files created in Google Drawings (augmented by links, images, and diagrams) and host them all on a Wakelet collection as a repository for information, a source for collaboration, or a collection of projects.

• Screencast + Google Maps - Create a walking tour based on locations in a piece of literature, a historical journey or sightseeing landmarks. After selecting a specific location in Google Maps, there is an option to record in real-time or upload pre-recorded footage that adds more context or explanation about the venue in question.  

This week's theme is about: coding.

Content creation is a crucial component of project-based learning and the language of the computer is a practical medium for our global leaders to convey a message effectively.

Remember, coding isn't just a Computer Science. It can inform a variety of other academic disciplines and can be a robust method for combining digital literacy, computational thinking, and the subject area of your choosing.

• Text-based RPG - combining elements of storytelling, composition, and interactivity, coding can be integrated into lessons on literature, social sciences, ELA, or even a flipped-classroom style of teaching a concept.

• Scratch/Scratch Jr.: A drag-and-drop interface makes this program accessible to the most beginning of coding learners. With animation, recordable sounds, Think of using it for jigsaw learning, a 21st-century diorama, or reporting on a topic.

• Code By Math, Tynker - develop code to solve math equations and create math-based art. Write code that can be as simple as solving addition or as complex as inputting variables in algebraic formulas. Craft programs that create spiral art or patterns in fractals.

In the age of technology inundation, wrestling for a child's attention is no easy task. Gamification is a way to increase engagement, enhance traditional educational tools, and bolster motivation.

This teaching and learning strategy can be a way for students to take greater ownership of the process for a particular outcome. With greater investment comes greater productivity and it can be channeled to study real-world problems, STEM domains, and civic activism.

• Minecraft EDU - on the surface, it may look like a heavily pixelated game where everyone is constantly building. But the variety of ways it can be applied in the classroom are endless. Students can demonstrate their own learning by building a representation of a math concept, a setting from a piece of literature or curate a virtual art gallery. Minecraft is an excellent vehicle for design thinking, teamwork, and collaboration.

• Classcraft - looking at numbers in a gradebook may be a great way to track student progress for the teacher but is it an engaging way for students to track their own progress? Classcraft is modeled like a fantasy role-playing game where experience points are earned through assignments and students can navigate curriculum at their own pace and of their own choosing. 'Boss battles' become a formative assessment where the full class cooperates in an encounter. 

• Video games for SEL - literature is often a static medium that only has the audience consuming the material passively through visual and/or audio means. What if literature was more interactive and allowed the audience to fully explore the environment the plot takes place in? So-called 'walking simulators' are far less about beating the final boss and more about having a narrative journey firsthand. It is within that narrative that students can discuss their feelings as they relate to the protagonist thrust into the middle of the story and contextual lessons can be integrated into the topics.

This week's theme is about the powerhouse of independent learning and self-driven lessons: hyperdocs.

While this kind of document can take some time and effort to set up, the value in the long run is incredibly rewarding and beneficial. Consider hyperdocs a living, digital interactive textbook that can be created and informed not just by teachers but by students as well.

The focus and purpose of hyperdocs is a careful curation of material in order to synthesize and reflect on information drawn from all over the Internet by providing an environment for student creation. Facts are so readily available online that learning must go beyond rote memorization and hone in on utilizing and interpreting information for collaborative, inquiry-based academics.

• How to Make a Hyperdoc - this is a deep tutorial that explains the primary features and functions of a standard hyperdoc. There are presentations within the lessons explaining the whys and hows of hyperdocs. Browse templates and practice with the formats included. How do hyperdocs strengthen 21st century skills for students and their academics?

• Examples: There There explores Native American history, including a Spotify playlist, podcasts, and a huge amount of contextual information outside of the novel itself. The Lemonade War is an extremely thorough breakdown of the book, chapter by chapter, with a wide variety of media and activities integrated. Hyperdoc-ception! This source is a hyperdoc full of hyperdocs! Have a look at a range of methods and formats used to create hyperdocs for many types of literature.

Google has great tools for a variety of needs: productivity, academics, and communication. 

How about some of the lesser-known (but equally useful) functions that may easily be overlooked in a sea awash with EdTech?

• A Google a Day - maybe the class is in need of a redirect or a brain break, perhaps you want to challenge them with a thinking puzzle. A Google a Day asks a question and it is up to the user how they navigate the Internet to find the answer. This feature is an excellent way to get students to hone their Google searching skills with real-world applications.

• Advanced Google Search - Google is great for finding anything from movie reviews to biographies on any notable figure throughout history but did you know the search tools can do so much more? For mathematics, the omnibox can solve algebra, geometry, and graph problems. Google Search Operators make a search incredibly specific using a wide span of custom terms. Country-Neutral Searching prevents search results from being influenced by the location of the device operating Google.

• Google Scholar - for academic research, many are quick to turn to Wikipedia as an easy source for information. However, Wikipedia's factual accuracy is not 100% reliable - it should be a starting point only to locate a bibliography. Google Scholar sources from all manner of journals and academic publications, so you know the sources are dependable. It even gives students the ability to curate their own library, so they can organize articles as they like.

This week's theme is about the next evolution of note-taking with graphic organizers.

It is already well-established that understanding and retention of concepts significantly improves with the use of visual tools, such as graphic organizers. They afford the opportunity to work across a spectrum of areas: Universally Designed Learning, Mind's Eye Strategy, Learning Disabilities and Dual Coding.

The next phase of arranging ideas and connecting them to one another is known as sketchnoting. It combines doodling, creativity, and personalization while retaining the idea of charting the flow of information and the relationship between one notion and another.

Start with the template of a particular graphic organizer you'd like to use, model an example of what you're expecting and then let the students harness that foundation to illustrate their own comprehension of data.

• Paper53 - a simple interface for both iPhone and iPad that provides a variety of brushes, pens, and effects to create outlines and diagrams. Use templates as structures to mimic those of graphic organizer styles. Organize your note-taking with a personalized set of journals.

• Tayasui Sketches - a bit more versatility than Paper53 that offers several more writing implements, patterns, and rulers. Go more in-depth with sketchnoting by adding layers and import your own photos for illustration. Separate notes with folders or books.

• Autodesk Sketchnote - One of the most advanced and detailed programs available for digital artistry. Predictive stroke autocorrects basic shapes and smooths line drawing. Choose from many rulers and guides to make precise lines and shapes. Scan hand-drawn notes or a non-digital graphic organizer to import into Sketchnote.

Assessments are important as a way to track progress, identify areas of need, and provide students with a medium for the satisfaction of their academic success. 

But what happens when you want to highlight 'soft skills' and achievements that may otherwise go unnoticed by a typical rubric? That's where micro-credentialing and digital badges can be quite beneficial. This kind of assessment promotes a more active form of learning called gamification.

Digital badges afford the opportunity for recognition of accomplishments that may involve a less structured skill or topic. They can be used as motivation and to encourage positive behaviors, such as leadership and collaboration. Micro-credentialing can be harnessed as an alternative or supplemental kind of assessment to a rubric and be utilized to set goals and track growth with evidence attached.

• Badgr - migrating from Mozilla Backpack, one of the organizations that started the digital badge movement, this service offers a wide variety of features like a visual roadmap of learning progress, a backpack to store and display badges attained and powerful analyzation tools for reporting on outcomes.

• Openbadges.me - micro-credentialing creation on this site offers a great deal of personalization and customization. Issuing is a snap with flexible options and commands. They can be exported for use in a digital portfolio or to display on a resume.

• ForAllRubrics - this platform combines traditional rubric generating with the badging system of modern EdTech. It can be integrated with LMS like Edmodo and Power School. Ease of use means conveniently attaching photos to badges that serve as artifacts of the particular achievement. 

This week's theme is about behaviors and practices that are an integral part of navigating the online landscape.

Digital Citizenship covers quite a few topics but some more than others cross subject lines that make them essential for both a student's academic and personal life. They include but are not limited to: cyberbullying, Internet privacy, social media image, and information literacy.

• Common Sense Media - this website goes above and beyond when it comes to educating on digital citizenship. There are scope and sequence materials, Digital Passport for gamification, family resources, and curriculum that spans the entire K-12 timeline.

• 30 Digital Citizen Resources - separated by topics such as plagiarism, digital footprints, and safe web searching, this is a detailed list of websites and tools that cover a spectrum of supporting good digital citizenship habits.

• NS Teens - if you need visual illustrations of the concepts mentioned above, look no further. This website has videos, games, and comics to provide anecdotes and information from actual teens on themes like online and offline behavior, respect, and privacy.

The benefits of collaborative learning are strongly supported by a variety of educational research. Students taking the role of teacher give them greater ownership over the information they are in charge of and they are found to work harder when the responsibility for learning is put in their hands. 

Collaborative learning also fosters a sense of community, where peers answer to each other and hold each other accountable for the collective knowledge that is acquired. Below are some resources to help facilitate group-based academics.

• ePals - if you're interested in international cooperation, this website gives you a range of search criteria to find a classroom in another part of the globe doing the same work you are. Search by age, subject, language spoken, and many more. This is an excellent way to build international-mindedness skills! 

• NoteApp - for real-time project-based learning, this website takes the digital sticky note to the next level. It's easy to use with drag and drop functions to upload an assortment of media and document files. It also has a built-in chat function so notes can be discussed with each other, even if students are not in the same classroom.

• Blogger - if you are familiar with the jigsaw method of learning, this is an excellent platform to have students create private blogs to invite their peers to. Each student can be in charge of a particular portion of a topic and maintain a dialogue with participants in order to maximize learning. 

This week's theme is all about taking concepts found everywhere in programming and transferring them to learning in the classroom and beyond.

Computational Thinking is a metacognitive process that involves the seven ideas outlined in the adjacent photo. By approaching learning in this fashion, techniques can be harnessed to activate deeper understanding. 

• CS Unplugged - this site targets the aspects of developing algorithms and decomposing problems by applying them outside of computer science in a wide variety of other subjects and lessons. Students can learn a range of computing ideas without ever touching a computer and reap academic success from the metacognitive benefits.

• Tinkercad - by building models and thinking abstractly, students are able to conceptualize objects that may not exist in the physical world and realize designs that have been created on paper or in their minds. Solidifying their abstraction techniques will help them to achieve higher order thinking skills.

• Poll Everywhere - practicing data collection and analyzation methods are crucial for engaging in research and for identifying patterns and trends. Data can either support or disprove a hypothesis and assist in making predictions. All valuable areas to be competent in for any future career.