Top Podcasts for New Instructional Designers

 

As a new, aspiring, or accidental instructional designer, you probably recognize the need to continue growing your skill set related to all things learning. The good news is that there’s no shortage of advice on this topic. Such advice typically centers are studying learning theories, instructional design models, and software. These are important things to learn about, and they’re essential parts of your growth as a newer instructional designer. 


At the same time, as a newbie or maybe the only person creating learning in your department, you might at times wonder what else you might be missing related to ID. Maybe you want to learn more about certain technologies, learn interesting ways to apply instructional design models, or just hear how colleagues are approaching their work. If so, that’s natural and makes complete sense. Even designers who have been at their craft for years express some of the same concerns.


If this sounds relatable, there’s one more facet of your personal learning plan that you don’t want to overlook: Podcasts!


Podcasts are valuable learning tools that can allow you to break out of your instructional design isolation and connect with others in a meaningful way. Many podcasters are experienced IDs who want to share their approaches and insights. A number of them will connect with their listeners and some have quite the community of followers that you might be able to connect with, either in the comments or on other platforms.


If you’ve never listened to an instructional design podcast, this post provides a quick primer on some places you might want to start. As an overview, you’ll find that most instructional design-related podcasts fall into one (or more) of the following categories: 


  • Dedicated to an aspect of our discipline

  • Mixed bag content, sharing viewpoints, insights, and topics of interest from a variety of instructional design professionals

  • For new Instructional Designers

  • For educators


Below, you’ll find some popular podcasts for each of those categories and a quick synopsis of what you can expect from each of them.



For New Instructional Designers


Podcast Name: I’m New Here

Host(s): Nyla Spooner

Episode Length: 10-15 mins

Podcast Description: Need help navigating the “career” part of being a NEW Instructional Designer or E-Learning Developer? I’m Nyla, a mid-career Instructional designer and I’ve created the podcast to help new instructional designers find their footing. Because doing it on your own can seem daunting at first.

Website: https://www.nylalxd.com/imnewhere

Platforms: Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify 



Podcast Name: Dear Instructional Designer

Host(s): Kristin Anthony

Episode Length: 15-40 minutes

Podcast Description: I'm an instructional design newbie looking to help other newbies like me. We hear from ID thought leaders in a variety of places. Their voices are important, but can still leave questions and frustrations. What is the life of an instructional designer really like? This show is going to delve into all of the mess and how we can deal with it.

Website:https://dearinstructionaldesigner.simplecast.com/

Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Simplecast





Mixed Content

Podcast Name: IDIODC (Instructional Designers in Offices Drinking Coffee)

Host(s): Brent Schlenker and Chris Van Wingerden

Episode Length: 30 minutes

Podcast Description: Each Wednesday at 10AM ET our hosts and Instructional Designers, Brent Schlenker and Chris Van Wingerden along with industry experts, host a 30 minute live interactive videocast. Each episode is recorded and made available as a podcast and video.

Website: https://www.dominknow.com/idiodc

Platforms: Podcast - Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify | Videocast: YouTube


Podcast Name: Instructional Redesign Podcast

Host(s): Cara North and Joseph Suarez

Episode Length: 15-30 minutes

Podcast Description: Hosts Cara North and Joseph Suarez discuss the design of modern learning experiences and occasionally interview guests. Topics include: Instructional design, eLearning development, games, higher education, corporate training, etc.

Website: http://instructionalredesign.com/

Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts




Podcast Name: The Lounge Podcast

Host(s): Jacqueline Hutchinson

Episode Length: 40-60 min

Podcast Description: Elevating corporate learning and educational technologies. This podcast is my passion project. I hope that you, the instructional designer, learning developer, trainer, teacher, mentor, team lead, supervisor, manager and director – I hope you join me to discuss L&D today, the tools, the tech, the philosophies… We’ll be talking about corporate learning, organizational development, employee performance and, the topic I’m most excited about, the learning technologies that can accompany you and your staff through your days! 

Website: https://www.theloungepodcast.com/

Platforms: Google Podcasts, Spotify


Podcast Name: TLDCast Podcast

Episode Length: 30-60 minutes

Podcast Description: This podcast is the audio-only version of TLDCast, a live streamed broadcast for instructional designers, learning experience designers, educational technologists, or anyone involved in workplace learning. Some of the audio content is edited for brevity.

Website: www.TLDC.us

Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify







Dedicated to an Aspect of Our Discipline


Podcast Name: The Virtual Instructor Podcast

Host(s): Timothy M. Stafford PhD

Episode Length: 15-60 minutes

Podcast Description: Whether you are a college professor, corporate trainer, K12 instructor, or HR professional, digital education, remote work and eLearning are affecting you. Join virtual learning scholar & design expert, Dr. Timothy M. Stafford, Program Director for the MS program in Instructional Design and Technology at St. Thomas University as he tackles some of the issues with designing facilitating and assessing instruction in digital spaces, along with some special "rockstar” guests along the way.

Website: http://thevirtualinstructorpodcast.com/

Platforms: Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Stitcher


Podcast Name: E-Learning Scenario Design Podcast

Host(s): Anna Sabramowicz

Episode Length: 15-40 minutes

Podcast Description: Storytelling and scenarios are my passion. I share practical strategies on how to design your own engagement rich interactive experiences, work with subject matter experts, apply psychology to optimize learning, give raw feedback and spunky advice, all this to help make your efforts at designing learning that makes a difference a reality. I'm Anna Sabramowicz and this is the Elearning Scenario Design Podcast!

Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify





For Educators


Podcast Name: Instruction By Design

Host(s): Jinnette Senecal, Celia Coochwytewa, and Aaron Kraft

Episode Length:

Podcast Description: Instruction By Design, your podcast to the art of teaching, is a conversation between the instructional designers from Arizona State University's Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Jinnette Senecal, Celia Coochwytewa, and Aaron Kraft) about various topics on course design, pedagogy, and educational technology. Our goal for the podcast is to explore ideas for new practices and tools for implementation in your courses.

Website

Platforms: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud




Do you know of a podcast that should be included in this list? Let us know in the comments below! And as always, if you know someone who would benefit from this article, please feel free to share.

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