In pyjama pants and dress shirt, I attended the second-ever Australian Educational Podcasting Conference (#AusEdPodCon) this week. I stumbled upon its existence, I think through Twitter but was happy to find it run by Swinburne University and specifically focused on podcasting educational and informative content. That’s ma jam.
It ran across two days with a mixed bag of events from live podcast recordings to workshops to panel discussions and presentations. As the title suggests, the focus was on podcasting as an educational tool, both accompanying formal learning and communicating educational resources to the wider public.
That first session I wandered into was ‘Listening with the heart’ and possibly I was there because Brittany Jorgensen was on the line-up. There were other familiar faces such as Inger Mewburn and Jason Downs of On The Reg fame (a must listen for anyone in academia really) and Narelle Lemon also of the Whisper Collective was one of the organisers. A stellar line-up of people pulling the conference together.
I’ve since watched concurrent sessions I missed on the day – one of the joys of online conferences, you can see everything if you make the time. Also did a workshop on Storytelling with Adobe Audition and learned a few new shortcuts and tricks on what is still my preferred editing software.
The conference also sparked reflections on my own experiences with educational podcasting. The Cities After Dark, series was originally conceived to accompany a university course, as was The Masterclass by Louisa Lim (highly recommend). Both examples of how podcasts can extend beyond the classroom, reaching broader audiences while still maintaining core educational value.
AusEdPodCon demonstrated the growing interest in educational podcasting, it also revealed that this field is still in its early stages, particularly in Australia. The conference showcased a mix of amateur and professional approaches, indicating a vibrant but developing space.
Will definitely attend again and made me think how much I would love an academics podcasting conference primarily focused on research so maybe instead of waiting for someone to throw it I should put my event management skills to work and organise the conference I want to attend. Let me know if you’re keen.