Apply to host a guest episode on The Edtech Podcast

Hello! I hope you have had a wonderful summer. I’m back in the swing of things with two major series kicking off from the 6th August, bringing hours of international education innovation to your ears over the next 15 weeks. Are you subscribed yet? If not, you can jump on that here and join thousands of others.
This post is all about The Edtech Podcast opening up to carefully selected guest episodes from December 2017. More information on how you can submit a guest episode for review follows below. Why not check it out and share with anyone you think could put together a truly interesting episode. Of course, read the fine print or shortcut to our application process here!
Process for Submitting a Guest Episode for The Edtech Podcast
The Edtech Podcast goes out weekly to ‘improve the dialogue between ‘ed’ and ‘tech’ for better innovation. The usual format of the show is a 30 minute to 1hour interview with international educators, innovators, investors or Government figures who are in some way addressing the improvement of teaching and learning. Other formats have included LIVE discussions, and roundtables. The podcast is downloaded 1500+ times each week, from a mixture of listeners from up to 109 countries. The UK, US and Australia are the top three listener countries.
The Edtech Podcast is now open to high-quality guest submissions which address our mission ‘to improve the dialogue between ‘ed’ and ‘tech’ for better innovation’. These will run alongside our own episodes, and will be scheduled from December 2017 (with reviews of applicants starting now). Our ethos is always to address the entire eco-system, to be global in outlook, and to be independent. By opening up to guest episodes, we hope to broaden the discussion and voices involved. Our criteria will be strict, in order to maintain a high-quality discussion and we encourage you to review the requirements below. We are excited to see what guest episodes are out there!
Process
Initially, we will ask you to fill out a short form to provide a description of the episode you have in mind. The details of this form will be akin to your name, your contact details, your place of work; the episode title you have in mind, who it is aimed at, what format you suggest, how long it might be, the main topics it addresses and who you suggest as contributors on the episode. It is very clear that you outline whether this session overtly relates to a particular technology or promotion. If this is the case, the episode will be published clearly as a ‘takeover’ and will have a promotional fee attached with particular benefits. We will also ask you how you propose to record the episode (see technical requirements), and if there are any dates you cannot work to. Upon review of your suggested episode, we will contact you to say whether the proposal has been successful or not. We will suggest an allocated week for your transmission date and a deadline for you to submit the episode. Please do not miss this deadline as you will be potentially stopping others from airing their guest episodes. If your episode has been identified as a ‘takeover’ we will contact you with the next steps directly.
Tech Specifications
Content is the first priority and we ask you to really consider what it is you are trying to tackle in the episode. From a technical standpoint, we request that any guest episodes are recorded with a microphone. Recordings from smartphones are OK, but we would recommend you use an additional plug-in microphone, like the RODE smartLAV+. Please edit your episode for umms and ahs, and add any music or narrative, before sending in. You can use free editing platforms like Garage Band or Audacity to edit. We then ask that you compress > export as a WAV file and send to us at theedtechpodcast@gmail.com through a file sharing service like WeTransfer or DropBox. We will then check final levels and convert to an MP3, before uploading to our publishing platform.
Turn Around Time
The Edtech Podcast will endeavour to respond to your initial submission within two weeks. Upon being successful and submitting an episode file, The Edtech Podcast will then get back to you within another two weeks. Please note: if the content or the audio of a submitted project is not deemed to be high-quality enough The Edtech Podcast reserves the right to make objective suggestions or to reject.
Tone
Podcasts lend themselves to informal, informed chat. Imaging you’re in the pub or your friend’s house and freely expounding your thoughts. Feel free to share irreverence, fruity language (where natural), and other titbits. On the other hand try to steer clear of the many podcasts which lean on ‘banter’ whilst missing out what’s interesting. Choose your own style! But don’t feel restrained by formal speaking. Podcasts are the place to have fun.
Episode suggestions
The Edtech Podcast is particularly interested in episodes which cover:
- Mental healthcare and wellbeing in education
- Women in Edtech
- Maths and edtech
- Global Edtech
What you agree to:
Commissioned guest episodes will be top and tailed with adverts, as per our usual shows. We will also add intros and outros, including links to events or other sector news. You agree to these additions by taking part in commissioned guest episodes (excluding ‘takeovers’ which have a unique set up). The Edtech Podcast also has final determination on which content is approved and when it is scheduled. We take no responsibility for the impact of what you have agreed to publish, so be mindful! The Edtech Podcast retains the rights to share the content, but you will also receive full links and sharing rights for published episodes.
Other ways to get involved:
If you are interested in being involved, but submitting a guest episode is much too much, much too soon then consider the following:
· Send in your thoughts on a past episode via a quick voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/theedtechpodcast
· Send in your thoughts via twitter @podcastedtech
· Join our Facebook page
· Submit an episode as a group, so it’s not as scary!