Podcasts and HPI

     Our task this week was to find and report on an educational podcast. I was surprised to enjoy this assignment because I am a "music in the car" kind of girl - but - I really enjoyed listening to several episodes of BAM radio network's "K-12 greatest hits: the best ideas in education." I found it by searching for "education" under podcasts on iTunes. You can search by the title to find it specifically. It is a great collection of topics and each episode is under 15 minutes. Some of the topics covered in the episodes I heard included: leadership, finance, behavior, early childhood, and personal teacher development such as decision fatigue, professionalism. I could actually see myself continuing as a subscriber and listening on a weekly basis.
     I'm not sure how I would use podcasting in my job. I do think, much along the lines of some of the other technologies we have explored, I could use a podcast as a way to link up with other music therapists and share sessions. Because my field is an auditory one, I could envision using the technology to record and broadcast a set of sessions with a particular goal, for example: working with a specific speech and language goal using music. Maybe by connecting with other therapists we could record a session and then a discussion of the technique and the results. It would be interesting to try.

Human Performance Improvement
      Part two of our assignment is exciting to me. Hopefully I can avoid my soapbox here, but this is something needed in education in my opinion, and I think it's coming (or is here already) anyway. Education feels more like a business environment all the time and because we are a public entity, the public wants to get the most bang for their buck. I did not realize such a field as HPI actually existed but I welcome it. Our organization is currently under review by the Future's Group. This is consulting group made up of past education professionals that comes into your organization and reviews it from the top down. They take tours, visit programs, interview staff, and make cost cutting and efficiency recommendations. It has been a stressful season to say the least, mostly because people naturally expect the worst and we already feel we are as cost effective as we can possibly be. I have been all over people trying to encourage them to promote  themselves and what they do; and to look at this as an opportunity to show what creative programs we do have. To me, the idea of human capitol is what we need to be emphasizing here. We can no longer say that everything is fine and what we do still works. I say if there is a more cost effective way let's find it before someone else does!  Of course one key to it working well is for administration and employees to be able to work together. This seems to be very difficult in the education realm. I have been union president for the last 2 years, a role I will not continue, and I believe major changes on both sides need to occur to truly take public education to a better place. HPI could be a way to keep public education alive and kicking but it requires a change in thinking on both sides of the aisle. I think it's worth exploring and pursuing.