Listen and learn

I’ve always marvelled at how prolific some bloggers are. I’ve got the ideas but always spend ages trying to refine the post. So inspired by @AdrianCamm’s keynote from DLTV, I will not hide behind excuses anymore. I’ve set myself a mini challenge that is inspired by the amazing work that @ChrisBetcher does. He set himself a challenge to create something new every day and blog about it. My Daily Create is a fantastic example of getting better at something by continually applying yourself, reviewing and learning. My challenge is to write a new blog post every week for two months. This is my second week in and I’m two for two.I figured I would start with the greatest excuse that all learners throw up when quizzed about why they couldn’t do or complete something…”I don’t have time”. I have a new job, a three year old and a 6 week old so if I can rise to the challenge then so can you. This is an example of how I am trying to be smarter with my time.

I travel on average about 30-45 minutes twice a day to work via car. For me this is podcast time. EdTech Crew, RU Connected, TechEducator podcast and a myriad of others are my usual go to for inspired audio learning. I churn through podcasts each week and there are times when the podcast well is dry. To combat this, I have been using a few apps in combination with Bluetooth to continue the audio learning.

There are so many blog posts and articles that I curate from the web that I never get around to read. I curate them into Flipboard and Scoop.it and share them on Twitter but a large amount just slip on past me never to be seen or read again. I have started to use Pocket a lot more recently and used it in combination with Lisgo. By saving a post or article to Pocket, I can go to Lisgo and listen to the post or article being read out. I have also set up a bookmarklet for my iPad to easily save to Pocket and I have found that I am getting through so much reading as a result.  Both Pocket and Lisgo are available for free from the App store. There is a limit to the amount of articles that you can read per day so I have upgraded to Lisgo Plus which does cost $10.99. I know it is a little steep but I think it’s worth the spend.

Pocket has the web covered but it doesn’t read PDFs or Word documents. After a little research I came across Capti Narrator. Capti Narrator reads any type of content and syncs with Google Drive and Dropbox. This has changed my world.  I can now listen to anything from the latest Horizon report to a student’s typed essay. Presently I am listening to the Blended Synchronous Learning Handbook.  Capti Narrator costs $6.49 from the App store but is worth it if you are finding your reading hard to stay on top of.  Currently I am experimenting with an app called Talkler to help me keep on top of my emails. After popping in my Gmail, Exchange and Hotmail details in, I can catch up with all the email that comes my way in a much easier to digest format. How do you fold time to work for you?