EdTech Bites Podcast Ep. 220 | The Reading Resurgence: How Capstone and PebbleGo Are Taking Aim With Randi Economou and Laurie Diethelm
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In this episode, I sit down with Laurie Deithelm and Randi Economou. Laurie is the Senior VP of Product at Capstone and Randi is the CEO of Capstone. We discuss the latest updates that are coming to the PebbleGo platform. There are some great additions to immerse our K-2 students into the research world without them being bogged down by incorrect data or even going to the wrong site to get bogus information. But what happens when they enter the upper elementary grades and miss PebbleGo? Well, they're updating with PebbleGo Next, a research solution for 3rd-5th graders. This is a great episode with great guests. If you're ready to see where PebbleGo is heading Next, give it a listen. Buen provecho!
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Randi originally joined Capstone in 2010 as the Vice President of the West where she was instrumental in building our Go To Market strategy for seven years. In July 2022, Randi returned to Capstone as Chief Executive Officer. She is a seasoned executive with over 2 decades of leading and contributing to the vision and strategy within EdTech organizations within the US and internationally. Beginning her career as an educator and staying true to her passion for teaching and learning, Randi believes that education is key and has dedicated her career to advocating for life-long learning opportunities for all children. She has held a variety of leadership positions within TeachMaster Technologies, PLATO Learning, myON, and most recently, Renaissance. Randi has been successful in positioning organizations as market leaders through driving the business strategy, operations, and innovation, while focusing on growth and building and maintaining a positive culture. Randi holds an undergraduate degree in English and she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Master of Education from Grand Canyon University.
About Laurie DiethelmLaurie Diethelm has 20+ years of experience creating educational products ranging from software-as-a-service (SaaS) learning and development platforms to content-rich, multimedia learning experiences. Prior to joining the Capstone team, she worked with brands including For Dummies, Everything DiSC, Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, The Leadership Challenge, PXT Select, CrossKnowledge, and RMC Learning Solutions. She is a firm believer that the team is the most critical ingredient in the product development process—people from different perspectives and skill sets working together in creative tension will craft something much greater than any individual can create alone. Laurie is a graduate from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
Connect With Capstone and PebbleGo- Capstone Website: https://www.capstonepub.com
- Capstone On Twitter: https://x.com/CapstonePub
- Capstone On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capstonepub/
- Capstone On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapstonePub/
- Capstone On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/capstone-publishers/mycompany/
- PebbleGo Website: https://www.pebblego.com/
My first book "Cooking Up Experiences In The Classroom: Focus On Experiences, Not Just Lessons" is officially out! A HUGE shout out to Lumio for helping sponsor this book. I'm super excited about this project. It's filled with ideas on how to make memorable experiences for your students. In addition, each chapter also lays out a specific recipe mentioned in that chapter along with a video tutorial on how to prepare that dish. Make sure you get your copy and cook up some experiences for your students and loved ones!