Heather Combs is the CEO of StraighterLine, a platform that provides affordable access to college credit through online courses. Heather joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the disruption we've witnessed to traditional models of higher education in recent years and the role StraighterLine is playing in this transformation.Heather begins by describing her background in business transformation and software development that provides sharp perspective into developing online products that tap into new and emerging markets. We explore how for many learners the traditional models of the academic schedule and synchronous classes just don't make sense. We discuss how credentialing and skills-based learning are providing opportunities to move quickly and work with industry to keep pace with the accelerated rate of change. Heather shares her thoughts on the transferability of learning credentials and the need for better solutions for learning records similar to what is happening with medical records. It's an insightful dive into transformations actively occurring in higher education. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Joel Kupperstein is the Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Learning A to Z. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about teaching, writing, and emerging tools like Chat GPT and generative AI.Joel shares his roots as a teacher from a family of teachers who began in the classroom in Los Angeles before moving to Product Strategy on the commercial side at leading EdTech companies like Learning A To Z. We explore how the design of assignments and assessments will need to evolve as large language models empower teachers and students to become more efficient and creative with their learning endeavors. Joel shares his advice to teachers and other learning professionals as we reflect on the awakenings in recent years and how they relate to new AI tools like Chat GPT. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more sharp takes on the future of learning.

Kyle Li is an interaction and learning designer based in New York City where he's an Assistant Professor of Design Technology at Parsons School of Design. He joins host Mike Palmer to discuss his experiences working with students exploring design and emerging technology.Kyle shares how he is fulfilling his mission to bridge the gap between higher education and emerging tech by working on projects like the partnership Parsons has formed with Roblox, the gaming platform used by millions of kids. He shares his advice for learning professionals who are trying to motivate rising talent while staying relevant in transformational times. Don't miss this deep dive into the intersection between emerging platforms, user-generated content, user-centered design, and the future of education.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more sharp takes on what's emerging in the world of learning.

Host Mike Palmer is joined live at SXSW EDU by Dr. Tolonda Tolbert, Elliot Felix, Dr. Robin Naughton, and a live audience as we reveal our Learning Trends March Madness Brackets for 2023. We meet Tolonda, Elliot, and Robin briefly as Mike welcomes, family and friends into the conversation. He shares the show's history with March Madness and our previous junkets to Austin to record episodes at SXSW EDU.From there, we hear from each of the panelists as they introduce their four trends for the brackets ranging from Tolonda's experience as a Co-Founder of Eskalera, Elliot's perspectives from consulting and writing How to Get the Most Out of College, and Robin's takes on libraries and emerging technology as a Web and Digital Services Librarian at Queens College. It's an eclectic assortment of new ideas worth tracking in the world of learning that you don't want to miss!We conclude with audience questions and answers from the panelists in a free-flowing conversation about what's bubbling up in the learning zeitgeist in the Spring of 2023. We hope you enjoy.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com all March to track our brackets, vote on matchups, and more as we gear up to name a winning trend at the end of the tournament.

To celebrate the kickoff of our Learning Trends March Madness Brackets, host Mike Palmer introduces Nancy his Virtual CoHost who runs through a ChatGPT-powered simulation of our Learning Trends Tournament for 2023. But fear not, we're just getting started. All of this coincides with our live panel at SXSW EDU in Austin that kicks off the podcast stage. Then as a special bonus we share a conversation Mike had with SXSW EDU Founder Ron Reed and its Senior Director Greg Rosenbaum during our first visit at the conference back in 2019. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com and follow us @TrendinginEd on Twitter all month as we launch polls to let you help decide which trends survive and advance in pursuit of the coveted number 1 spot in our Learning Trends Winner for 2023. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts for more sharp takes on what's emerging in the world of learning.

Dr. Robin Naughton is an Assistant Professor and Web and Digital Services Librarian at Queens College in New York. She specializes in Human-Computer Interaction and User-Centered Research with a focus on mental models of libraries and library websites. She joins her husband, our host, Mike Palmer, in a conversation to set the stage for their live panel at SXSW EDU with Dr. Tolonda Tolbert and Elliot Felix on Monday, March 6th at 11:30am in Austin. If you're at SXSW on Monday, we'd love to see you. If you can't make it, don't worry, we'll be sharing the panel as an upcoming episode soon.Robin shares her takes on what's emerging in learning based on her experiences as a Librarian and as an Educator as we gear up for our trip to SXSW with our 4-year-old son. We talk about Chat GPT and Generative AI and even check in with Nancy our Virtual Cohost as we begin to shape up our March Madness brackets which will be revealed as part of the panel. We also touch on Elliot's book and Tolonda's company as we get ready to explore the learning zeitgeist at SXSW and through our March Madness Tournament. We also talk durable skills and the role of parents in the learning journey as we reflect on the future of education as the parents of a young son who will be there with us for the trip.It's a wide-ranging and personal conversation that should get you amped up for SXSW and our March Madness of Learning Trends. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more sharp takes on the future of learning.

Osnat Benari is a product and leadership coach for companies and professionals. She has over 20 years of product management experience working for companies like Diligent, Verizon Media, WeWork, and BBG Ventures. She has been named one of the top product-led growth influencers. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about her book, Starting From Scratch: Managing Change Like Your Career Depends on It.In a free-flowing conversation, Osnat walks us through the steps outlined in the book beginning with adopting a learning mindset. Then we learn how resilience and letting go are so critical for success in disruptive times. From there, she shares stories of how she’s navigated through downsizing, layoffs, and reorgs in her career. We talk about using our instincts and sensing when change is coming to allow us to assert our agency to pursue a professional roadmap for ourselves. We even touch on quiet quitting. If you're interested in how product thinking and agile practices can be applied to your career growth in challenging times, don't miss it.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more sharp perspectives on the world of learning.

Jonny Coreson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Everprep, a platform designed for professionals who want to share their expertise with learners seeking to pass exams to earn credentials. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the “Long Tail” of Test Prep and how he’s building a SaaS solution to empower both providers and preppers alike to achieve their goals and dreams.We hear Jonny’s “origin story” which begins in the Navy where he built a successful prep product with Bluejacketeer to prepare sailors for the Navy-Wide Advancement Exam. This was born of he and his Co-Founder’s experiences helping Navy Corpsman and showed the power of designing by sailors for sailors. After selling Bluejacketeer to Kaplan, he’s now founded Everprep to extend the idea to all kinds of test-based credentials and certifications. We talk about the power of ChatGPT and generative AI in test prep content generation and muse a bit about the power of learning science and the future of assessment and more in a free-flowing conversation you don’t want to miss.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more sharp takes on the future of education.

Don Carson is the Sr. Art Director at Mighty Coconut where he creates attractions to be experienced in VR for games like Walkabout Mini Golf and beyond. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about his experiences with placemaking in virtual reality and how those insights might relate to learning.After Don was trained as a commercial illustrator, his work branched out to focus on the design of physical and virtual spaces. Working as a Senior Show Designer, and freelance contributor to Walt Disney Imagineering, Don learned to communicate design through conceptual sketches and 3D models. This work has expanded to include everything from designing entire lands for the Disney parks to guiding teams of designers as they build 3D environments in virtual worlds and 3D games.We learn what it’s like to do what Don does while thinking through what this could mean for education. It’s a mind-expanding exploration of emerging experiences and how they’re designed. Don’t miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Dr. Philippa Hardman uses learning science to help people design better learning experiences. She is the creator of the DOMS™️ learning design engine, a Cambridge University Scholar as well as a Host, Author and Advisor. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how organizational leaders, learning designers, and anyone creating learning products can use Chat GPT and other generative AI tools to become more productive in their endeavors.We learn how Philippa got involved in academia before working in leadership roles in a number of edTech companies prior to founding her consultancy. She explains how she's been experimenting with generative AI and what she's learned so far with it. We wax dystopian for a moment to contemplate how new tools like Chat GPT will enable a lot more substandard content to be generated quickly and cheaply and why that presents challenges to all of us to up our games. It's a thought-provoking conversation with an expert in learning science and AI that you won't want to miss.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more cutting-edge content.