Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Mike dives into a recent report published by Udemy, the global learning platform, on the trends they're seeing around usage of skills training programs on their platform. The report provided by Udemy Business is designed for learning leaders, strategic HR professionals, and individuals looking for perspective on which skills are most critical to pursue and how organizations and individuals can get strategic about designing career paths and retention strategies leveraging learning as a benefit. We also reference reports from McKinsey along with an HBR article on email management in case you want to dive deeper.We begin with a deep dive into power skills as a better name for what has traditionally been called soft skills. We learn which power skills are surging on the platform and how these trends relate to the Great Resignation and related trends around personal development, leadership, and communication. Power skills form the foundation of effective cultures and learning organizations. Once understood, other emerging competencies can be layered into organizations and individuals to better prepare for a rapidly changing world of work.Then we get into the digital marketing, product management, project management, finance/accounting, and UX/UI skills that are popping based on usage on Udemy's platform. We conclude with an exploration of the more technical skills in cloud computing, cybersecurity, data science, and software development in a broad survey of recent trends in skill development. It's a thought provoking exploration of strategic skill development and the future of work that you won't want to miss.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Be on the lookout for our new dedicated TiE feed on the Future of Work which will be launching shortly. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more details on this and much more.Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash

Dr. Rovy Branon is the Vice Provost at Continuum College at the University of Washington. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about reaching and teaching adult learners across the fullspan of their lives.We begin by hearing Rovy’s “origin story” starting as a student who was advised that he wasn’t cut out for college and then proceeding through a series of engagements in formal education across his professional life culminating in a career in educational technology focused on extending access to adult learners in ways that fit into their lives. Along the way, he played drums in a heavy metal band and came around to lifelong learning with the birth of his son.We talk through two books connected to the idea of the 60-year curriculum: The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in the Age of Longevity and Learning at the Back Door: Reflections on Non-Traditional Learning in the Lifespan as we begin to flesh out a vision for continued education and upskilling across an increasingly long work life. Rovy shares his perspectives on emerging technical skills like DAOs, crypto, and web3 before diving into the role that private enterprise and big tech are playing in the certificate and skills-based pathways that are growing in relevance and popularity at Continuum College and across continuing education institutions more broadly.It’s a wide-ranging and visionary look at the future of adult education that 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 learning.

We keep it brief but check in to reflect on the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas as well as some dire forecasts from the UN. Mike explains why this episode was hard to pull together in light of the challenging news of the day. To soothe the soul, we share a few ditties from Mike's son, Matthew, as we recharge and gear up and get ready heading into the Summer of 2022.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more insightful perspectives on the future of education.

Arjun Moorthy is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Factual, a subscription-based, ad-free news app that aggregates and curates the news based on its credibility. He joins host Mike Palmer to talk about the importance of media literacy and critical thinking in a world with increasing partisanship and misinformation.We hear Arjun's origin story which began as a paperboy in Canada before being educated as an engineer, working at Hubspot in its startup phase, and ultimately founding The Factual with Ajoy Sojan in 2016. We hear how he and team have navigated the years since launch and how the app has evolved over time. We learn how The Factual assesses the credibility of articles collected from over 2000 different news sites, giving each a rating between 1-100 to help the reader understand the quality of the information.Arjun shares his perspectives on the challenges we face with the filter bubbles we experience today, especially through social media and how he and team are making design choices to address them. He also shares his thoughts on how this all relates to learning and educational discourse in a thought-provoking conversation you don't want to miss.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more insightful takes on what's new and emerging in learning and beyond.

Kathleen deLaski is the Founder and CEO of Education Design Lab, a non-profit innovation engine focused on helping the new learner majority find pathways to good jobs and meaningful work in transformational times. Kathleen joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the importance of skills visibility to access and equity building off of the Lab’s recent white paper on the topic.We learn of Kathleen’s varied experiences in journalism, philanthropy, and education that have culminated with her work at the lab. We explore how learners are also earners with numerous responsibilities and how that should inform how we build learning pathways that fit into their lives.Kathleen shares innovation stories of Community Colleges testing into new models that partner with the local community and the private sector to open up new possibilities for skill development and career pathways. Don’t miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for a more informed perspective on the future of work.

What’s the right way to bring digital technology and touch into the classroom? Matt Cole from Promethean joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the work they’ve been doing with educators and school districts to give the classroom more of the active engagement tools smart tablets provide in large form at the front of the classroom.We hear how Matt got to where he is in his career while learning how Promethean navigated the complexities of the pandemic and how this has evolved the thinking about how these tools can interact with new hybrid delivery models. We also get his thoughts on emerging technologies like AR/VR and other emerging technology. It’s a free-flowing conversation about blending digital into the classrooms of tomorrow. Don’t miss it.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Jane Oates is the President of Working Nation, a non-profit media entity focused on showcasing innovative approaches to career pathways that bridge from education into meaningful work. Jane joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the skills revolution and its connections to higher ed, the workforce, and new, emerging models for career development.We begin by hearing Jane's origin story, beginning as a special ed teacher before moving into educational research at Temple University. From there, she joined Senator Edward Kennedy to help write legislation, worked in John Corzine's administration in New Jersey, and served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor under President Obama, in an impressive career culminating in her current role leading Working Nation.Then we explore recent trends in workforce education, post-secondary pathways, and the critical connection between learning and the future of work. Jane shares her perspectives on what's emerging in the world of skills-based education, income share agreements, and other new models for educational pathways and provides advice to all of us charting our career trajectories in disruptive times.It's an informed deep-dive into the world of workforce development and training with a genuine thought leader in the field. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Marjorie Cass is the Founder and CEO of ALEE, an EdTech Startup that provides educators with tools and resources to teach literacy using whole books featuring classic works of literature. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about her journey beginning as an educator, rising through the ranks as a literacy coach and administrator before deciding to go to business school at MIT where ALEE began to germinate.From there, we learn what it's been like launching eight months ago while expanding on the significance and complexity of our growing literacy challenge in the US education system. Marjorie explains how she is designing ALEE to provide teachers with what they need to provide scaffolding and support to the essential relationship between a teacher, a student, and a great book.We touch on the challenges of teaching in difficult times and the fear teachers are experiencing when dealing with important but difficult works of literature to teach reading these days. We explore how best to use technology to power the solution without losing sight of the central role of the teacher in the literacy equation. Marjorie shares the higher-level skills and thinking associated with the whole book as opposed to excerpts or synthetic passages that are increasingly used in literacy education.It's a thought-provoking exploration of entrepreneurship, literacy, and the power of teaching through great books. Don't miss it!Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Tony Wan is the Head of Investor Content for Reach Capital. He rejoins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the recent ASU GSV conference in San Diego, the edTech and Education Conference scene in 2022, and his latest thoughts on Web 3 and emerging trends in the edTech venture space.We begin the Tony’s takes on ASU GSV as summarized in his recent article. Then we consider the return on investment of attending conferences as we look at the latest version of the tracking doc Tony started when he was at EdSurge.We conclude with his perspectives on emerging trends in Web 3, EdTech investment, and the future of learning in a wide-ranging and insightful conversation you don’t want to miss. Check out Tony’s Reach Capital colleague Joymayra’s recent article on Web 3 here.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your pods. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more incisive looks at the future of learning.

Larry Cuban is Professor Emeritus in Education at Stanford University. He recently wrote Confessions of a School Reformer, an educational history and personal memoir of his life that begins with his childhood in school in Pittsburgh, then proceeds through his years as a teacher and school administrator, and concludes with his thoughts on the present day.Larry joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about his 87 years of experience with education beginning in the Progressive Era, proceeding through the Civil Rights Movement, and concluding in the present day where the Standards-Based Reform movement continues to predominate. Larry provides advice to educators, administrators and school reformers, reminding us that change tends to come slowly in schools since generally speaking they are conservative institutions. Larry encourages us to focus on the direct impact of educators on students in the classroom and to understand the history of school reform and educational policy to help navigate the challenges and complexities of the current educational landscape.It's a wise and informed conversation about how change happens in schools in the US that you won't want to miss.Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more deep thinkers' takes on the future of education.