Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Michael Spencer is the CEO of Global Expansion Strategies, a firm that specializes in helping EdTech companies scale through broad adoption in international schools. Michael joins Mike Palmer to talk through his experiences in the field of international educational technology. Michael highlights the changes that have taken place since the pandemic including a seismic shift from predominantly print curricula to majority online curricula of late. This is especially true with International English Language programs which are among the primary drivers of global EdTech. We also discuss how leading English language learning (ELL) companies that used to aim to deliver solutions across all four components of reading, writing, speaking, and listening whereas are now facing increased specialization within each component with many schools exploring the benefits of opting for different solutions for each of the four ELL skill domains.We conclude with Michael's perspectives on artificial intelligence and the emerging trend of K12 and post-secondary programs focusing on disruptive skills like data science, the blockchain and beyond. It's a conversation at the intersection of academics and economics that you won't want to miss.If you like what you're hearing subscribe and spread the word. Visit us at TrendinginEducation.com

Small ways to improve online teaching and learning, and a discussion on how to get learners' attention in your courses with Flower Darby and James Lang.James M. Lang writes about higher education, literature, and travel. He is a Professor of English and Director of the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University. This episode also discusses his books Distracted, Small Teaching, and Small Teaching Online.Flower Darby is the Director of Teaching for Student Success at Northern Arizona University, where she's taught English, Educational Technology, Leadership, Dance, and Pilates. Flower teaches face-to-face, blended and online classes and speaks, writes, presents, and consults on teaching and learning theory. She's the author, with James M. Lang, of Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes (2019).James and Flower Join Mike Palmer and special guest host Dawn DiPeri to talk about how to improve instructor practice in higher ed and design learning experiences that keep learners attention. Our guests offer lots of great tips you won't want to miss!If you like what you’re hearing, follow us at TrendinginEducation.com and wherever you get your podcasts!

Mike welcomes Dan Carroll, the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Clever, which helps K-12 school districts, educators, and students navigate some of the complexities of the digital world. They begin by discussing Dan’s early career teaching for Teach for America, and then his move into educational technology administration. Frustrated by the speed he could launch new initiatives, with some friends he founded Clever to help teachers and students gain access to edtech easily and scalably.  Dan and Mike discuss Clever’s early days, and the “chicken and egg” problem of getting both schools and edtech companies initially to sign up. By charging only the vendors, they grew fast and now have nearly ½ of all American K-12 students signing on through Clever. They explore Clever’s dedication to security and privacy and following laws like COPPA and FERPA. They then discuss how Clever can help with the digital divide, including a compelling case of helping the Oakland school district provide its students with educational access during COVID-19. Dan tells Mike more about initiatives to help teachers during the pandemic, and how the Clever “Library” gives teachers and students access to a myriad of free resources, including the most popular, GoNoodle.Dan and Mike finish up discussing the importance of curiosity for learning, and their hopes that schools hold onto the best of the innovation that happened under COVID.  Find Dan at clever.com and on twitter @clever and @bytingtheappleFind Mike at @TrendingInEd and at mike@palmer.mediaIf you like what you’re hearing, follow us at TrendinginEducation.com and wherever you get your podcasts!

Mike welcomes Dr. Leo Casey, the Executive Director of the Albert Shanker Institute who has written a book called The Teacher Insurgency: A Strategic and Organizing Perspective. They begin with Leo’s upbringing by two New York City teachers, how he abandoned his dissertation to teach in Crown Heights, and how he began working with the union when his school shut down.Leo then began to head the Albert Shanker Institute, a strategic think tank within the American Federation of Teachers which examines labor history, especially for teachers. Leo explains the origins of the 2018 and 2019 teacher strikes: the Janus case, post-2008 austerity, deprofessionalization, and movements like the Women's March on Washington. Teacher’s saw both their compensation as well as their position in the classroom undergoing rapid decline.The first teacher’s strikes were held in West Virginia, which had a history labor movement--both within education and beyond.  From here the strikes spread, and ultimately the movement was successful in protecting teachers during COVID-19 times (in this context, MIke briefly mentions Leo’s article on Black Lives Matter and the NBA.)  Leo notes his concern about both the early retirement of teachers and the paucity in the pipeline for new teachers.  Leo also expresses optimism for the Biden-Harris administration, notably President Biden’s support of unions.  Leo finishes up discussing the discourses around how teachers see themselves, and the need for true civics teaching.If you like what you're hearing, tell a friend and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEducation.com

Mark Davis has a 20-year track record of roles of increasing responsibility in the Education field. He left Education soon after the 2016 Election to start a Cannabis company named Mozen. After a four-year run, he sold the company and now is returning to a General Management position in Education.In this 4/20 Special Edition of Trending in Education, Mark joins Mike Palmer to tell the story of his journey as a pot entrepreneur and the lessons he learned along the way. There's much to be learned from adjacencies when trying to innovate in education, so open your ears and open your minds to this fun and informative conversation.If you like what you're hearing, tell a friend, spread the word, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And check us out at TrendinginEducation.com.

Dr. Jonathan Friedman is the Director of Free Expression and Education at PEN America. He joins Mike Palmer on this episode to talk about emerging trends in K12 and Higher Ed in the US relating to Free Speech and Free Expression. You can learn more about what Jonathan and PEN are doing at pen.orgAfter hearing Jonathan’s “origin story,” we quickly dive into the case of BL vs Mahanoy School District which is soon to go before the Supreme Court. Are a student’s snaps on Snapchat grounds for disciplinary action? Where do we draw the line around free expression among K12 students and how does their affiliation with the school impact the case?From there we touch on emerging topics in higher education and in limitations on what can be taught in K12 before getting Jonathan’s thoughts on the importance of understanding the history of free speech in the US prior to the 20th Century in an informative and thought-provoking conversation that’s certainly worth a listen.If you like what you’re hearing subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit us at TrendinginEducation.com

Dr. Steve Joordens returns to join Mike Palmer in a conversation about the connections between growth mindset and feedback. If growth mindset is the "What," getting good at giving and receiving feedback is the "How" of learning and personal growth. Steve draws on his experiences as a Psychology Professor and Director of the Advanced Learning Technologies Lab at the University of Toronto and as a Founder and CoDeveloper of an app called peerScholar that has students engage in collaborative, peer-to-peer feedback that can be used as a formative assessment.We give praise and respect to the great work of Carol Dweck on the subject before providing a more detailed walkthrough of how effective, scalable feedback sessions ultimately benefit students and faculty alike. Getting good at seeking out, delivering, and receiving feedback is a critical skill set today and increasingly in conceptions of the workplace of tomorrow. We dive into the criticality of feedback, why it's hard, and how to make it safer and easier to get better at it in a free-flowing and informative conversation.If you like what you're hearing, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and check us out at TrendinginEducation.com

Dr. Corey Dolgon is a Professor of Sociology at Stonehill College. He's an expert in several areas of sociology and service learning and is the author of five books, including The End of the Hamptons: Scenes from the Class Struggle in American’s Paradise (2005) and Kill it to Save it: An Autopsy of Capitalism’s triumph Over Democracy (2017). He recently edited The Cambridge Handbook of Service Learning and Community Engagement.Corey joins Mike Palmer to talk about the history of service learning and social movements in America. In his view, for service learning to be truly effective it must be grounded in the history of social movements and social action in the community so that it can ultimately effect meaningful change. In addition to a rich and vibrant conversation about engaging with the community and leading through activism and engagement, we conclude with Dr. Dolgon regaling us with his rendition of the folk song Have You Been to Jail for Justice? by Anne Feeney.It's an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation that you won't want to miss.If you like what you're hearing, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and check us out at TrendinginEducation.com.

Dr. Timothy R. Clark is founder and CEO of LeaderFactor, a training, consulting, coaching, and assessment organization that focuses on leadership development, organizational change, strategic agility, psychological safety, and emotional intelligence. He is the developer of the EQometer assessment and The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety training program.Tim joins Mike Palmer to talk about the role psychological safety plays in developing strong cultures. He walks us through the four stages of psychological safety and helps us understand how we can begin to build vibrant cultures that model and reward vulnerability. Tim describes how ultimately psychological safety results in a culture that allows for and encourages challenging of the status quo - a trait that's essential to flourishing in these turbulent times. We conclude by exploring the concept of a toxic culture, seeing how widespread toxicity is and providing some ways of identifying and addressing it when we see it.It's a rich and vibrant conversation about building healthy cultures. We hope you enjoy.If you like what you're hearing subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and check us out at TrendinginEducation.com.

Alexis Block is a PhD Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. She’s also the creator of HuggieBot and now HuggieBot 2.0 which have allowed her to do groundbreaking research in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).Alexis joins Mike Palmer on this episode to talk through her recent paper on The Six Commandments of Robot Hugging. We explore what got Alexis to this point in her research and what she’s learned about human behavior through her research. We touch on the impact of the pandemic on her research and examine what’s next on the horizon as she studies how humans and robots interact in highly personal and emotionally supportive ways.It’s a futuristic and insightful conversation that you won’t want to miss.If you’re enjoying what your hearing subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit us at TrendinginEducation.com.