Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Following on the heels of our conversation with the researchers who studied the impact of environmental factors, including temperature, on performance, here we dive in to get more reactions from Dan, Mike, and a few friends of the show. The most buzzworthy component of the research has been the findings that women, on average, perform better on cognitive tasks in warmer temperatures while men, on average, tend to perform better in cooler temperatures. We welcome Dr Erika Blumenthal to the show for the first time to get her takes on this hot topic, and bring back friend of the show, Kristen Smith, to help round out the conversation. Find a microclimate to listen optimally, turn up the volume, listen in and enjoy. 

You most likely saw a news article or morning television show covering a recent study on temperature and performance. Mike and Dan chat with the researchers behind the story! Debates have raged for decades on office temperature and how it might change the way we work. This research shows that women do perform better in warmer temperatures, while men perform better in cooler temperatures. We talk with Dr. Agne Kajackaite, WZB, Berlin Social Science Center and Dr. Tom Chang, Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics at USC about the process, results, and potential implications of their project.How might educators and test proctors better understand how a shared environment can be best set up for everyone? Can students use this sort of information to prepare themselves for better performance on test day? We discuss all this and what other factors, such as pollen levels, might truly change one's ability to perform at top levels.

On a very special Fourth of July extra, we share some news about co-host Brandon Jones. We talk through some of the highlights of Trending in Education over the past two-and-a-half plus years. We also discuss what topics we look forward to revisiting as the show accelerates into the future. We also bring back an old feature of our podcast, the quiz! Dan quizzes Brandon and Mike on July 4th history. Light your sparklers and tune in!

We revisit the Meeker report after our high-level discussion last week, to drill down on Mary Meeker's outlook for education and online education throughout the world. The world is changing at an ever increasing pace. How is online education attempting to keep up? We take a look at the intersection of public and private partnerships with MOOCs. Have MOOCs made the move up the Gartner Hype Cycles' Plateau of Productivity? As more colleges and universities move online, have we solved for the proper credentialing of future students? Are these schools moving their brick and mortar curriculum online properly and what should students and life-long learners be aware of as they seek out learning tools? Finally, how does a player like YouTube influence the space and what might their own platform look like in the future?We discuss all that and more on our latest. Tune in and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook @TrendingInEd. 

What might the global landscape of learning and education look like in 2030? We dive into a recent dynamic report from HolonIq.com on five key trends to watch for over the next 10 plus years. In a global market place that is set to reach over 10 trillion dollars in the year 2030, how might the world of learning and education evolve? Will learning be most influenced through regional change or will a global big bang in learning and education change the state of play? What demographic and technology changes will influence the space? We dive into the five macrotrends highlighted in the report and get all futuristic in our mindsets for this week's show. Listen in and enjoy.

It's that time of year again! Join us as we dive into the 2019 Meeker Internet Trends Report. Mike and Brandon take a high level look at the report in its entirety and explore what trends Mary Meeker thinks are most important. For the first time, over 50% of the world has access to the internet and that number should continue to climb. What does that mean for education, learning, and connectivity around the globe?How has our consumption of digital media changed and how important are mobile devices in that consumption? In a world where more and more content is created each day, how do we, as consumers, adapt to it all? How important will curation of content be as we’re all “drinking from the firehose” of modern life? We have all that and more on this first episode of two diving into the Meeker report!

A recent "click-bait" story out of the Washington Post describes a study in Italy that explores using Twitter to study a novel. The study, done at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, split students into two groups: one group used more standard classroom approaches to reading and understanding a novel while the other group used Twitter to learn about the book. The results showed that the students on who studied on Twitter struggled in retention and understanding of the novel.Does this prove that Twitter is, in fact, "eroding our intelligence" as the WaPo headline decries? Do studies like this help or hurt the cause of those trying to fight against Fake News and social media's shortcomings? Can using Twitter be a positive in certain contexts, lesson plans, and content domains? We talk about all of this and more on our latest episode. Tune in and feel free to tweet about it! 

A recent study out of Stanford University shows that a new creation, Quizbot, proves to be more effective in students' knowledge retention than old school flashcards. We dive into how the Quizbot works and why it appears to be a welcomed addition to a student's studying tool box.How can the Quizbot's interactivity help students where analog study aides may fall flat? How might something like the Quizbot help augment study aides already in use? With chat and other text-based formats already popular across the web, how easily could this sort of instruction be introduce to students? And how does this relate to the blending of great human teaching with emerging innovation in technology and new media?Listen in to find out more and enjoy!

Happy Father's Day! On this extra, we tackle a news story out of Canada about the implementation of robot babies as a study tool for onboarding and training medical professionals. How might robot babies better prepare healthcare professionals for everything that could happen during the early days of life? Where might screen-based simulations be a better learning tool than a robot? Will future medical trainees get lost and creeped out in the uncanny valley? Listen in to hear all this and more.

As IQ has been thrust into the mainstream news with folks measuring each other based on obscure psychometric quotients, we take some time to look at what it's supposed to represent and what exactly can be understood by this number. We touch on Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences and raise some questions about whether IQ is an idea past its prime. What value do we get from IQ numbers and is it something that is fixed or changes over time? We explore the weaponization of IQ and the downside of pigeon-holing someone based on their IQ. How do EQ (Emotional Quotient) and AQ (Adaptability or Adversity Quotient) relate to IQ and which quotient(s) are most germane to life in our modern world? How does the math behind IQ, (your mental age over your actual age) remind us that life-long learning truly is important? We discuss all these things and more on our latest episode. Listen up and enjoy!