Learning Unboxed

Kevin Gadd is a serial entrepreneur (and self-identified serial learner), retired Air Force Chief, and the Ohio Program Manager for Apprenti. In this episode, Kevin helps us unbox the role of entrepreneurship in education and the intersection between teaching, learning, and work.The problem with entrepreneurship education is that, until very recently, we have been trying to teach entrepreneurship like math or history: we’d get an outdated book and put students in a class, then if we were getting ambitious, we might have them design a business plan using online software. It was nonfunctional, and it didn’t really match what happened in the real world.Programs like Apprenti, however, serve as a better model for entrepreneurship education. It is the nation’s first registered IT apprenticeship program, and its goal is to train future tech workers, with an emphasis on underrepresented groups including women, minorities, and veterans. Once trained, these new IT workers join a yearlong apprenticeship program to ensure their success in finding the next piece of their journey.We unbox:Launching a program to teach entrepreneurs, at home and abroadThe outdated ways people have tried to teach entrepreneurship in the past – and how we can more effectively teach entrepreneurship in the futureThe misunderstanding of where entrepreneurship fits in the worldMentoring female entrepreneurs in the Middle EastIt’s okay to fail, as long as the outcome is learningHow reframing what an entrepreneur is – a problem solver, a solution provider, a community organizer, a leader, self-employed – makes it more appealing and approachableDiversity is important; you can’t be what you can’t seeAt the same time, you can’t do what you don’t know, so there has to be applied opportunityWhat Apprenti looks like in practiceResources:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chiefgaddTwitter: https://twitter.com/chiefgaddLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefgadd/Learn more about Apprenti: https://apprenticareers.org/Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Our guests are Angela Hattman, a fabulous Science Teacher at Upper Arlington High School and the fearless teacher who volunteered to help students start a robotics team, and Audrey Strickling, one of the high school students that helped found the UAHS FRC BearBots.We talked with Andy Bruening and Tyler Hertenstein in episode six about the FIRST robotics program, which provides some context into the broader implications of these programs, but Angela and Audrey help us unbox what it means to not just start a team, but how doing so provides meaningful educational and life experiences for students.We unbox:Why Angela and Audrey decided to start a robotics teamHow starting this team has impacted the entire school’s cultureThe financial implications of starting a robotics programThe BearBots growing 3x between their first and second yearsHow robotics programs help students make decisions, experience the world in new ways, and develop critical career skillsWhat robotics students are looking for from their mentorsManaging parents and parents’ expectations when you are starting a robotics teamHow a new robotics team is like running a new startup businessWhat you should do first if you start a robotics teamResources:See the FRC BearBots in action: https://twitter.com/uahsbearbotsStart a FIRST Robotics Team: https://www.pastfoundation.org/start-a-first-robotics-teamLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Dr. Andy Bruening, Director of Bridge Programs at PAST Foundation, and Tyler Hertenstein, Design Pathway Instructor and Technology Teacher at Metro Early College High School, join us to unbox the role of robotics, design thinking, and engineering in education today.Both Andy and Tyler have seen first-hand the success of integrating robotics into the classroom and after-school clubs, and what happens when you get really creative with these hands-on opportunities to learn.We unbox:Starting and overseeing the Metrobots, Metro's First Robotics Competition TeamWhy schools should invest in robotics teamsThe difference between being mentor-led and mentor-guided (and why the Metrobots is student-led)Why Andy and Tyler view their primary role as coaching soft skills, rather than engineeringThe PAST Foundation’s Center of Robotics Innovation (CORI)The time and effort that goes into a robotics team, and why it’s not “just for the nerds”Robotics competition is “the sport of the minds”Tyler’s college robotics football team would get “smoked” by anything his kids are currently coming up withChanging the dynamic of who’s participating in roboticsHow teachers and students who have an interest in robotics can spearhead programs like these in their own schoolsWhy these programs needs good mentors that stick around, and those mentors don’t need to be engineersResources:Check out the Metrobots in action: https://www.3324metrobots.org/Learn more about PAST’s Bridge Programs: https://www.pastfoundation.org/bridge-programsStart A FIRST Robotics Team: https://www.pastfoundation.org/start-a-first-robotics-teamLearn more about Metro: https://www.themetroschool.org/Connect with Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-bruening-6925049b/Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-hertenstein/Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Alex Bandar is the founder and Chief Mischief-Maker at the Columbus Idea Foundry. An engineer by training and serial entrepreneur by practice, Alex is the kind of guy who likes to roll up his sleeves and solve problems – and inspire others do the same.The Idea Foundry is a multifaceted collaborative environment for exploring, learning, making; a makerspace for anyone with passion and an idea. Whether you want to launch a startup or teach a class, create a podcast or learn a new skill, collaborate on an idea or get into some mischief, it’s the ideal place to make things happen in a 21st century world.We unbox:The next generation of teaching and learningWhat is work in the 21st century?Tricking kids to learn tech through hands-on, functional artistic projectsBecoming a center for creative and techy adultsWhat innovation means in a world where sci-fi is becoming realityColumbus is a startup town – and a 21st century version of Renaissance Florence ItalyWhy the Columbus Idea Foundry worksThe role of makerspaces in a traditional education settingWhy does a community need a culture of creation?What employers and industries want from today’s young learnersResources:Learn more at https://ideafoundry.com/IF on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ideafoundrycolumbus/IF on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdeaFoundryColumbus/IF on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/columbus-idea-foundry/IF on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdeaFoundryCbusAlex on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexander.bandarAlex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbandar/Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Rich Rosen is the Founder of Indigo Systems, an organization founded to mobilize practicing engineers to use systems analysis and design skills to address education problems in their local community.At the heart of Rich’s work is the idea of “engineers helping educators,” and today we discuss the role of both engineers and organizational partnerships in our efforts to reimagine, rethink, and redesign the educational system.We unbox:How Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future catalyzed Rich’s shift from healthcare to educationCreating partnerships between education and businesses – and why it’s necessary“A good idea doesn’t spread just because it’s a good idea.”The built-in systems of constraints endemic to our schoolsChanging the landscape of education through a focus on STEMFinding the best and highest use of an organization, beyond moneyBringing the concept of R&D to educationBest practices for business-education partnerships that allow for creativity and create opportunityResources:Learn more at http://indigo-strategies.org/Connect with Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-rosen-07825151/Read a summary: Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Today we have two wonderful guests, Marcy Raymond and Jack McClintock, joining us to talk about creating startups with a meaningful impact on the world of education.Marcy is serial school starter and a STEM education specialist with the Education Services Center of Central Ohio. She is a founder of Metro Early College High School (MECHS), which is Ohio’s very first STEM school and a platform for innovation in school design that many schools across the nation are now based on.Jack is one of the first students to attend and graduate Metro, after which he received a bachelor’s from OSU’s Fisher College of Business and founded G&P Productions.We unbox:The massive undertaking of starting a new school, especially one with such an innovative design philosophyWhy doing school differently is a “moral imperative”The goal of The Metro School, and all of the schools that have followed its modelThe uphill battle of STEM educationWhy Jack took the risk and jumped in as a founding student of MetroPartnering with OSU, the Battelle Memorial Institute, and the Educational Council to start MECHSBattelle’s “opportunity gap”Why the school is, by design, for all kids – not just “the smart kids”The conversation around starting similar schools in other communitiesWhy students are more engaged at MECHSThe habits they teach at MECHS to help students be persistent in any environmentLooking to the future, what do the next iterations of STEM schools look like?The poem that Marcy read on the first day of school, “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”Education is dynamic and it cannot be standardized – and as a society, we have to figure out how to effectively provide that to everyoneResources:Learn more at https://www.themetroschool.org/The Metro School on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Metro-Early-College-High-School-171761588940/The Metro School on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroHSCheck out https://www.gpproductions.tvConnect with Jack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-mcclintock-8991592b/Read: “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”  Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

We hear, frequently, that the global education system is broken, and as a result, we spend billions of dollar trying to fix it. But the K-12 system isn’t actually broken at all – it’s working exactly as it was designed, 100 years ago, and it’s obsolete. So in Learning Unboxed, we will have a conversation about teaching, learning, and the future of work; we will reimagine, rethink, and redesign our educational system. And we invite you to join us. Your host on this journey is Annalies Corbin – the Founder, President, CEO, & Chief Goddess of the PAST Foundation – and we will be joined by experts, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are wrestling with this conversation, and who have a whole set of creative designs and solutions.   Resources: Learn more at https://www.pastfoundation.org Connect with Annalies: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn   Learning Unboxed is produced by Podcast Masters