Future Learning Design Podcast

Dr. James Mannion is an education researcher and consultant who worked as a Science teacher for 12 years, and spent 8 years in school leadership roles. James has an MA in Person-Centred Education from the University of Sussex, and a PhD in Learning to Learn from the University of Cambridge. James’s doctoral thesis is an evaluation of Learning Skills, a whole-school approach to teaching and learning that led to significant gains in subject learning, with accelerated gains among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. James works part-time as a Bespoke Programmes Leader at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the University College London Institute of Education. In this role, he works with teachers and schools throughout the UK to promote research-informed approaches to professional development and school improvement. James is a passionate advocate of practitioner inquiry as a basis for professional development, and he regularly presents at educational conferences on this subject. He is also a member of Oracy Cambridge, a study centre and think tank dedicated to promoting effective speaking and listening skills in schools and the wider society.  James runs research-informed training and consultancy through Rethinking Education with Kate McAllister. In 2020, James co-authored Fear Is The Mind Killer: Why Learning to Learn deserves lesson time - and how to make it work for your pupils with Kate McAllister.   Social Links Twitter: @RethinkingJames LinkedIn: @james-mannion Email: james@rethinking-ed.org

Ed Fidoe, co-founder of the London Interdisciplinary School, discusses interdisciplinary learning and LIS's approach to education. They explore the value of diverse skills, unlocking collective intelligence, the concept of a polymath, and the challenges of achieving interdisciplinary learning.

Prof. Sugata Mitra is Professor Emeritus at NIIT University, India. He retired in 2019 as Professor of Educational Technology and Principal Research Investigator in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. In 2012, he was Visiting Professor for the MIT Medialab in Massachusetts, US. In 1999, Sugata began the now world-renowned ‘Hole in the Wall (HIW)’ experiment, when a computer was embedded within a wall in an Indian slum at Kalkaji, Delhi and children were allowed to freely use it. The experiment aimed at proving that kids could be taught computers very easily without any formal training. Sugata termed this as Minimally Invasive Education (MIE). The experiment has since been repeated in many places around the world. Sugata is the recipient of many awards from India, the UK, USA and many other countries in the world and has conducted research that has pushed the boundaries of many disciplines including electrical engineering, medicine and computer science. He has a PhD in Physics and is credited with more than 25 inventions in the area of cognitive science and educational technology. He was conferred the prestigious Dewang Mehta Award from the Government of India for Innovation in Information Technology in 2003. Amongst many other awards, he was also awarded the 1 million dollar TED Prize in 2013. In 2006, Sugata invented Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs), now in use throughout the world. In 2009, he created the Granny Cloud, of teachers who interact with children over the Internet. Since the 1970s, Professor Mitra’s publications and work has resulted in training and development of perhaps a million young Indians, amongst them some of the poorest children in the world. Sugata published hundreds of ground-breaking academic papers, and in 2019 pulled many of his ideas together into his book, The School in the Cloud: The Emerging Future of Education. Social Links Twitter: @sugatam Web: www.cevesm.com

Zoe Stanton is an entrepreneurial, creative and collaborative leader with more than 15 years experience working in design and social change and a passion for addressing the most important and complex issues. Zoe has had leadership roles creating and scaling new ways to bring about change, transform organisations and design better services for positive social impact.  In 2005, Zoe co-founded Uscreates, a strategic design agency specialising in applying design to social challenges, in health, well-being and education. As Managing Director Zoe led teams through significant transformation across sectors with notable clients including NHS England, Homes England, Macmillan and Nesta. Uscreates was acquired by FutureGov in 2018 bringing together the two company’s shared ambition to design public services and transform organisations for the 21st Century.  At FutureGov, Zoe's role as Experience Director focused on amplifying the positive impact of the organization and facilitating reflection and iteration on what the experience of working with FutureGov should be.  Zoe studied Design at Goldsmiths College and loves working with young talent to help them develop and grow.  Social Links  LinkedIn: @ZoeStanton  Twitter: @StantonZoe

Rose Luckin is Professor of Learner Centred Design at the UCL Knowledge Lab in London. Her research involves the design and evaluation of educational technology using theories from the learning sciences and techniques from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Rose is the Director of EDUCATE, a London hub for educational technology startups, researchers and educators to work together on the development of evidence-informed Educational Technology, and author of Machine Learning and Human Intelligence: the future of education in the 21st century (2018). Rose was named on the Seldon List 2017 as one of the 20 most influential people in Education. She is Specialist Adviser to the UK House of Commons Education Select Committee and Co-founder of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education. She also holds roles as UFI charity trustee, a governor and trustee of St Paul's school in London and a governor of the Self-Managed Learning College in Brighton.  Rose has taught in the state secondary, Further Education and Higher Education sectors, and she was previously Pro-Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the University of Sussex. Social Links LinkedIn: @rose-luckin Twitter: @Knowldgillusion

Considered one of the founding fathers of Project Based Learning, Thom Markham is an educator by trade, a positive psychologist by training, and a global entrepreneur dedicated to expanding educator mindsets in service to a positive future. In 2015, Thom founded PBL Global, a world-wide partner-based organization offering online courses and onsite professional learning for a transformative strengths-focused model of project based learning that integrates high quality project design, student centered growth, and social emotional wellbeing. Thom has worked with over 400 schools and 6000 teachers in 20 countries. His previous best-selling books include Project Based Learning Design and Coaching Guide: Expert tools for innovation and inquiry for K-12 educators (2012) and Redefining Smart: Awakening Students’ Power to Reimagine Their World (2015), as well as numerous articles on school transformation.  Social Links Email: thom@pblglobal.com LinkedIn: @thom-markham-phd Twitter: @thommarkham

Sir Anthony Seldon is a leading authority on contemporary British history and education and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. He is author or editor of over 40 books on contemporary history, politics and education and is the author on, and honorary historical advisor to, Downing Street. After gaining an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford, and a PhD at the London School of Economics, Anthony qualified as a teacher at King's College, London, where he was awarded the top PGCE prize in his year. From 1993 to 2015, Anthony held headships at St Dunstan's College in South London, Brighton College in E. Sussex and Wellington College in Berkshire. In 2015, he left Wellington College to become Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, a position he held until last year. Sir Anthony is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and King's College London. He was knighted in the Queen's 2014 Birthday Honours list for services to education and modern political history. He founded the Sunday Times (now Telegraph) Festival of Education and most recently the Festival of Higher Education, and is widely known for introducing and promoting happiness, well-being and mindfulness across education. Sir Anthony founded, with Professor Lord Peter Hennessy, the Institute of Contemporary British History, and Action for Happiness with Professor Lord Richard Layard and Geoff Mulgan. He is governor of several bodies, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is Chair of The Comment Awards. Sir Anthony also co-founded The Institute for Ethical AI in Education with Rose Luckin and Priya Lakhani. Some of Anthony's latest books include: The Fourth Education Revolution Reconsidered: Will artificial intelligence enrich or diminish humanity? with Oladimeji Abidoye and Timothy Metcalf (2020);  Beyond Happiness: How to find lasting meaning and joy in all that you have (2016);  May at 10 (2019) with Raymond Newell;  Cameron at 10: The Verdict (2016) with Peter Snowdon  ...and many others.

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership.  Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, and executive director of both the Confucius Institute and the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.  He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education. Yong has written many groundbreaking books on education, including:  Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners [co-authored with Michael Wehmeyer] (2020) An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success [co-authored with Trina E. Emler, Anthony Snethen and Danqing Yin] (2019) What Works May Hurt: Side Effects in Education (2018) Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Children (2018) Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014) World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (2012) Social Links LinkedIn: @YongZhao Twitter: @YongZhaoEd

Gidion Peters is the co-founder of the Dutch training & consultancy company Organize Agile specialized in organizational change, agile transformation, business agility and Agile HR. They serve their clients; wide-ranging and including Fortune 500 retail, finance, pharma, telecommunications and engineering organizations as well as the public sector. Their offices are located in New York and The Netherlands. Gidion defines himself as an 'Organizational change specialist and entrepreneur' with a focus on applying Agile and Scrum outside of IT. He leads and consults on Agile transformations worldwide and frequently speak and publish on topics like Agile HR, Agile Portfolio Management, Agile Auditing, Agile Strategy and Agile Marketing & Sales. He is the co-author of books Agile HR – the (un)missable role of HR in agile organizations, nominated for Management Book of the Year 2018, and Scrum in Actie (2015). In collaboration with HU University of Applied Sciences, Gidion and Organize Agile also published The 1st International State of Agile HR 2020, an overview of innovative practitioners of Agile HR across the globe. He believes that everyone can be a changemaker, stable teams are the engine of innovation and the future belongs to flexible organizations. In this episode, we discuss a cultural values map, which you can find here: Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world Social Links: LinkedIn: @GidionPeters Twitter: @gidionpeters

Joysy John is an entrepreneur, digital consultant, advisor and speaker. She is a global connector and a collaborator who makes things happen. She wants to inspire others, especially women and those from low-income backgrounds, to achieve their potential. She mentors startups and high potential leaders. Until very recently, Joysy was the Director of Education at Nesta and led their work in education across innovation programmes, research and investment. She is the former Chief Industry Officer of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills where she led the College’s industry engagement and Ada. Advance, online learning website. Prior to this, Joysy headed up international strategic development for EF Learning Labs, led business development for Emerge Venture Lab, Europe’s first education technology accelerator and advised Level 39, technology incubator based in Canary Wharf. Joysy is passionate about technology education, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment. She helped launch three non-profits focused on education: Flow (to develop essential qualities), STIR Education (to identify and scale micro-innovations) and Startup Leadership Program (to train entrepreneurial leaders). She founded Founders Fit to help people find the right cofounders based on interests, skills and stage of venture. Joysy has over a decade of experience in technology, business management, strategy and sales roles with JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley in Singapore, US and UK. She was the youngest person selected into the Future Leader Development Programme at JP Morgan Chase. She holds a Computer Engineering (Honours) degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and an MBA with Distinction from London Business School where she was the President of the Women in Business Club and a Forte Scholar.Social Links: LinkedIn: @JoysyJohn Twitter: @joysyj