No Such Thing: Education in the Digital Age

If you're getting to this episode without having given a listen to Episode 34 on MakerEd and Autism, hit pause and back up one episode. This one won't land without its predecessor. In fact, when I recorded this interview, it was intended as a segment that I would drop into 34, but the more I tried to make it work, the less I liked it. I didn't want to interrupt the previous conversation, and I didn't want to give short shrift to Dave Wells, who's a critical piece of the Maker Educator puzzle in NYC. So much so that i'm mashing up some of the conversation I have had with him previously on the show to fill in some context on NYSCI, the NY Hall of Science, where Dave works, and to round out the episode. The first part of the interview you're about to hear is from the Manhattan Make-A-Thon earlier this year where i had a chance to sit with Dave and talk about the work at NYSCI. If you prefer to skip forward to the details in the second half about how Dave and the NSF-funded research team from NYU and Education Development Center implemented the project - head to ~8:30.David Wells, Director of Maker Programming, is responsible for all programming and activities in NYSCI’s Maker Space. He oversees the design and implementation of maker-related programs which engage families, students, and visitors of all ages, he's a “maker of things” in his own right, and designs sight specific interactive art installations using discarded technology, audio experimentation, and digital media He received his B.F.A. from F.I.T. and a Masters in Museum Education from Bank Street.Links from this episode:Dave Wells, Bio https://nysci.org/people/david-wells/NYU's ASD Nest https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/asdnest/Education Development Center https://www.edc.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kristie Patten Koenig is an occupational therapist, with a PhD in Educational Psychology.From her bio: She examines the efficacy of interventions utilized in public schools for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.She's the Department Chair for Occupational Therapy at New York University and a leading researcher on K12 interventions related to Autism Spectrum Disorder.Dr. Wendy Martin leads research that deepens understanding of how key components of educational programs influence effectiveness and participant experience with the prominent research group, Education Development Center.We're talking today about a project that they collaborate on: it's about maker education and Autism.Notes from the episode:ASD Nest @ NYU: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/asdnest/Wendy Martin: http://cct.edc.org/people/martin-wendyKristie Koenig: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/ot/faculty/Kristie_KoenigDiagnostic and Statistical Manual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part two of a couple of episodes on "Broadening Participation." Dr. Sunshine Menezes, has served as executive director of the Metcalf Institute at the University of Rhode Island since 2006. She became a Clinical Associate Professor of Environmental Communication in the URI Department of Natural Resources Science in 2017. She'd spent more than a decade before that as specialist in Science Communication and science policy. Menezes received a B.S. in zoology from Michigan State University, a Ph.D. in biological oceanography from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, and was a Rhode Island Foundation Fellow from 2013-2014.Enjoy this second conversation from the 2018 convening of the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Learning's Task Force on BP through informal STEM learning.Links from this conversation:Dr. Sunshine MenezesMetcalf InstituteArpita ChoudheryThe Science of IllustrationArpita Choudhery's Etsy ShopCenter for Advancement of Informal Science website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is important groundwork for understanding some of the nuance of broadening participation. This interview is with experts like Jaime Bell, Cecilia Garabay, Christine Reich, and Dale McCreedy, and together we dive into the issue. I taped these interviews after a two-day convening of the task force in Washington DC. Every step of this experience has been an honor and a priviledge to be a part of, and I'm really grateful for the chance to contribute and, of course, learn a lot myself. If you're interested in learning more about the task force and it's work, I encourage you to check us out from the Center for Advancement of Informal Science website - I'll drop a link in the notes.This is the first of 2 parts. If you leave this conversation thinking, what on earth is Science Communication, have I got a treat. In the next episode I'll share a short chat I had with Sunshine Menezes and we tackle that topic and its relationship to all of this.Enjoy this first conversation from the 2018 convening of the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Learning's Task Force on BP through informal STEM learning:Links:The Franklin Institute is happy to announce the release of Cascading Influences: Long-Term Impacts of Informal STEM Experiences for Girls. This publication describes the results of a research study conducted by Dale McCreedy, Ph.D. (The Franklin Institute) and Lynn D. Dierking, Ph.D. (Oregon State University) to better understand the long-term significance of informal STEM programs for girls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amil Cook is a teacher at Propel Andrew Street Charter School in Pittsburgh, and he sees educators as DJs for learning. Part of his mantra... "break all the rules"My conversation with Amil Cook highlights some opportunities that excited me when I first heard about them because they were totally novel instances where an educator was consciously pairing these specific technologies - crypto currency and 360 cameras - with learning experiences at the high school level. Amil and I, along with nearly graduated senior, Denver, take some exciting twists and turns.In this episode:Youth Leading Change Summit360 Camera360 Project Experience LinkTemple Lovelace - DuquesneShamik More: Dope, MovieYoutubers & Games:Myth, Daequan, NinjaFortnightPubG Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is about Maker Education, but also about the high stakes of designing high quality professional experiences for educators. There are still too many professional experiences meant to hone craft, build skills, and excite that are way too dull.Manhattan Make-A-Thon is something different. And for that, it deserves a lot of credit. Earlier in the year, Lori Stahl Van-Brackle, Director of Instructional Technology for the Manhattan Field Support Center at the NYC DOE, challenged 20 schools in a special cohort to design maker-driven learning experiences that they would test with young people at school, and then lead experiential training at the make-a-thon: rooms upon rooms full of educators sewing, hammering, hot-glueing away while they discuss pedagogy alongside their peers. Many of them brought students, too. Which, where it worked, was an exciting glimpse at what it looks like when learning isn't something bestowed upon us, but is constructed through experience and interaction, and can most certainly be shared at the same time between teacher and student.My thanks to the talented team who made it possible. The following is a series of interviews with participants as the day unfolded.SPECIAL THANKS TO:Casey, Kenya, Carol, Mr. Deepak KapoorAmanda Solarsh, and Caitlyn from MS 104PS 191 in ManhattanAmy Sachs from Roberto Clemente, PS 15Jessica Wenke from Teqand David Wells from NYSCI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's interview is a live taping of the show from the annual Facutly Symposium at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The daylong symposium was called Techno Cultures in the 21st Century.Marc and Becca Lewis from Data & Society, explore the report titled,"Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online" widening its scope to include her further research on the "Online Far-Right" as content creators. If you're someone who spends time advocating for a creative and collaborative culture on the internet, this episode will be sobering, but required listening. The good people at Data & Society are reporting out, for our benefit, on the societal phenomena that occur on the internet. As you can imagine, 2017 was an important year for them. This report is a critical investigation of all that emerged online around the 2016 election. If you're still trying to understand the difference between "fake news" and "media manipulation," or alt right and alt light, or how a little green frog took over momentarily as a symbol of hate across our media, stay tuned.Huge thanks to the faculty of the Department of Social Sciences, Human Services, and Criminal Justice at Borough of Manhattan Community College, who were amazing hosts for this event.If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]org. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and tweet the showpage to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc talks with distinguished learning scientists Katie Davis from University of Washington, and Barry Fishman of University of Michigan about "badges," also known as digital, micro, and alternative credentials. The group discusses the potential for technology to reframe the experience for learners of demonstrating "achievement" throughout their education and development.If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]org. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and tweet the showpage to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Episode. Akbar Cooke is a vice principal at West Side High School in Newark NJ, he's one in nearly 1mm K12 administrators in the country, but at West Side he's a giant. Kids call him "coach" or "Cooke" and straighten up when they see him. Not out of fear, but respect - the kind that if you've ever worked with teens, you know only comes when things are reciprocal, mutual - it's clear that his heart is as intimidating, in a way, as his physical presence. Everyone should walk the halls with Akbar, if you don't ask yourself "do I have the courage to love this much - to work this hard for the people around me?" then you're not human.Matt Greenfield is an venture capitalist. If you ask anyone who invests in technology for education, they know his name, and his company Rethink Education. Proper disclosure, Matt is a board member at Mouse, and he's a writer - he's one of the only people I know who's worked as a publishing poet who now manages investments. His intellect is enormous, and among the things he shares with Akbar, is heart. When a national EdTech publication, EdSurge asked Matt to write an editorial about the exciting prospects for EdTech in 2018 from an Investors Perspective, Matt too the opportunity to write about other technologies. He wrote "I find myself without strong enthusiasm for the task of writing a conventional set of predictions about education technology in 2018. The most urgent needs of the most vulnerable children in this nation involve other technologies. M: This nation is failing its most fundamental duty to children."A lot is covered in these two episodes, but all of the topics revolve around one single truth: that the prospects for how tech innovation in the US illuminates a path to meaning, and success and wealth is not the same for everyone.Marc is also joined by Tywan Jones - a senior at West Side and one of the wise-beyond-their-years and courageous teens who gives me hope for our future. We get into the failures of our current system, and the successes of a local leader, who along with an amazing team at West Side, is battling for every strategic position on the chess board. In episode two we get into the national walkout and gun violence, and whether kids in Newark NJ can safely "walk out" even if they chose to.A quick disclaimer, there are some disturbing images that come up in our conversation in these two episodes - so if there are sensitive ears nearby - you might save this one for your headphones.If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]org. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and tweet the showpage to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast to enter to win a brand new 1st Gen Google Pixel phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Episode. Akbar Cooke is a vice principal at West Side High School in Newark NJ, he's one in nearly 1mm K12 administrators in the country, but at West Side he's a giant. Kids call him "coach" or "Cooke" and straighten up when they see him. Not out of fear, but respect - the kind that if you've ever worked with teens, you know only comes when things are reciprocal, mutual - it's clear that his heart is as intimidating, in a way, as his physical presence. Everyone should walk the halls with Akbar, if you don't ask yourself "do I have the courage to love this much - to work this hard for the people around me?" then you're not human. Matt Greenfield is an venture capitalist. If you ask anyone who invests in technology for education, they know his name, and his company Rethink Education. Proper disclosure, Matt is a board member at Mouse, and he's a writer - he's one of the only people I know who's worked as a publishing poet who now manages investments. His intellect is enormous, and among the things he shares with Akbar, is heart. When a national EdTech publication, EdSurge asked Matt to write an editorial about the exciting prospects for EdTech in 2018 from an Investors Perspective, Matt too the opportunity to write about other technologies. He wrote "I find myself without strong enthusiasm for the task of writing a conventional set of predictions about education technology in 2018. The most urgent needs of the most vulnerable children in this nation involve other technologies. M: This nation is failing its most fundamental duty to children."A lot is covered in these two episodes, but all of the topics revolve around one single truth: that the prospects for how tech innovation in the US illuminates a path to meaning, and success and wealth is not the same for everyone. Marc is also joined by Tywan Jones - a senior at West Side and one of the wise-beyond-their-years and courageous teens who gives me hope for our future. We get into the failures of our current system, and the successes of a local leader, who along with an amazing team at West Side, is battling for every strategic position on the chess board. In episode two we get into the national walkout and gun violence, and whether kids in Newark NJ can safely "walk out" even if they chose to. A quick disclaimer, there are some disturbing images that come up in our conversation in these two episodes - so if there are sensitive ears nearby - you might save this one for your headphones. If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]org. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and tweet the showpage to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast to enter to win a brand new 1st Gen Google Pixel phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.