No Such Thing: Education in the Digital Age
Marc Lesser
The show is about learning with technology, the realities and exciting potential.Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate us, and leave a review wherever you've accessed the podcast. Find our listener survey at facebook.com/nosuchthingpodcast drop a like on the page while you're there.The music in this podcast was produced by Leroy Tindy, a guest in episode zero. You can find him on SoundCloud at AirTindi Beats.The podcast is produced by Marc Lesser. Marc is a specialist in the fields of digital learning and youth development with broad experience designing programming and learning environments in local and national contexts. Marc recently served as Youth Studies Practitioner Fellow at City University of New York, and leads a team of researchers and technologists for NAF (National Academy Foundation).Marc is the co-founder of Emoti-Con NYC, New York's biggest youth digital media and technology festival, and in 2012 was named a National School Boards Association “20-to-Watch” among national leaders in education and technology. Connect with Marc on BlueSky @malesser, or LinkedIn.What's with the ice cream truck in the logo? In the 80's, Richard E. Clark at University of Southern California set off a pretty epic debate based on his statement that "media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition." * So, the ice cream truck, it's a nod to Richard Clark, who frequently rings in my ear when I'm tempted to take things at face value. "Is it the method, or the medium?" I wonder.The title, No Such Thing, has a few meanings. Mostly, it emphasizes the importance of hard questions as we develop and document the narrative of "education" in the US. For Richard E. Clark, the question is whether there's such a thing as learning from new technologies. For others, it might be whether there's a panacea for the challenges we face in this field. Whatever your question, I hope that it reminds you to keep asking--yourself, your learners, others--what's working and how so.* Clark, R. E. (1983) Reconsidering Research on Learning From Media. Review of Educational Research 53(4) 445-459. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 19, 2018 • 1h 6min
Episode 23: Pivot Tables & The Broken Promise of Higher Ed
Kalani Leifer is a former high school history teacher and the founder of COOP, a fast-growing non-profit that supports cohorts of 1st generation undergrads entering the workforce. Together, he and Monica Guzman, Program Manager and alum of Cohort 1, are evolving a model aimed at supplementing skills that prepare students for high tech jobs. Who knew that basic software remediation might be what stands in the way for many. But the biggest difference for 1st gen students they say? "Literacies" that are social above all else. 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--https://shows.pippa.io/nosuchthing--to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 27, 2018 • 1h 24min
Episode 22: Remaking Learning in Pittsburgh
In this episode, members of Pittsburgh's Remake Learning Network share what challenges unite them with other cities who rally for broadening STEM participation, and what challenges set them apart. Remake's own Ani Martinez, Community Manager and operations lead, is joined by members Alaine Allen, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Megan Cicconi, Executive Director of Instructional and Innovative Leadership at Fox Chapel School District, and Liz Whitewolf, Carnegie Science Center's Fab Lab and Technical Education Manager. What does it mean to "build the learning ecosystem" in Pittsburgh? What attempts are being made to add balance to "deserts" of learning opportunity, and how does "access" change when a city is hub for residents in three states?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--https://shows.pippa.io/nosuchthing--to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 14, 2018 • 1h 29min
Episode 21: Film Academy 360
Spectrum 360 educator, David Di Ianni, has founded a youth media program for learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder. With help from former student, Vincent Lissandrello, now a budding media professional himself, the pair are spreading the tools and know-how to shoot and edit video among a population in need of every tool possible that might help them express themselves and make meaning of their world.In this episode, Marc tours the Spectrum 360 upper school before sitting down with David and Vincent to learn more about the program. Learn more about the benefits of youth media programming for learners on the spectrum beyond storytelling itself, and hear how one school makes it all work.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--https://shows.pippa.io/nosuchthing--to your network with #nosuchthingpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 7, 2018 • 1h 3min
Episode 20: Computer Science in the "Other" Sciences
A chemist and a biologist walk into a computer lab...Dr. Tessa Durham Brooks, a biologist from Doane University, and Dr. Raychelle Burks, analytical chemist from St. Edwards University, are working to help train the young scientists coming up through their institutions to embrace the competencies of computer science. Their reasoning: computation changes what impact a scientist can have through their work. If you think your students or your own kids are on a "STEM path" without embracing computer science, this conversation might offer new insights. 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.
Jan 29, 2018 • 1h 49min
Episode 19: "The New Education"
My thanks to CUNY SPS and CUNY Tech Meetup for playing such wonderful hosts to this event, a live interview with Professor Cathy N. Davidson, Director of The Futures Initiative at City University of New York, and one of the country's most respected scholars on the topic of higher education reform. We're joined by Temitayo Fagbenle, a Queens College student and award winning youth journalist with WNYC's Radio Rookies. In The New Education, Cathy N. Davidson reveals that we desperately need a revolution in higher learning if we want our students to succeed in our age of precarious work and technological disruption. Journeying from elite private schools to massive public universities to innovative community colleges, she profiles iconoclastic educators who are remaking their classrooms by emphasizing creativity, collaboration, and adaptability over expertise in a single, often abstract discipline. Working at the margins of the establishment, these innovators are breaking down barriers between ossified fields of study, presenting their students with multidisciplinary, real-world problems, and teaching them not just how to think, but how to learn. The New Education ultimately shows how we can educate students not only to survive but to thrive amid the challenges to come.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.
Jan 24, 2018 • 1h 42min
Episode 18: Computer Science Education - The Time Is...Now?
Marc sits with Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez, Director of STEM Policy at the Afterschool Alliance, and Michael Preston, Executive Director of Computer Science, NYC (CSNYC), and Co-founder of the National CSForAll Consortium, to dig in on the momentum to build support for Computer Science Education. What is 'the movement'? Is there new relevance, or more urgency now than ever? What outcomes do we hope to influence in the years to come? Who do we think will benefit?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.
Jan 12, 2018 • 1h 15min
Episode 17: Maker Education Might Make Us Cry (Both Ways)
If you don't believe that social consciousness starts early in human development, you'll assume Armando and Lynda--middle schoolers in Manhattan--are paid actors. But they're not, and in this episode they describe some of the projects that their teacher, Dr. Lou Lahana, supports with help from a holistic Community Schools approach at the Lower East Side's Island School in Manhattan. Guest Steve Heath joins the group from Rhode Island's Fab Newport, and together the group explores the highs and lows of Maker Education. This is a great episode for those working to glean the essence and values of Maker Ed, or to join veteran educators as they riff on the thornier details.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.
Jan 3, 2018 • 1h 37min
Episode 16: "Immersing is Believing"
Max Salomon is an Emmy Award winning documentarian and founder of Black Dot Films, specializing in VR and 360 immersive film and video. He talks about his experiences becoming a storyteller with 19-year-old Christin (Chris) Velazquez, a Production Assistant and aspiring media professional, who shares his experience with the Made In NY PA Training Program. Max shares his early journey with Chris, as they wonder together about the right steps for a young person interested in making a career out of their passion. If interested more specifically in storytelling for VR and how the "language" of film is evolving, advance to 1:03:00. 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.
Dec 20, 2017 • 1h 17min
Episode 15: The Final Will Not Be Televised...But It Will Be Podcasted
Marc talks with four educators, also students of the MA in Youth Studies at City University of New York's School of Professional Studies, who share findings from their final case study for the course, Youth Identity & Digital Environments. Learn more about the eight practices that they found promising across four youth programs for addressing the issue of equity in STEM, and lowering barriers to academic and professional life in these fields. Cassie Broadus-Foote, Olivia Gregorius, Amanda Ebokosia, and Natisha Romain share their perspectives on the issues of equity in STEM, the Youth Studies M.A. program, and their work in the field. 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.
Dec 13, 2017 • 1h 1min
Episode 14: Dov Goes to World Makerfaire
Friend to No Such Thing and recent NYC high school applicant, Dov Alperin, roves the 2017 World Makerfaire for weird, wonderful, and next-best things, reporting back and sharing his finds. Listeners met Dov in Episodes 2 & 3 at Brooklyn's Beam Center. This is a great episode if you missed World Makerfaire 2017, have never been, or never miss it, all the same. Prosthetic mermaid tails and battle-ready light sabers both make an appearance in this episode, and Dov asks makers, "how do I get my mom to let me build one of these at home?" Spoiler alert for Dov's sister: this episode may reveal the contents of a Chanukah gift. 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.
