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
Dec 7, 2017 • 1h 2min
Episode 13: Stepping Into Life Through Radio
Marc is joined by Temitayo Fagbenle, an award-winning Rookie Reporter, and Kaari Pitkin, Senior Producer for WNYC. Radio Rookies is the product of veteran radio producers, Marianne McCune and Kaari Pitkin, who have shepherded hundreds of youth in NYC schools through their first experiences as young reporters and storytellers. Youth-led stories have garnered numerous prestigious journalism awards and accolades. Young reporters like Temi cover big and sometimes thorny topics--drugs, race, sexual abuse, immigration--that emerge from the center of their own lives. Learn about the impacts of this experience from Temi firsthand, and peak under the hood of this unique production-centered learning experience to understand how stories get made. 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]wordpress[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.
Nov 29, 2017 • 1h 20min
Episode 12: Is Virtual Reality a Reality For Education Now?
Marc is joined by designer / developer and *renowned technoculturalist*, Joe Saavedra of Planeta, a NY-based R&D company working across digital platforms. And Chelien Brown, Learning Design Coordinator at Mouse, and NY-based STEM educator, content creator, and youth developer. From Chelien: how does he experiment with VR as a creative tool for learners in middle and high school? Learn about Joe's pathway from Alto Sax to leading large-scale hardware and software projects in VR and beyond. Together, leveraging Joe's expertise, the group winds up on a shopping spree, to discover the cost of one full VR setup that a school or learning org might incorporate into their space. Are we closer to the moment when "VR for learning" is accessible for all?About Planeta: Planeta is an R+D studio that builds ideas and tools in the domains of visual arts, sound, design and architecture. Our owned brands are to.be, Ooni, Mona, Oda, Chop and DCF. We are engaged in a vital creative partnership with GIPHY. And our Space in the East Village of Manhattan is an active performance and art space.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]wordpress[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.
Nov 21, 2017 • 45min
PowerUp on UDL with Kate Rosenbloom
Marc's guest, Kate Rosenbloom, is the Senior Manager for Learning Design at Mouse, an alum of Teacher's College At Columbia University, and curriculum developer working in STEM, Design, and Computing education. After a recent retreat to attend CAST's Universal Design for Learning Institute, Kate fills us in on what she learned, the value of the Institute for professional development, and where these things fit into her practice. Universal Design for Learning is a research-based approach to learning design that strives to include every learner in ways that help them maximize their potential. Find more links to UDL in our shownotes (URL below).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]wordpress[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.
Nov 15, 2017 • 1h 30min
Episode 11: Maker Ed in NYC Schools
After decades of experience in the NYC public school system, these three educators are hopeful that "Maker Education," the field's instantiation of the popular tinker movement re-constituted by the commercial Make Magazine and Maker Faire, holds promise for reforming aspects of how we teach and learn. Dr. Lou Lahana, Lori Stahl-VanBrackle, and Iliana Villegas don't agree on every aspect of the present or future of Maker Ed, but together with thousands of educators nationally, are writing the playbook as they go. This conversation unpacks the specifics issues that educators face when working to infuse the values and methodology into their schools. The group cite examples of multi-disciplinary project work, and dig into the spaces where they happen.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]wordpress[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.
Nov 9, 2017 • 57min
Episode 10: Erik Martin
Erik Martin revisits a story he told in 2013 at TedX, Redmond WA, titled "How World of Warcraft Saved Me and My Education." Erik has since held posts at the US Department of Education, the Whitehouse Office of Science and Technology (OST) and is now Senior Manager for Education Programs at game engine, Unity. He credits much of his success to experiences he had working his way up to leading an 800 member guild in the popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, World of Warcraft. This environment became key to his recovery from depression and anorexia nervosa as a young teenager. 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]wordpress[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.
Nov 1, 2017 • 1h 20min
Episode 9: New Realities in Museum Learning
I'm joined in this episode by Jessy Jo Gomez -- a fantastic partner to help me peel back the layers of Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality for learning. Jessy Jo and I chat with Barry Joseph of the American Museum of Natural History, who helps us to navigate definitions, explore new examples incorporating the technology, and by sharing his experience in the design and development of AR and VR in his role at the museum. Stick around until the end for a NST first: a live shootout of Grow-A-Game to test our guests in their game design rapid prototyping skills.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]wordpress[dot]com. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and listen to this episode for info on how to enter a raffle to win a new Google Pixl phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 25, 2017 • 43min
PowerUp with Dr. Elizabeth Bishop
Dr. Elizabeth Bishop is a cultural and queer theorist, a researcher, youth practitioner, and author of Becoming Activist. Bishop explores critical literacy through her research and work with youth based at New York's Global Kids, a youth serving organization focused on global literacies and the empowerment of young people with a nearly 30-year history of impact. Bishop and I discuss her book, the relationship between research and practice, and how digital and activist identities are woven together in young people. 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]wordpress[dot]com. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and listen to this episode for info on how to enter a raffle to win a new Google Pixl phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 24, 2017 • 1h 21min
Episode 8: The Networking of Humanity
Chris Lawrence is the Vice President of Mozilla Foundation's Leadership Network, and he's joined by fellow web citizens, Iliana Lugo and Charles Canario, to discuss "Internet Health" and a host of issues related to learning and literacy in the digital age. Is information on the internet a public resource? Why should we care about issues of privacy on the web? What are the skills that all of us can support as learners of all ages grow with the culture of the web? Charles and Iliana share their perspectives about these issues and more, and we find out that one of us is considering an anonymous web identity to carry out their aspirations as a LARPER. 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]wordpress[dot]com. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and listen to this episode for info on how to enter a raffle to win a new Google Pixl phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 17, 2017 • 1h 1min
Episode 7: STEM from Dance
Yamilée Toussaint is the founder of Brooklyn's STEM From Dance. She's joined by alum Daneilla McEwan to talk about how dance works as an entry point for young women learning computer science. Yamilée grew up with dance from a young age and after graduating from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering she surprised her family by turning to the field of education to start her career. Years later she founded an organization that engages young women in STEM by leveraging their excitement for the arts. If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes, Stitcher, Googleplay. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and listen to this episode for info on how to enter a raffle to win a new Google Pixl phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 12, 2017 • 1h 21min
Episode 6: The Difference Between Looking & Seeing
Steve Goodman talks about Educational Video Center's (EVC) incredible origin story, and what has kept their youth media programs true to the vision that sparked the organization more than 30 years ago. Serenah Vaughan is a budding filmmaker, alum of EVC's documentary production program, who now, as she finishes up high school, is working on a production that characterizes the problem of opioid addiction across rural and urban environments. This episode will take you on a ride from the gangs of the South Bronx in the 1970's to the practical potential of production-centered media education today. If you like this episode, subscribe to No Such Thing on iTunes and Googleplay. If it's not available on your favorite player, let me know through our shownotes site, nosuchthingpodcast[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Already a subscriber? Please rate and review us, and listen to this episode for info on how to enter a raffle to win a Google Pixl phone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
