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
Oct 5, 2017 • 26min
PowerUp: The Game Jam Guide
Matthew Farber and Alex Fleming, two of the curriculum guide's authors talk about the vision and history for this open resource now available through Carnegie Mellon University Press. Matthew Farber is Assistant Professor of Technology, Innovation, and Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado, and Alex Fleming is a Learning Design Manager at Mouse (Mouse.org).From the CMU ETC Press Website: How can designing games about real world issues teach students empathy, systems thinking, and design thinking? This curriculum guide shares lesson plans and ideas for educators to implement created by experts who lead game jams themed on topics such as climate change, immigration stories and local voices, and future cities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 3, 2017 • 42min
PowerUp with Naomi Clark
Naomi Clark takes me to school on a few questions that emerged from episode 5. Is the "gamer" identity inclusive? Is gamification good for education? Is there purpose in gender-specific games? You might be surprised by some of her answers. Naomi Clark teaches at NYU's Game Center, and has contributed to more than three dozen game titles. This episode is perfect if you're already contemplating some of these issues, or even if you're brand new to the conversation.If you're enjoying No Such Thing please rate and review us wherever you download your podcasts. All show notes are available at nosuchthing.wordpress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 29, 2017 • 58min
Episode 5 Youth, Gaming, and Game Design
Geneva and Mickell are products of NYC Public Schools, a handful of key programs for aspiring young digital creators, and (eventually) some supportive families. We cover lots of territory in this episode. Mickell takes us to school on game genres, and together they reflect on what key supports helped them pursue their passion. We also scratch the surface on gaming and gender, and Naomi Clark pops by to offer some ideas about why boys might be quicker to identify as a "gamer" than girls.In this episode:Mattie Brice: http://www.mattiebrice.com/Alexandre "Zedig" Diboine: http://alexandrediboine.tumblr.com/2064 Read Only Memories, the game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2064:_Read_Only_MemoriesVA-11 HALL-A (aka, "valhalla"), the game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VA-11_HALL-AThe World Ends With You, the game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Ends_with_You Naomi Clark: http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/faculty/naomi-clark/Learn more about the free Future Game Designers Program @ NYU: http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/academics/high-school/Eyebeam: http://eyebeam.org/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.
Sep 21, 2017 • 39min
Episode 4 Interviews at the 2017 VR Summit
I journeyed to the first Games 4 Change Festival VR Summit Reception in NYC to gather responses from industry, educators, student designers, and more, about how they see the potential of VR for influencing learning environments. We discuss VR games, using the technology for impact, and where VR might fall short. Hear from Games 4 Change's Sara Cornish about the Summit's inception, and how you can stay connected to G4C as their work continues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 15, 2017 • 34min
Episode 3 Brian Cohen, Co-founder of Beam Center
Why is it so hard to sort the signal from the noise when what we're working for is so fundamental? In this conversation, Brian Cohen, Co-Founder of Beam -- a Brooklyn space for making and learning, and a New Hampshire Summer Camp -- talks about the inspiration for founding the organization, and why he thinks that the challenges we face in education can only have collaborative solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 14, 2017 • 14min
Episode 2 Tour Beam Center's Brooklyn Makerspace
Allen and Dov team up to offer an unscripted tour of Beam Center's space in Brooklyn, NY. If you're a maker, a curious educator, or a veteran of the making and learning scene, you'll have a lot of fun learning more about the tools and materials that make this incredible multidisciplinary project space. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 12, 2017 • 1h 8min
Episode 1 Learning & Making at Beam Center, Brooklyn
In this episode I interview a talented educator, Allen Reilley, who, like so many practitioners in this space, loves designing experiences that help others discover the world the way does through his own art. And Dov Alperin, a wise and deeply reflective 13-year old coming up at MS442. I talk more with Beam Center's co-founder, Brian Cohen, in a future episode, and Dov and Allen graciously offer a tour of the center in a short episode that I will release between the two. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy our conversation about in this episode about learning and making from Beam Center in Brooklyn New York.Notes from this episode:Beam CampBeam CenterServo MoterArduinoAllen Rileyweirdweb.website, Dove Alperin's siteMakerfaire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 5, 2017 • 1h 3min
Episode Zero
In this episode, three young people--alumni of NYC public schools and digital programs that supported their journey-- share their ideas and experiences about digital life and learning. Through their dialogue, the group explores how race, gender, learning context, and access have all influenced their experience.Notes from this episode:Eyebeam and Playable Fashion New York Hall of Science Mouse 1:1 Schools Columbia University S-Prep Step program at Barnard NYU Poly / Tandon student enrollment data Active Nuclear Weapons on the planet and number it would take to end humanity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
