
No Such Thing: Education in the Digital Age
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.
Latest episodes

May 3, 2019 • 1h 1min
Dr.'s Chris Emdin and Edmund Adjapong
A conversation with Dr. Chris Emdin and Dr. Edmund Adjapong. Dr. Edmund Adjapong, a rising star of education leadership at Seton Hall University, who also coordinates #HipHopEd, is also a protege of Dr. Emdin, who was his high school physics teacher, then continued mentoring him as a professor when Dr. Adjapong went to grad school at Columbia University's Teachers College. We discuss their work in culturally responsive pedagogy, #HipHopEd, and critical views about how authenticity, agency, and voice must drive the movement to see Computer Science for All (Citizens).Register for May 4th, 2019 CS Teachers Con at: bit.ly/CSTeachersCon19and Learn more about NYC Deparment of Education's commitment to Computer Science for All: https://blueprint.cs4all.nyc/Guest Bio: Dr. Chris EmdinDr. Christopher Emdin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University; where he also serves as Director of the Science Education program and Associate Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. Dr. Emdin is a social critic, public intellectual and science advocate whose commentary on issues of race, culture, inequality and education have appeared in dozens of influential periodicals including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He is the creator of the #HipHopEd social media movement, and a much sought-after public speaker on a number of topics that include hip-hop education, STEM education, politics, race, class, diversity, and youth empowerment. He is also an advisor to numerous international organizations, school districts, and schools. He is the author of the award winning book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-hop Generation and the New York Times bestseller For White Folks Who Teach In the Hood and the Rest of Ya’ll too.Guest Bio: Dr. Edmund AdjapongDr. Edmund Adjapong is an assistant professor in the Educational Studies Department at Seton Hall University. He is also a faculty fellow at The Institute for Urban and Multicultural Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and author of #HipHopEd: TheCompilation on Hip-Hop Education Volume 1. Dr. Adjapong is a former middle school science educator at a New York City public school in The Bronx. He is the director of the Science Genius Program, a program that engages urban students in the sciences through Hip-Hop, and the director of The Science Genius Academy, a program that encourages and prepares students to pursue STEM careers while providing mentoring and support. Dr. Adjapong has appeared on media outlets such as Hot 97’s radio station and is a contributing writer for Huffington Post and The Good Men Project, where he writes about issues of race, diversity, social justice and education.Links from this episode:James Harden's step back compilation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gSDJ-HffHrUNipsey Hustle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipsey_Hussle, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm1s2VS9BdyXL9FU4a-W_cQDr. Edmund Adapong: http://www.edmundadjapong.com/Dr. Chris Emdin: https://chrisemdin.com/Three Ways Educators in the Classroom Can Continue the Legacy of Nipsy Hustle, by Dr. Edmund Adjapong: https://medium.com/@e.adjapong/3-ways-educators-can-continue-the-legacy-of-nipsey-hussle-in-the-classroom-10c54c35d0c3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 23, 2019 • 1h 7min
PBS for the Internet Age
Erik Martin was a guest on Episode 10 of this show, and I'm pretty excited that he's back. In February this year he wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post titled, We need a PBS for the Internet Age.Erik is a graduate student at the Oxford Internet Institute, and was a policy adviser at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He also worked as Sr Education Program Manager at the game engine company Unity, and was listed on Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 in the games category. When I read his piece in The Post I immediately started bugging him to join us on the show to say more. I have the feeling that when I look back on the episodes of 2019, this one will land among a handful at the top that really pushed my thinking. Whether or not you agree with his proposal, I hope that you walk away with your own ideas about the responsibility that legislators in the US could one day take for improving the inextricably connected role that the internet plays in our lives and our democracy beyond the whack-a-mole of censorship and regulation. Episode Notes:We Need a PBS for the Internet Age, Washington Post, Op Ed, February 25, 2019: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-internet-has-gone-bad-public-media-can-save-it/2019/02/24/024befd0-36b2-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html?utm_term=.05c7d6fd62e4Oxford Computational Propaganda Project: https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/MIT research on false information retweets more than real news: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/the-spread-of-false-and-true-info-online/overview/Newton Minnows 1961 speech, Television and the Public Interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_and_the_Public_Interest Network Propaganda, Book, Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/network-propaganda-yochai-benkler/1129078833?ean=9780190923631#/Shoshana Zuboff, Surveillance Capitalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalismBerkman Klein - talk on Network Propaganda: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2018-10-04/network-propaganda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 15, 2019 • 50min
Morton Arboretum Educators Help Bring In Spring
In addition to a ton of interesting things we discuss about the learning design that happens in a 1,700 acre arboretum, we dig into their new podcast called, "Planted: Finding your roots in STEM careers," an adorable title for an interesting show that's attempting to shed light on the professional world of an entire area of science that, previously, I honestly have no idea how people would've learned about.Meghan WiesbrockCurrently at The Morton Arboretum, Meghan Wiesbrock works with students at all places in their journey into STEM. Managing onsite curriculum-based nature programs, her and her team facilitate exposure to the natural world by providing rich, immersive learning experiences with the goal to build environmental affinity to protect trees and nature. She is co-host of the Planted: Finding Your Roots in STEM Careers Podcast. Meghan taught 7th/8th grade science for 6 years in Berwyn, IL. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Dayton, OH in Middle Childhood Education with endorsements in Science and Language Arts, and a Master's degree in Science Content and Process from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL.Jessica B. Turner-SkoffJessica’s doctorate studying plants took her to the heart of Appalachia and the wilds of the Alaskan Tundra, and it was during this time that she discovered her passion for telling the story of research and science. As The Morton Arboretum’s first science communicator, or ‘Treeologist,’ Jessica supports the Arboretum's mission and vision to be the leading center of tree expertise by communicating and sharing expert knowledge. While centered in the Science and Conservation Department, she works collaboratively with Education and Information to help catalyze tree champions by creatively making tree science, horticulture, and conservation relevant and accessible to target audiences. Currently, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors of The Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) and President Emeritus of the Auxiliary Board. She is on the Advisory Council of the Seed Your Future, the national movement to improve the public’s perception of horticulture. Jessica is also an adjunct professor for the Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area, teaching ‘Economic Botany’ and ‘Science Communication for Broader Impacts.’ About Morton ArboretumThe mission of The Morton Arboretum is to collect and study trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world, to display them across naturally beautiful landscapes for people to study and enjoy, and to learn how to grow them in ways that enhance our environment. Our goal is to encourage the planting and conservation of trees and other plants for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world. The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to the planting and conservation of trees. Its 1,700 acres hold more than 222,000 live plants representing nearly 4,300 species from around the world. About "Planted: Finding Your Roots in STEM Careers"Welcome to ‘Planted: Finding your roots in STEM careers,’ we are here to introduce you to some professionals that have interesting and diverse careers and the journey they took to get there. These plant professionals do everything from teaching people about the natural world, unlocking the secrets of DNA, and traveling the world to save unique species. Explore the journey, by listening to the episode that matches your interest, or mirrors your journey towards a STEM career.Links from this episode:About Planted: Finding your roots in STEM careers: https://www.mortonarb.org/learn-experience/educators/planted-finding-your-roots-stem-careersAbout Sonic Tomography: http://www.newdayarborist.com/tree-diagnostic-services/sonic-tomography/Aurelie Jacquet on Planted: https://www.mortonarb.org/learn-experience/educators/planted-finding-your-roots-stem-careers/episode-4-merging-interests Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 29, 2019 • 44min
In Case You Missed It
Brian Sweeting is a Digital Publishing Manager and Content Strategist for New Learning Times. He manages a team of writers whose goal is to create and curate compelling digital content that deepens an understanding of forward-thinking learning, teaching, and research.The New Learning Times (NLT) provides daily coverage of the transformation of learning opportunities in the information age for those shaping the future of education. NLT is produced at the EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University.The editorial frame for NLT is governed by our understanding of three major trends, which we have termed “The New 3R’s.” Far beyond mere reform, the education sector is undergoing a major Reformation, a profound reconfiguration of the customs, institutions, and relationships that together constitute the foundations for learning opportunities around the world. Spurred by rapid developments in communications and computation, the education sector is also experiencing a Renaissance of new ideas, processes, and possibilities to support learning across the lifespan. The rapid introduction and convergence of these emerging political, technical, and artistic forces is creating the conditions for a Revolution in what is becoming the new learning sector. The New Learning Times seeks to chronicle the major transformation in learning possibilities.Links from the episode:New Learning Times: https://newlearningtimes.com/Walking a Mile in Another Person’s Shoes Actually Works! https://newlearningtimes.com/cms/article/5924/walking-a-mile-in-another-persons-shoes-actuallyWoebot, the Therapist You Can Trust https://newlearningtimes.com/cms/article/5290/woebot-the-therapist-you-can-trustLearning to Code, One Kitten GIF at a Time https://newlearningtimes.com/cms/article/5679/learning-to-code-one-kitten-gif-at-a-timeLearn How to Spot Fake News. . . By Creating It https://newlearningtimes.com/cms/article/5178/learn-how-to-spot-fake-news-by-creating-it Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 8, 2019 • 56min
Invent To Learn's Sylvia Libow Martinez
Sylvia Libow Martinez was an aerospace engineer before becoming an educational software producer and vice president of a video game company. She spent a decade as the President of Generation YES, the groundbreaking non-profit that provides educators with the tools necessary to place students in leadership roles in their schools and communities. In addition to leading workshops, Sylvia delights and challenges audiences as a keynote speaker at major conferences around the world. She brings her real-world experience in highly innovative work environments to learning organizations that wish to change STEM education to be more inclusive, effective, and engaging. Contact Sylvia at: sylvia (at) inventtolearn (dot) com.Marc and Sylvia spend time talking about the 2nd Edition of Invent To Learn, how schools can be a glorious explosion of interesting things, and what Sylvia hopes will be the lasting impact of Maker Education.Visit Sylvia’s website and blog: SylviaMartinez.comLinks from this episode:Invent to Learn: https://inventtolearn.com/Lave and Wenger, situated cognition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situated_cognitionLawrence Maliguzzi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approachJean Piaget: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_PiagetJohn Dewey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_DeweyMaria Montessori: https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/History-of-MontessoriDeborah Meier: https://deborahmeier.com/Ted Size: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/29/10mcquillan.h29.htmlSylvia Chard, The Project Approach: https://youtu.be/jzeteh8qpD0Seymor Papert Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 1, 2019 • 1h 19min
"Curiouser and curiouser"
Ashley is a design thinker, brand strategist, and educator passionate about bringing design thinking into K-12 schools and mission-driven organizations. She consults with organizations and teams to bring human-centered strategy, mindsets, and content to their work.We cover a ton of ground in this conversation. If you're a current or aspiring design thinking educator I think there's a lot here for you. If you have ideas, resources, areas of DT that you'd like to hear covered on no such think I hope you'll come find me on twitter, @malesser.A quote mentioned in the episode from Paulo Freire:"There is no such thing as a neutral education process. Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of generations into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the ‘practice of freedom’, the means by which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."Notes for this Episode:Thor: https://www.throughthelg.comAshley Pinakiewicz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshleyPinaThank You For Being Late, Tom Friedman: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01F1Z0QHA&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_wdyECb23HACSWFieldguide for Educators, IDEO: http://www.designkit.org/resources/1The Teachers Guild, an online community: https://www.teachersguild.org/Design Thinking resources from Stanford "D" School: https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/k12-lab-network-resource-guideLeadership and Design: http://www.leadershipanddesign.org/Launch, book by John Spencer & A.J. Juliani: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G99AWYY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_zkxECbNT0QSKN#DTK12CHAT: https://twitter.com/hashtag/dtk12chat?src=hashDonald Norman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E257T6C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_X.xECbD75EY0Q Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 22, 2019 • 50min
Immersive Experience & How We Get The News
Graham Roberts is the director of immersive platforms storytelling, and leads a team that explores virtual and augmented reality projects, as well as innovation in video and motion-graphics. Marc is joined in this interview by Kimari Rennis of DreamYard Prep High School in the South Bronx, a Gamer and Youth Journalist.Notes from this episode:Experience Graham's work with the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/by/graham-robertsNew York Video Game Critic's Circle: https://nygamecritics.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 6, 2019 • 43min
Higher Ed and the Role of a Computing Culture
At the top of the last episode you learned about Mark Guzdial. Mark is a Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. After his talk at Cornell Tech's "To Code and Beyond" I had a chance to sit down with Mark and ask what questions had bubbled up while I listened to his talk live. Probably my most pressing question: what you're saying is great, but we've all seen professors like you on youtube - Mark is a brilliant, animated, ukelele playing Computer Science professor, who, from my time with him, seems as passionate about you learning about his passion topic, as he is about the topic itself. He's a rare mix, and what I'm sure many in the audience wondered - what the country is wondering right now - is how do we bottle some of that, and help thousands of teachers in every state offer young people the experience that surely the students in Mark's class have each semester. For what it's worth, out-of-state tuition at his school is $43,476 with a 26% acceptance rate. A wicked problem, indeed.Enjoy my talk with Mark. My thanks again to Cornell Tech and To Code and Beyond for helping connect us. Notes from this episode:Proust and the Squid: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060933845/proust-and-the-squid/Elliot Soloway: http://www.soe.umich.edu/people/profile/elliot_soloway/Seymor Papert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_PapertLogo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)Mitchell Resnick: https://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/Pat Bagget, Psychologist: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5425464 Situated Learning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situated_learning Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 4, 2019 • 38min
Computing Education as a Foundation for 21 Century Literacy
This is Mark Guzdial: he is a Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.This is his talk from "To Code and Beyond," a conference about education and computer science, hosted by Cornell Technion.Guzdial is a really important piece of this rubik's cube that is contemporary thought on computer science education. This talk is an important appetizer to the forthcoming episode, where Professor Guzdial and I dig into some of the topics he alludes to here. You'll notice that in the audio I intentionally made it sound like a hollow lecture hall to bring you closer to the milieu where such talks typically occur. That's not true. Sometimes a venue has technical hiccups, and this one caught the audio but didn't get a great recording. That's okay though, i'm grateful to have what we could get.If you're fired up about the talk. I'll link to the video in the show notes, where you'll be able to see some of the visuals he was sharing. It was a terrific talk, and if you can't tell from his introduction, Mark is one in a line of thought leaders who have fought hard to help us stay motivated in answering the tough questions around technology in learning. Is coding a critical 21st century literacy? Yes, he says, because it helps us learn everything else better.My tremendous thanks to Diane Levitt of Cornell Tech, who helped make this talk and my interview with Mark a possibility, and for throwing a top notch event where this and much more dialogue like it can take place.Notes from this episode:Video of the talk, "Computing Education as a Foundation for 21 Century Literacy": https://cornell.app.box.com/s/feib38ctri0hpcgylte78zbstvlrneywSeymor Papert, Mindstorms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindstorms_(book)Elliot Solloway: http://www.soe.umich.edu/people/profile/elliot_soloway/K-12 Initiative at Cornell Tech: https://tech.cornell.edu/impact/k-12/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan 24, 2019 • 47min
A Toolkit For Brokering Youth Pathways
Research Practice Partnerships, otherwise known as RPPs, are important. Just like in any other field, good researchers are constantly thinking about how to bring relevance and purpose to their research. RPPs make strategic partners out of researchers and practitioners to dig into what the field needs to know in the present, and closely study what’s working and what’s not.Guests from Hive Research Lab, New York University, and UC Irvine discuss the recently-published Toolkit for Brokering Youth Pathways, available online at Hiveresearchlab.org. Educators can access a series of what they’re calling “practice briefs” for youth programs to help realize promising (and sometimes less-promising) methods for leveraging youth participation for the purpose of building connections between too-often disparate learning experiences.Rafi Santo, Ph.D., is a learning scientist focused on the intersection of digital culture, education, and institutional change. Centering his work within research-practice partnershipsDr. Dixie Ching is a senior user experience researcher at Google, where she supports education-related products and services through strategic research and partnerships. Previously, Dixie has worked at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Center for Children & Technology/Education Development Center, New York Hall of Science, Discovery Communications, WGBH/NOVA, and Beijing Television.Dr. Chris Hoadley is associate professor in the Educational Communication and Technology Program, the Program in Digital Media Design for Learning, and the Program on Games for Learning at New York University. Dr. Kylie Peppler is an artist by training - Associate Professor of Learning Sciences at UC Irvine and engages in research that focuses on the intersection of arts, computational technologies and interest-driven learning. Links from this episodeThe Brokering Toolkit from Hive Research Lab: https://brokering.hiveresearchlab.org/practice-briefs/Scope of Work: https://www.scopeofwork.co/Beam Center: https://beamcenter.org/Hive Learning NYC: http://hivenyc.org/Emoji-Con NYC: https://emoti-con.org/Bridgid Baron: https://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/barronbj Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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