In this special FOLC Fest 2025 episode of the Learning Futures podcast, host Sean Leahy sits down with Michael J. Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, who delivered the conference’s opening keynote, “From Chaos to Clarity: Innovation Strategies for Leading Through Uncertainty.” Dr. Sorrell recounts his early challenges at Paul Quinn when the institution had only 30 days of cash on hand and highlights the pivotal mindset shifts and empathy-driven leadership decisions that helped transform th...
Apr 04, 2025•46 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Original Show Notes from April 18, 2023 ---- In this episode - Sean and Punya are joined by guest co-host Iveta Silova to talk with prominent futures scholar Keri Facer to discuss Futures education, futures literacy vs futures literacies, futures thinking, and cultivating a 'temporal imagination'. In our conversation we learn about Keri's own academic and professional journey, and how studying the learning space of children became synonymous with studying the future. We discuss a recent publicat...
Jul 30, 2024•51 min•Season 6Ep. 16
Original Show Notes ------ Sean and Punya welcome special guests Dr. Scotty Craig (ASU) and Dr. Ryan Baker (Penn) to discuss rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and what implications it may have for education Guest Information Dr. Scotty Craig Is an associate professor of human systems engineering within The Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Dr. Craig is a learning engineer and has investigated resear...
Jul 16, 2024•51 min
In this special selects episode we re-listen to Sean and Punya talk about the journey and future developments of extended reality (XR) in education with Dan Beaupre and Tom Schmidt from One Giant Leap, LLC and ROAM respectively. We learn about the backstory and "origin story" from Dan and Tom and how they came together to join forces around their deep passion for education, storytelling, and emerging technologies. Extended Reality (XR) is a term that encompasses all immersive technologies that m...
Jul 02, 2024•1 hr 16 min
The AI Revolution Is Already Losing SteamIn this final episode of Season 6, hosts Sean and Rachna discuss new advancements in generative AI, reflecting on its journey and the hype surrounding it. The episode begins with a light-hearted conversation about screen visibility issues and transitions into more serious topics, including the rapid adoption of AI technologies and the varied spectrum of understanding across different environments. Rachna shares her experiences with AI guidelines developed...
Jun 18, 2024•55 min•Season 6Ep. 15
In this episode of the Learning Futures Podcast, Sean welcomes special guest Bea Rodriguez-Franson to discuss her recent TED Talk, "Unlocking Indigenous Knowledge: A New Path for Education." The conversation covers Bea's journey in uncovering untold histories, the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into educational systems, and the development of decolonial futures. Bea shares insights from her work with ASU's NextLab, emphasizing the significance of futures thinking and responsible ...
Jun 04, 2024•47 min•Season 6Ep. 14
In this fun student conversation from the ASU FOLC Fest, Omkar, Ram, and Jiya (members of a student VR club) from Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy, led by PhD candidate Frank Liu share the transformative potential of virtual reality in education. Through engaging anecdotes and shared experiences, they discuss how VR technology enables immersive learning experiences beyond traditional classroom constraints, highlighting projects from virtual science experiments to a flight simulator that ...
May 14, 2024•30 min•Season 6Ep. 13
In this episode Sean and Jake keep the conversation rolling from the first annual ASU FOLC Fest through highlights from our conversations with Megan Workmon and Medhansh Garg. Throughout this episode we explore insightful discussion on the intersection of technology, education, and creativity. Key Highlights: Insights from the first ever Future of Learning Community Festival held at ASU Talking with Megan we learn a lot about her role at ASU and her influence on learning experience design We lea...
May 07, 2024•54 min•Season 6Ep. 12
In this third installment of the ASU FOLC Fest Compendium - Sean and Jake turn to the conversations with Scotty Craig, Chelsea Schlesinger, and Karla Murphy on transformative approaches and innovative methods and experiences in integrating technology and student-centered strategies in education. Some Key Points Discussed: Technology in Learning: Scotty elaborates on the role of AI and other digital tools in reshaping educational environments, focusing on their practical use in classrooms to make...
Apr 30, 2024•38 min•Season 6Ep. 11
In this episode, Sean and Jake pickup where they left off exploring more experiences from the first ASU FOLC Fest , featuring interviews from Kenzie Hurst Newton and Mike Stordeur, Dee-Dee Collins-Jones, and Joy Griffin around the use of artificial intelligence in education, the integration of VR into learning environments, and the impactful ways in which these technologies are reshaping educational practices. This episode highlights the ongoing innovations at ASU, showcasing the university's co...
Apr 23, 2024•45 min•Season 6Ep. 10
In this episode, Sean and Jake (producer) talk about the pop-up podcast studio at the first ever ASU FOLC Fest – a learning festival dedicated to the integration of technology in education, and the potential impacts on teaching and student success. Special guests include Danielle McNamara and Retha Hill who are pushing the boundaries of educational practice. This episode is the first of 5 of our special coverage of the ASU FOLC Fest: The Future of Learning Community or FOLC Fest was a two-day in...
Apr 16, 2024•45 min•Season 6Ep. 9
In this episode, Sean talks with our special guests on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and education, with a particular focus on fostering equity and access. Sean is joined by Meacie Fairfax from Complete College America, Dr. Linda Garcia of the Center for Community College Student Engagement from The University of Texas at Austin, and Al Anderson, CIO for Salish Kootenai College, share their expert insights and experiences. Key highlights and takeaways from the episode: The Pot...
Feb 27, 2024•51 min•Season 6Ep. 8
This episode takes a retrospective review on 2023 and one of the most transformative technologies of our time - generative AI. Our panel of experts, including Punya Mishra, Sean Leahy, Rachna Mathur, and Kellie Kreiser, explores the impact of AI on various fields and reflects on personal experiences with this transformative technology. From academic conferences to real-life applications and philosophical musings, this discussion is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of AI, e...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Sean is joined by Rachna Mathur to talk about the successful student led event in Generative AI called Me & We in AI: Exploring what generative AI means to us and for us. In our conversation we talked about the challenges and successes of undertaking an event like this as part of a graduate course experience focused on Education by Design. This project gave students an opportunity to go beyond the theory of design and explore the ins and outs, ups and downs of design by directly living with ...
Nov 22, 2023•35 min•Season 6Ep. 6
In this episode of the Learning Futures Podcast, Dr. Siddharth Srivastava, Associate Professor at the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University discusses the need for responsible development of AI systems that keep users informed of capabilities and limitations. He highlights exciting research on learning generalizable knowledge to make AI more robust and data-efficient. However, dangers arise from overtrusting unproven systems, so regulation and oversight are ne...
Nov 14, 2023•52 min•Season 6Ep. 5
In this episode, we delve into the pioneering research led by Dr. Chitta Baral though his laboratory of Cognition and Intelligence at Arizona State University. He discusses the ground-breaking work and innovations emerging from his lab, with a special focus on the intersection of cognition, intelligence, and technology. Dr. Chitta's current research is an ambitious blend of exploring natural language, visual objects, and the intricate dynamics of multi-modal documents, with an eye toward impactf...
Nov 07, 2023•55 min•Season 6Ep. 4
In the spirit of Halloween - Sean (with the help of producer extraordinaire Jake) pull together a fun compendium of short stories from some of our colleagues and listeners for a special “spooky” episode of the Learning Futures Podcast. The Challenge : Create an original short story (about, with, or through) Generative AI, in the spirit of emerging technologies, AI, the future of humanity etc. in the spirit of Halloween. These can be any genre, they can be spooky, funny, creepy, suspenseful, thou...
Oct 31, 2023•39 min•Season 6Ep. 3
In this episode, we explore the multifaceted journey of cognitive scientist Ken Koedinger. With a diverse academic background encompassing degrees in computer science, mathematics, and psychology, Ken's unique trajectory converged at the intersection of technical expertise and an intrinsic understanding of human learning. This fusion of disciplines drew him into the realms of cognitive psychology and educational technology research. Within this intricate landscape, cognitive models emerge as pow...
Oct 24, 2023•59 min•Season 6Ep. 2
In this episode, host Dr. Sean Leahy engages in a captivating conversation with Dr. Katina Michael. Dr. Michael's unique journey, transitioning from the telecommunications industry to academia and technology/society research, sets the stage for a thought-provoking discussion. The conversation delves into a wide spectrum of emergent technologies, beginning with an exploration of the metaverse. Dr. Michael offers insights into its definition and current progress, while also pondering its future im...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Dive into Season 6 with host Dr. Sean Leahy as we navigate the dynamic, fast-paced, and rapidly changing technological landscape, delving deep into its transformative impact on society and education. This season promises enriching dialogues with international thought leaders operating at the crucial intersection of technology, cognition, and society.
Oct 10, 2023•3 min
This Selects episode was originally published on July 12, 2022. --- Original Show Notes --- Hosts Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy talk with Leigh Wolf and Audrey Watters about the futures of educational technology, how we have come into an era where technologies are present in almost all classrooms and how that has changed teaching and learning in significant ways. Our guests chat about how we could create a more humanistic approach to existing and emerging EdTech, and how EdTech can become a road...
Aug 22, 2023•45 min
This Selects episode was originally published on June 21, 2022 --- Original Show Notes --- Clarin Collins, Sean Leahy, Robin Lake, and Brent Maddin come together to discuss the current landscape of challenges facing public education. The worldwide pandemic opened many eyes to the current struggles teachers face and encouraged many institutions to change their education models, one such example being the NEXT Education Workforce. Through discussion we are guided along the possibilities of where p...
Aug 15, 2023•53 min
This Selects episode was originally published on March 28, 2023. --- Original Show Notes: --- In this episode Punya and Sean discuss some of the highlights captured in a recent interview with Senior Research Fellow from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Dr. Chris Dede and talk about AI and education. Guest Information: Dr. Chris Dede Chris Dede is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) who has worked with AI since the 1970s. A former Timothy E. Wirth Profes...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Drs. Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy have a very engaging conversation with Dr. Ruth Wylie, Dr. Danah Henriksen, and Maricel Lawrence about Futures Thinking. Each panelist discusses how they engage in different types of futures thinking and give tips for others to become engaged in this work. They also discuss how topics such as creativity, play, and wellness integrate with futures thinking. --- Original Show Notes --- Clarin Collins, Sean Leahy, Ruth Wylie, Danah Henriksen, and Maricel Lawrence d...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 7 min
This re-released episode features the full audio recording and notes from the original broadcast: July 26, 2022. We (Jake) hopes you'll enjoy revisiting this ever timely topic for the Futures of Learning! --- Original Show Notes --- Hosts Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy talk with Jill Koyama and Daniel Liou about the continuing disparities that are present in education. Starting out on a global level, our guests react to the UNESCO report on reimagining the future of education, talking about the i...
Jul 25, 2023•55 min
In this short bonus episode Sean talks with Learning Futures producer Jacob Snider about Jake's summer take-over of the show. Jake shares a little preview of the episodes he will re-release over the next few weeks as the rest of the podcast team gears up for Season 6.
Jul 24, 2023•4 min
In this episode - Punya and Sean talk around a great interview with ASU's own Kyle Jensen, who is the director of the writing center. This episode explores the impact of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) on creativity and the writing process, along with many other topics such as attention economy, consolidation of information, considerations around regulation, to name a few... Guest Information Kyle Jensen Kyle is the director of Writing Programs and a professor in the Department of...
May 23, 2023•50 min•Season 5Ep. 11
In this episode - Sean is joined by guest host Dr. Steven Weiner to lead a panel discussion around the challenges in changing the educational system and barriers to implementing change. The panel examines the reasons why high school is particularly difficult to change and explores potential solutions for overcoming these barriers. In this episode Steven and team highlight ongoing projects at Arizona State University that support educational systems change and proposes ways for researchers to bet...
May 16, 2023•49 min•Season 5Ep. 10
In this Bonus episode Sean talks with special guest and friend of the show Stephanie Pierotti (Director of ShapingEDU at ASU) about the upcoming FREE Virtual event - ShapingEDU Mini Summit: AI x Higher Ed, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI Tools that will be held on May 11, 2023. This is a Free Event - you can sign up or learn more by visiting ShapingEDU.asu.edu Event Description: Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create more impactful, individualized learning journeys tha...
May 09, 2023•15 min
In this episode Sean and Punya sit in studio and talk about the recent interview Punya and Danah had with Ethan Mollick for their Tech Trends series in which they talk with Ethan on a wide range of topics covering creativity, games, entrepreneurship and his journey to being one of the most visible scholars openly experimenting with AI in his teaching in higher education. About our Guests: Ethan Mollick Ethan Mollick is an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvani...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 9
