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The Back of the Class

Patrick O'Sheawww.podomatic.com
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Episodes

Daniel's Proposal

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Daniel talks about re-imagining the high school experience.

Mar 18, 201136 min

Patrick's Proposal

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Patrick talks about an educational game that he would develop.

Mar 10, 201134 min

Simon's Proposal

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Simon talks about his philosophy of technology usage and what that means for teacher training.

Mar 03, 201136 min

Is Homeschooling the Answer?

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class take a look at the arguments for homeschooling, and explore whether it is the answer to all of education's problems.

Feb 04, 201140 min

Grading Parents! No, Really...They Want To Grade Parents.

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss the idea of having teachers grading parents on how prepared their child(ren) is/are for school each day. It won't take long to find out how the kids in the back of the class feel about that one.

Jan 28, 201133 min

Practical Wisdom

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class are joined by an often-referenced person to discuss Barry Schwartz TED Talk, titled "Using Our Practical Wisdom". Simon was in the field, so Mark Salata joined us, and brought the topic.

Jan 20, 201134 min

The Thiel Conundrum

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss the Thiel Foundation's Fellowship program that gives $100,000 to each of 20 recipients under the age of 20. The program is designed to reward "stopping out of school" and furthering innovative science and technical ideas.

Jan 13, 201134 min

CAREing Schools

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class discuss, some in a very grumpy way, an article about CARE, a school initiative to bring values learning to students.

Jan 07, 201135 min

Education with SOLE

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss Sugata Mitra's TED talk about Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLE). For the most part, we just gush about the whole idea, but we do it in a confrontational manner.

Dec 24, 201034 min

The Pandora Classroom

In this episode, the boys at the back of the class discuss the feasibility of classes set up like the Pandora music service in order to differentiate and individualize instruction.

Dec 09, 201032 min

Can Schools Change The World

This show has the kids at the back of the class discussing the relationship between schools and their communities and asking if schools can solve the problems of the world.

Dec 03, 201040 min

Technology as an Educational Distraction

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class discuss the role that technology should play in education and how that technology may actually be acting as a distraction for students.

Nov 23, 201038 min

Women Make the World Go 'Round

This show focuses on research showing that the presence of women in groups is a predictor of how successful the outcomes of that group will be. In essence, the more women, the more successful the group. The kids at the back of the class tackle this issue, head on, and with gusto...

Oct 14, 201033 min

What Motivates Us

This show has the kids at the back of the class discussing the RSA Animate youtube clip entitled: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, and looking for what this video's message means for education.

Oct 06, 201031 min

Building a Better Teacher?

This show has the three kids at the back of the class discussing how to build a better teacher.

Oct 01, 201039 min

TBOTC Tackles NCLB

This episode sees us take on the practices associated with education in the age of NCLB.

Mar 11, 201037 min

The EduChatRoulette

This show focuses on the possible uses of ChatRoulette technology in educational professional development...assuming the numerous issues with it could be worked out.

Mar 04, 201037 min

The Success Factory

In this episode, we discuss whether the Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia (called the "Best High School in America") is actually a model of good education.

Nov 21, 200931 min

The Bookless Library

This show revolves around the concept of a library without any books. This is a process that a school outside of Boston is undertaking, where the concept is to replace all of the books in a traditional library with electronic means of data collection (e.g. Kindles).

Nov 16, 200937 min

Oppenheimer's Call

This show, after a short discussion of which topic to cover, leads into a discussion of what types of educational settings can spark a student's desire to learn

Sep 19, 200935 min

The Rubber Room

This show discusses the topic of the Rubber Room - used in New York City as a temporary (or permanent, depending on your view) solution to poor teachers who cannot be fired without an arbitration hearing.

Aug 30, 200929 min

The Purpose of School Episode

This episode discusses the nature of learning and the purpose of school. The discussion focuses on a Seth Godin blog post about whether education should be scarce or abundant, free or expensive, and about schooling or learning.

Aug 20, 200935 min

Time to Think

This episode focuses on the need for building time into the system that would allow teachers and students to think. This includes a discussion of what kinds of specific programs could be implemented to allow this time.

Aug 13, 200933 min

The Inuit School

This show centers on the teaching of culture and how that can change the focus of education away from traditional models and towards more practical applications of knowledge.

Aug 10, 200934 min

The Teacher as a Comedian Episode

This is the inaugural episode of the Back of the Class, a series of musing on education from the kids at the back of the class. In this episode, we discuss whether it's appropriate to train teachers on the skills that are necessary for becoming a comedian.

Aug 01, 200933 min
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