Dr. Monique Chism is the Under Secretary for Education at Smithsonian Institution . She joins host Mike Palmer to share what it’s like to lead education efforts for the Nation’s Museum and the thinking that’s gone into designing their National Education Summit that’s happening later this summer. We begin with Monique’s origin story starting in a classroom teaching for 8 years before moving on to work at a nonprofit organization focused on closing achievement gaps and culturally proficient instru...
Jun 12, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 558
Jeremy C. Young is the Program Director of Freedom to Learn at PEN America where he focuses on defending academic freedom in schools and on campuses across America. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the unprecedented assaults on the New College of Florida and what we all can do about it. We begin with Jeremy's origin story as a US History Professor who grew increasingly involved in defending academic freedom during his time with the American Historical Association before joining ...
Jun 08, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 557
Michael Chasen in the Founder and CEO of Class and the Founder and former CEO of Blackboard . He joins host Mike Palmer in an exploration of his career defining new categories while driving innovation in educational technology. We start by hearing the Founder’s Tale of Blackboard, the industry-leading learning management system (LMS). Then Michael explains what led him to found Class in the Fall of 2020. In a world transformed by the pandemic and Zoom, Michael seized the opportunity to launch a ...
Jun 05, 2023•22 min•Season 7Ep. 556
Heather Harding, Ed.D., is the Executive Director of the Campaign for Our Shared Future . She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the recent wave of book bans that have rolled out across the US over the past few years and the work that she and team are doing to counter this. We begin by hearing Heather's origin story as a teacher in rural North Carolina for Teach for America where she taught middle school and high school in underserved communities. Since then, her mission has been to ...
Jun 01, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 555
Miriam Plotinsky is a writer and instructional specialist who recently wrote the book Lead Like a Teacher: How to Elevate Expertise in Your School . She rejoins host Mike Palmer in a discussion about lessons in leadership by embracing empathy with what it's like to teach and openness to the critical input that teachers can provide in a flourishing school culture. We begin by welcoming Miriam back to the podcast with a nod to her previous appearance to discuss Teach More, Hover Less , her first b...
May 25, 2023•35 min•Season 7Ep. 554
Adam Dalton is the Founder and CEO of Imagine Robotify , a company that helps kids learn to code using virtual robots. He rejoins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about STEM education, the future of work, and the massive shifts we’ve seen in AI since we first met Adam last August. We hear how Adam got to this point in his career, founding, growing, and ultimately selling Robotify to Imagine Learning when he was 23. Then he shares his concerns about using AI with young learners before exploring...
May 22, 2023•31 min•Season 7Ep. 553
Hasan Ali is the Founder and CEO of AirTutors , an EdTech company delivering high-dosage online tutoring at scale. He joins host Mike Palmer to talk about emerging trends in tutoring, AI, learning loss, and more. We begin by hearing of Hasan's roots in Stockton, California, before heading to Cal Berkeley and then Los Angeles with an initial goal of becoming a doctor. Despite his mother's concerns, he founded AirTutors after tapping into the tutoring market in private schools around LA. From ther...
May 18, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 552
Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade is a Professor of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and he’s the author of Equality or Equity: Toward a Model of Community-Responsive Education . He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about shifting the foundations of our educational system to focus on the wellness of our most wounded and vulnerable students. We begin by hearing Jeff’s origins as a community member, a father, an academic/researcher, and a practitioner in education in Oakland, Californ...
May 11, 2023•48 min•Season 7Ep. 551
Bharat Krishna is the Managing Director at The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) , an organization that helps higher ed, research, and government partners foster integrity and professional advancement of their learners. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about recent trends in research, tech ethics, generative AI, and more. We begin by hearing Bharat's origin story, including stints at McKinsey and Kaplan where he and Mike got to know each other. He then des...
May 08, 2023•36 min•Season 7Ep. 550
Scott Miller is an Executive and Leadership Coach who focuses on Time Management. He's also the host of the Time-Task-Energy podcast . He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about Scott's work coaching folks on time management with plenty of tips and insights along the way. We begin by hearing Scott's origins as a skydiving instructor and then a test prep coach. From there we learn how Scott flipped the script a bit by making time management the core focus of his coaching practice. How is p...
May 04, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 549
Dr. Jon Shelton is an Associate Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. He returns to the podcast to join host Mike Palmer in a conversation about his new book The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy . We begin by recalling Jon's previous appearance on Trending in Ed from September of 2020 and reflect for a moment on how much has transpired since then. From there, we launch into what drove Jon to write The Education Myth where h...
May 01, 2023•37 min•Season 7Ep. 548
Host Mike Palmer is joined by Nancy our Virtual Cohost in a conversation about emerging trends in EdTech, Generative AI and more coming out of his recent trip to the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego . We start by plugging Nancy into Chat GPT to connect Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the emerging transformations powered by Large Language Models and Gen AI. Then Mike reflects on his embodied, human experiences of the conference as opposed to the benefits of digesting the content online. How does this r...
Apr 28, 2023•25 min•Season 7Ep. 547
Aneesh Sohoni is the CEO of One Million Degrees (OMD), a non-profit that accelerates community college students’ progress on career pathways to economic mobility. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the role community colleges and programs like his can play in opening pathways to opportunity for students in need. We begin by hearing Aneesh's story beginning with his parents' decision to come to America to build a life for their family. From there, we hear of the role community coll...
Apr 24, 2023•28 min•Season 7Ep. 546
Dr. Eric Schickler is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley where he is currently working on a book about polarization in American politics. He joins host and fellow New College alum, Mike Palmer, in a discussion about what's happening at New College , what it says about the current state of higher education and politics in America, and what we can do about it. We begin by hearing Eric's origin story which in many ways began with his experiences at New Colleg...
Apr 20, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 545
Andy Pass is the Founder of A Pass Educational Group , an Elearning and Instructional Design services company. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how learning content development and instructional design are being transformed by generative AI tools like Chat GPT. We begin by hearing Andy's origin story which begins in a Jewish Day School where he discovered his love of teaching. Soon after, he discovered instructional design and sales while working for Pearson which led him to fou...
Apr 17, 2023•27 min•Season 7Ep. 544
Julie Lammers is the SVP of Advocacy and Corporate Social Responsibility at American Student Assistance (ASA) , an organization that is committed to increasing opportunity for young people to have the tools necessary to plan for postsecondary and career success. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about exposing young people to a variety of potential career pathways as early as possible in their educational journeys. We begin by hearing Julie’s origin story which centers around her oppo...
Apr 13, 2023•30 min•Season 7Ep. 543
Sudhir Krishnaswamy is the CTO of Barnes & Noble Education Digital Student Solutions where he leads the team that designs Bartleby Write and related products focused on writing help. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how best to design online writing help products in light of emerging technology like Chat GPT . We hear how Sudhir was drawn to computer programming early in his career and how he's held a series of senior technology roles across various education companies most ...
Apr 10, 2023•36 min•Season 7Ep. 542
Sakina Pitts is the Principal of The Newark School of Fashion and Design and Giselle Morell is the Head of Customer Engagement at N Ventures at The New School of Social Research . The duo joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the recent launch of NSFD in partnership with N Ventures as they look to expand access to students through entry points, pathways, and relationships in the fashion industry. We hear Sakina's origin story as a student growing up in Newark who had a love for fashion ...
Apr 06, 2023•37 min•Season 7Ep. 541
Bryan Alexander is an award – winning , internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of higher education’s future. He's the author of the recent book Universities On Fire: Higher Education in Climate Crisis which forms the foundation of this episode. Bryan joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how to use futures thinking to explore climate-related scenarios with special attention to higher education. We begin by reflecting ba...
Apr 03, 2023•35 min•Season 7Ep. 540
Jennifer Granick is the surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project . She litigates, speaks, and writes about privacy, security, technology, and constitutional rights. She is the author of the book American Spies: Modern Surveillance, Why You Should Care, and What to Do About It and is an alum of New College of Florida along with host Mike Palmer. She joins Mike in a conversation about her work with the ACLU, her perspectives on the current situat...
Mar 30, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 539
Heather Combs is the CEO of StraighterLine , a platform that provides affordable access to college credit through online courses. Heather joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the disruption we've witnessed to traditional models of higher education in recent years and the role StraighterLine is playing in this transformation. Heather begins by describing her background in business transformation and software development that provides sharp perspective into developing online products tha...
Mar 27, 2023•31 min•Season 7Ep. 538
Joel Kupperstein is the Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Learning A to Z . He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about teaching, writing, and emerging tools like Chat GPT and generative AI. Joel shares his roots as a teacher from a family of teachers who began in the classroom in Los Angeles before moving to Product Strategy on the commercial side at leading EdTech companies like Learning A To Z. We explore how the design of assignments and assessments will need to evolve as la...
Mar 20, 2023•23 min•Season 7Ep. 537
Kyle Li is an interaction and learning designer based in New York City where he's an Assistant Professor of Design Technology at Parsons School of Design. He joins host Mike Palmer to discuss his experiences working with students exploring design and emerging technology. Kyle shares how he is fulfilling his mission to bridge the gap between higher education and emerging tech by working on projects like the partnership Parsons has formed with Roblox , the gaming platform used by millions of kids....
Mar 16, 2023•39 min•Season 7Ep. 536
Host Mike Palmer is joined live at SXSW EDU by Dr. Tolonda Tolbert, Elliot Felix, Dr. Robin Naughton, and a live audience as we reveal our Learning Trends March Madness Brackets for 2023. We meet Tolonda, Elliot, and Robin briefly as Mike welcomes, family and friends into the conversation. He shares the show's history with March Madness and our previous junkets to Austin to record episodes at SXSW EDU. From there, we hear from each of the panelists as they introduce their four trends for the bra...
Mar 13, 2023•47 min•Season 7Ep. 535
To celebrate the kickoff of our Learning Trends March Madness Brackets, host Mike Palmer introduces Nancy his Virtual CoHost who runs through a ChatGPT-powered simulation of our Learning Trends Tournament for 2023. But fear not, we're just getting started. All of this coincides with our live panel at SXSW EDU in Austin that kicks off the podcast stage. Then as a special bonus we share a conversation Mike had with SXSW EDU Founder Ron Reed and its Senior Director Greg Rosenbaum during our first v...
Mar 07, 2023•31 min•Season 7Ep. 534
Dr. Robin Naughton is an Assistant Professor and Web and Digital Services Librarian at Queens College in New York. She specializes in Human-Computer Interaction and User-Centered Research with a focus on mental models of libraries and library websites. She joins her husband, our host, Mike Palmer, in a conversation to set the stage for their live panel at SXSW EDU with Dr. Tolonda Tolbert and Elliot Felix on Monday, March 6th at 11:30am in Austin. If you're at SXSW on Monday, we'd love to see yo...
Mar 02, 2023•31 min•Season 7Ep. 533
Osnat Benari is a product and leadership coach for companies and professionals. She has over 20 years of product management experience working for companies like Diligent, Verizon Media, WeWork, and BBG Ventures. She has been named one of the top product-led growth influencers. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about her book, Starting From Scratch: Managing Change Like Your Career Depends on It . In a free-flowing conversation, Osnat walks us through the steps outlined in the book be...
Feb 23, 2023•24 min•Season 7Ep. 532
Jonny Coreson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Everprep , a platform designed for professionals who want to share their expertise with learners seeking to pass exams to earn credentials. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about the “Long Tail” of Test Prep and how he’s building a SaaS solution to empower both providers and preppers alike to achieve their goals and dreams. We hear Jonny’s “origin story” which begins in the Navy where he built a successful prep product with Bluejacketeer to p...
Feb 20, 2023•27 min•Season 7Ep. 531
Don Carson is the Sr. Art Director at Mighty Coconut where he creates attractions to be experienced in VR for games like Walkabout Mini Golf and beyond. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about his experiences with placemaking in virtual reality and how those insights might relate to learning. After Don was trained as a commercial illustrator, his work branched out to focus on the design of physical and virtual spaces. Working as a Senior Show Designer, and freelance contributor to Walt...
Feb 16, 2023•37 min•Season 7Ep. 530
Dr. Philippa Hardman uses learning science to help people design better learning experiences. She is the creator of the DOMS™️ learning design engine , a Cambridge University Scholar as well as a Host, Author and Advisor. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how organizational leaders, learning designers, and anyone creating learning products can use Chat GPT and other generative AI tools to become more productive in their endeavors. We learn how Philippa got involved in academia b...
Feb 13, 2023•34 min•Season 7Ep. 529
