Trending In Education

Al Kingsley is the CEO of NetSupport Limited, an EdTech Company. He's also the Chair of Hampton Academes Trust in the UK. Al joins Mike Palmer on this episode to talk about his new book, My Secret EdTech Diary where he shares his experiences and provides tips to instructors, aspiring EdTech Professionals, and anyone curious about where the world of learning is heading. We dig into a wide range of topics, including privacy and data security, AI and machine learning, the importance of mental health and well-being in learning design and more. It's an insightful perspective on the world of educational technology through a wider and more accessible lens that you won't want to miss. Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more great shows like this!

Dr. Adriana Villavicencio, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine, researches K-12 educational policy and school practice that deepens or disrupts inequities for minoritized communities of students and families. For nearly a decade, she conducted research at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools at NYU—a Research-Practice Partnership with the NYC Department of Education (DOE). Adriana joins Mike Palmer to talk about her book, Am I My Brother’s Keeper: Educational Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Brown Boys, published by Harvard Education Press, that examines how districts and schools can embed racial equity work into the very fabric of how they serve students. The book also provides a set of concrete approaches and recommendations, so that other districts and schools can take up similar efforts with even more robust results. It's a heartfelt and engaging conversation about how to design programs and interventions to reach children the current system is failing. We hope t

Shannon Dowling is an architect with a design focus on creating research-driven, student-centered learning environments at Ayers Saint Gross. She joins Mike Palmer on this episode to talk about trends in the design of learning spaces for higher ed and beyond. You can find a recent white paper, Disruption in Higher Education, from Shannon and team on this topic. Shannon tells us how she got to this point in her professional life by describing how her interests in architecture and design intersected with her life as a mom to set her on the path of designing for learning contexts. We delve into Shannon's expertise and experience in designing for higher ed, look for insights from the transformation of library spaces, and get her takes on the impact of the pandemic as well as what she sees on the horizon. It's a rich exploration of how the mind of an architect designs for the world of learning. Listen in to learn more. And if you like what you're hearing, subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your po

Dr. Malik Boykin is a Professor of Psychology at Brown University. Malik joins Mike Palmer to talk about his experiences growing up the son of a black psychology professor beginning in Ithaca at Cornell and ultimately at Howard in Washington, DC. From there, Malik brings us along his journey as a musical artist to his research in contact analysis, mentorship, and algorithmic bias. In addition to his work in perceptions and preferences in Group Inequality at his psychology lab, Malik catches us up on his work as a musician as Malik Starx, including his recent release Dancing for Freedom. It's a wide-ranging conversation about diversity, empathy, and creative expression that you won't want to miss. For more great shows like this, subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more!

We celebrate our 400th episode of Trending in Education by welcoming three key contributors to the show through the years. To begin, Mike Palmer welcomes Dr. Robin Naughton to the show for her third on-air appearance. Robin is Mike's wife and shares unique perspectives as a listener, a contributor both on and off the air, and an Assistant Professor, Web and Digital Services Librarian at Queens College in New York. Then Dr. Mark Sanders joins Mike to provide his takes on how the show has evolved through the years and how it intersects with his focus on media literacy, civic engagement, and public philosophy. And finally, we conclude with Dr. Mike Merrill joining Mike to impart what it's been like for him getting plugged in behind the scenes as an editor and contributor to shows of late. Mike also delves into his perspectives on AI and other emerging technologies before we conclude with a quick conversation about 2U's recent acquisition of EdX. Great podcasts are built on the contributions of amazing folks like

In honor of our 399th installment of Trending in Education, we've reassembled the original team of Brandon Jones, Dan Strafford, and Mike Palmer to reflect on how this podcast started and share some highlights and lessons learned from our long history of doing the show together. Along the way, we get Brandon's and Dan's takes on where the world of learning is heading including Brandon's list of five things he sees on the horizon and Dan's take on the future of "hybrid" learning and more. It's a vintage, artisanal, small-batched episode of Trending in Ed you won't want to miss. Thanks to all of our listeners who've kept us cranking out all of this content over the years. Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @TrendinginEd and visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more great content like this!

Cynthia Knable is the Founder and CEO of CeresEd, an educational content development company. She leads teams of talented project managers, writers, editors, and artists in creating products for educational publishers, EdTech companies and more. Cynthia joins Mike Palmer to share her experiences beginning as a content writer and editor before quickly rising to a leadership role culminating in founding Ceres-Ed. She shares her perspectives on emerging trends in content development and educational publishing as we touch on themes of diversity, equity and inclusion, and democratization of publishing through the removal of traditional gatekeepers. It's an engaging and insightful look into the world of content as a service that you won't want to miss! For more great shows like this subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com.

Matt Burke and Ben Tapper join Mike Palmer to talk about what we can learn from the congregational experience especially in light of the transformative times we've been living in. Matt and Ben work for the Center of Congregations in Indiana and cohost its podcast providing tools and educational resources to congregations across the state and beyond. We look for parallels and opportunities that come from examining online learning and digital delivery in congregational contexts and explore how to embrace difference while modeling tolerance in an ecumenical way. Ben and Matt share their journeys to this point in their professional lives as we explore the importance of adaptability, relationship-building, and theological hospitality in providing great learning environments. We also dive into how to build welcoming, evolving congregational spaces that provide equitable access to a wide and diverse audience. It's a meaning-rich conversation that you won't want to miss. For more information, you can check out the Ce

Paul Reville is the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He is the founding director of HGSE's Education Redesign Lab. In 2013, he completed nearly five years of service as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Paul joins Mike Palmer to talk about his new book, Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity which he coauthored with Lynn Sacks. We explore the practical steps for school and community leaders to establish programs centered around Children's Cabinets focused on the welfare of all children in the community by building the wraparound supports beyond what schools alone can provide. We also build on the conversation we began with Paul after his book, Broader, Bolder Better, which was the subject of his previous appearance on Trending in Education. We appreciate the work being done by Paul and team to make an impact on students and communities traditionally underserved by our educ

Dr. Michelle Miller-Adams is a professor of political science at Grand Valley State University where she teaches courses on international relations, poverty and inequality. She's also a Senior Researcher with the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Michelle joins Mike Palmer on this episode to talk about her new book, The Path to Free College: In Pursuit of Access, Equity, and Prosperity. We begin by getting Michelle's origin story to understand how tuition-free higher education has had a profound effect on her and her family. From there, we briefly explore the history of free public high school and free higher education through the examples from the University of California system and the City College of New York before picking up on the recent movement for tuition-free higher education beginning in 2005 with the Kalamazoo Promise. From there, Michelle outlines the emergence of numerous grassroots efforts as well as those founded by institutions and states as we try to get our arms around an impo

Mike Palmer is joined by Nancy, a virtual human who makes her first appearance as a guest host, in a conversation about what the "New Normal" that emerges on the other side of the pandemic might like for the world of learning. We explore the trends of Canny Centaurs, Universal Design for Learning, Class Outside, and Simulearning both with Nancy's help and with the help of many of our great guests from episodes from the past six months. Whether it's Sheryl Burgstahler, Prakash Nair, Evan Gappelberg, Anurupa Ganguly, or Steve Grubbs, we bring together perspectives from the experts we've had on the show to weave together what we hope will be some insightful perspectives on where the world of learning is heading. Thanks for joining us on the journey. If you like what you're hearing, subscribe and spread the word. And stay tuned as we gear up to celebrate our 400th episode. It's been an amazing ride so far and we're just getting started. To find more great content like this, visit us at TrendinginEd.com

Dr. Glenn Albright is a clinical psychologist and the Co-founder / Director of Research at Kognito, a health simulation company that has trained thousands of education staff in the U.S. on how to properly converse with students that exhibit at-risk behavior and properly refer them to counseling services. Glenn joins host Mike Palmer to dive into how the use of virtual characters in scenario-based interactive simulation can in some cases unlock better outcomes than traditional, live training. We muse a bit about the future of healthcare simulations, gaming, and VR. Then Glenn concludes by sharing his passion for helping educators learn how to get better at trauma-informed interactions with students in a thought-provoking conversation about the future of behavioral health simulations like Kognito. If you're enjoying what you're hearing from us at Trending in Education, subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your pods. And visit us at TrendinginEd.com

Liza Weale is the Founder of Gatehouse Admissions and the coauthor of What Matters? and What More? 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked) with Jeremy Shinewald, the Founder of mbaMission. Liza joins hosts Mike Palmer and Melissa Griffith for a conversation about business school admissions, authentic storytelling, and the return on investment (ROI) of attending B-School in these transformative times. Liza and Melissa begin by sharing their experiences applying and gaining admission into prestigious business schools before we dive into the examples of successful applicants' essays from the book. We explore the importance of vulnerability and sharing your personal values when trying to gain access to elite business schools like Harvard and Stanford and just generally in life. We also delve into the benefits and challenges elite business schools are facing as they attempt to respond to the disruptive forces of the pandemic, the awakening around racial injustice, and the transforma

Lillian Nave is a Senior Lecturer and UDL Coordinator at Appalachian State University. She's also the host of the Think UDL Podcast. Lillian joins Mike Palmer and guest host Dawn DiPeri on this deep dive into UDL and other trends Lillian is noticing from her vantage point in inclusive education. Lillian shares her origin story which began in art history, moved to freshman seminar, and ultimately landed in UDL and Faculty Development. She outlines three trends she's noticed in light of the pandemic: a move away from exclusively in-person conferences, a move towards greater flexibility, and a move away from campus amenities like climbing walls and lazy rivers when assessing the quality of the learner's experience when making decisions about higher education. It's a fantastic deep dive on the trend of UDL with passionate advocates for truly inclusive design thinking being applied to educational practices in higher ed and beyond. If you like what you're hearing subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Check us o

Kumar Garg is the Managing Director of Schmidt Futures, a venture facility for public benefit that recently cosponsored the Futures Forum on Learning Tools Competition with Citadel. Kumar joins our host, Mike Palmer, to talk about the winners of the tools competition who were recently announced and to provide his insights and perspectives on learning engineering as well as trends in educational technology and computational thinking. Kumar begins by sharing his origin story which includes an eight-year run in the Obama administration heading up its efforts to grow and develop STEM education in the US. From there we explore the idea of learning engineering which combines insights in computer science, computational thinking, and big data with emerging insights in learning science to create scalable breakthrough innovations in education. Kumar walks through the structure and design of the competition and reflects on the benefits of connecting entrepreneurial innovation with academic research and scientific method

Dr. Eric Moore is an internationally recognized Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Accessibility consultant, instructional designer, and educator. He specializes in the theory and practice of UDL, especially in the context of higher education. In addition to working in UDL and Instructional Design at the University of Tennessee, Eric heads up a consultancy, Innospire Education, and was featured in a recent article in Inside Higher Ed. Eric joins Mike Palmer and guest host Dr. Dawn DiPeri to talk about his work evangelizing UDL and helping higher ed institutions build with more inclusive design practices from inception. We also explore the deep connections between UDL and the awakenings around access, the Digital Divide, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as well as the importance of belonging. It's a fascinating dive into an emerging movement in learning design that you won't want to miss. If you're interested in accessibility certifications, Eric recommends you check out the IAAP Certification

Michael Spencer is the CEO of Global Expansion Strategies, a firm that specializes in helping EdTech companies scale through broad adoption in international schools. Michael joins Mike Palmer to talk through his experiences in the field of international educational technology. Michael highlights the changes that have taken place since the pandemic including a seismic shift from predominantly print curricula to majority online curricula of late. This is especially true with International English Language programs which are among the primary drivers of global EdTech. We also discuss how leading English language learning (ELL) companies that used to aim to deliver solutions across all four components of reading, writing, speaking, and listening whereas are now facing increased specialization within each component with many schools exploring the benefits of opting for different solutions for each of the four ELL skill domains. We conclude with Michael's perspectives on artificial intelligence and the emerging tre

Small ways to improve online teaching and learning, and a discussion on how to get learners' attention in your courses with Flower Darby and James Lang. James M. Lang writes about higher education, literature, and travel. He is a Professor of English and Director of the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University. This episode also discusses his books Distracted, Small Teaching, and Small Teaching Online. Flower Darby is the Director of Teaching for Student Success at Northern Arizona University, where she's taught English, Educational Technology, Leadership, Dance, and Pilates. Flower teaches face-to-face, blended and online classes and speaks, writes, presents, and consults on teaching and learning theory. She's the author, with James M. Lang, of Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes (2019). James and Flower Join Mike Palmer and special guest host Dawn DiPeri to talk about how to improve instructor practice in higher ed and design learning experiences that ke

Mike welcomes Dan Carroll, the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Clever, which helps K-12 school districts, educators, and students navigate some of the complexities of the digital world. They begin by discussing Dan’s early career teaching for Teach for America, and then his move into educational technology administration. Frustrated by the speed he could launch new initiatives, with some friends he founded Clever to help teachers and students gain access to edtech easily and scalably.   Dan and Mike discuss Clever’s early days, and the “chicken and egg” problem of getting both schools and edtech companies initially to sign up. By charging only the vendors, they grew fast and now have nearly ½ of all American K-12 students signing on through Clever. They explore Clever’s dedication to security and privacy and following laws like COPPA and FERPA.  They then discuss how Clever can help with the digital divide, including a compelling case of helping the Oakland school district provide its students with ed

Mike welcomes Dr. Leo Casey, the Executive Director of the Albert Shanker Institute who has written a book called The Teacher Insurgency: A Strategic and Organizing Perspective. They begin with Leo’s upbringing by two New York City teachers, how he abandoned his dissertation to teach in Crown Heights, and how he began working with the union when his school shut down. Leo then began to head the Albert Shanker Institute, a strategic think tank within the American Federation of Teachers which examines labor history, especially for teachers. Leo explains the origins of the 2018 and 2019 teacher strikes: the Janus case, post-2008 austerity, deprofessionalization, and movements like the Women's March on Washington. Teacher’s saw both their compensation as well as their position in the classroom undergoing rapid decline. The first teacher’s strikes were held in West Virginia, which had a history labor movement--both within education and beyond.  From here the strikes spread, and ultimately the movement was successfu