Trending In Education

Mike and Dan welcome Brandon Jones back to Trending in Education to get his quick takes on trends to be on the lookout for in 2020. Mike and Dan gear up for prediction season which will cover both 2020 Vision and 2030 Farsight! Welcome to the conversation. Here’s to an amazing year and an even better decade! Let the prognostication commence!!

Dan and Mike dig into an Edutopia article by Yuroki Terada outlining the key findings in educational research in 2019. What sorts of findings jump out and which stories did we cover on Trending in Education? We take some time to look back as we gear up to peer forward into 2020 and the decade to come on this week’s episode. We hope you enjoy!

Dan and Mike welcome Brandon Jones back to the show to talk through the best gifts for kids and lifelong learners this holiday season. What toys and games make sense for kids and what sorts of gifts might work for adults who want to stay sharp and fresh in this modern day and age? We also take some time to step back from the commercialism of the shopping season to explore how to model generosity and empathy as we engage with those we love this holiday season. We hope you have a wonderful season and we’re very grateful that you are listening.

Mike, Dan, and Melissa discuss the work of Dr Douglas Belshaw on “digital literacies” based on a recent talk Mike attended at the Ithaka The Next Wave Conference on the future of Higher Education in New York Is “digital literacy” a monolithic, binary thing or is it a set of mindsets and skillsets that are best understood on continua? How does this relate to “surveillance capitalism” and the pervasive revenue models of many of the dominant digital platforms of the 21st Century? How much of this is learnable and teachable and who is best-positioned to provide education about all of this? We dig all of this on this week’s show and look forward to diving back in more in the future.

For this week’s extra, Mike is joined by Design Anthropologist and Podcaster, Dr Adam Gamwell, to explore how robots, science fiction, and anthropology are interrelated. In a free flowing and imaginative conversation, we explore how the narratives and secular myths of pop culture and our collective consciousness provide insights into how we understand what it means to be human, how we engage with the Other, and how we grapple to understand how new technologies are driving profound changes to the world around us. Listen in for an illuminating conversation. We hope you enjoy!

Mike sits down with Sarah Daniels, the CEO of Blue Canoe, an English Language Learning (ELL) company specializing in professional spoken English. Sarah walks through the brain science behind the techniques they’ve incorporated into the Blue Canoe App to ensure their learners can master the nuances, vagaries, and seeming inconsistencies of spoken English. There’s a lot to be learned and we get in our share. We hope you enjoy listening.

Mike and Dan welcome Tarlin Ray back to the show as the trio breaks down the recent sensation associated with the phrase Ok Boomer. We trace the trend back to it’s origins on Tik Tok to its “jump the shark” moment in New Zealand Parliament to its recent appearance at a protest that halted the start of The Game, Harvard and Yale’s yearly football matchup. How does the Ok Boomer phenomenon impact our broader thinking about generations? How does this tie to research about generational differences, stereotypes, and metastereotypes? We connect this conversation to research and insights about group dynamics, decision-making, and diversity in a fun and free-flowing conversation. We hope you enjoy.

This week Mike dives into a conversation about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education with Sergei and Vadim Revzin, the hosts of The Mentors podcast. We begin by exploring each brother’s origin story of how they got involved in entrepreneurship and mentorship for aspiring entrepreneurs. How do storytelling, asking for help, and having drive contribute to being a successful entrepreneur? How much can be taught and what techniques work best when mentoring? We also explore how entrepreneurship and thinking like an entrepreneur is relevant to just about everyone, whether you’re pitching to venture capitalists or simply trying to stay relevant, inspired, and creative in your professional life. There’s plenty to learn from and be inspired by in this show and from The Mentors. Thanks again to Vadim and Sergei for joining. We hope you enjoy listening!

Mike and Dan explore the concept of gratitude from a few different angles as we gear up for Thanksgiving in the US. How can we learn to be more grateful and what kinds of gratitude work best? Can we be more other-pleasing with our gratefulness and can we learn to be grateful even for the hard times and the challenges of desirable difficulty. We’re very thankful for our listeners and hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving bonus edition!

Mike sits down with Russell Glass, the CEO of Ginger, the behavioral health app. We dig into the importance of coaching and proactive, preventative mental health as ways to address the growing mental health crisis in the US. Can an app help address the emerging epidemic of social isolation? Does digital help open up access to help in new and surprising ways? Or does it reinforce our addiction to screens? And how do mindfulness and gratitude factor into the equation? Have a listen, focus on your breathing, and find out!

Mike shares his experiences with Dan after attending the HolonIQ Global Summit on the Future of Learning and Talent which was recently held in New York City as part of a Global tour. We dive into where the world of education is heading from a venture capital and investment lens based on Mike's impressions from the summit. In particular, we explore how companies like Western Governors University, Penn Foster, and Cluster, among others, are investing in new models to reach learners who may not easily fit into traditional models of post secondary education. We also revisit themes we covered on our recent show based on HolonIQ's Education 2030 report which looks at broader growth and investment trends in education which we're expecting to continue through the next ten years. We hope you'll listen in and enjoy.

This week, Mike is joined by Colonel Chris Mayer, Associate Dean for Strategy & Initiatives at West Point, to talk about teaching strategic leadership in a VUCA world. As a quick disclaimer, the views expressed herein are those of Chris, our guest, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense. We begin by breaking down the concepts behind the VUCA acronym as we explore how best to lead in an increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world. Chris imparts insight based on his experience teaching cadets at the military academy as we share perspectives on the ideas outlined in the first chapter of Bob Johansen's book, The New Leadership Literacies. In a world where SNAFUs go FUBAR on the regular, how should we evolve our leadership thinking from traditional command-and-control hierarchies into dynamic, responsive, shapeshifting organizations? What roles does positivity have to play and why is it go

We give ourselves an overall grade of "It's Complicated" as Mike and Dan dig into the results of the 2019 NAEP exams, aka our "National Report Card." The news isn't great on the Reading front with 2019 US Reading Scores dropping 1 point on 4th Grade Reading and 3 points on 8th Grade Reading versus 2017 scores. US Mathematics Scores for 2019 were flatter with 4th Grade Mathematics scores up 1 point and 8th Grade Mathematics scores down 1 point versus 2017 scores. This launches us into a discussion of what inferences we can and cannot make based on these results, and we caution against gravitating to the more provocative and clickbaity angles on the story. We also return to earlier conversations we've had about growth versus proficiency and charter schools / school choice to see where they are and are not related to the results of the most recent NAEP exams. We conclude by shifting the focus to the types of reading interventions that might turn around this short term dip while remembering that the overall trend

As an extra this week, Mike and Dan spend time with Jaye and Adam Fenderson, the filmmakers behind the new documentary, Unlikely. The film explores the problem of low graduation rates among US college entrants through the stories of 5 students and their families. We explore why this problem hasn't yet elevated to the national consciousness despite the fact that the US trails major industrialized nations with a college completion rate of less than 50%.. This is made evident through an exploration of the challenges faced by "non-traditional" students balancing their educational needs with other financial, familial, and professional demands in 21st Century life.. Rather than dispiriting, however, the film is ultimately inspirational by spotlighting innovative programs like the iPromise School, the Starbucks/ASU College Achievement Plan, and Year Up, among others, that are opening up access to opportunity for students who our higher ed system might have otherwise forgotten,

This week, Mike and Dan spend time with friend of the show, Dr Mark Sanders, discussing civic engagement as Election Day 2019 approaches. Mark describes the ways in which he's been engaging with students and the community at UNC Charlotte where Mark is a Philosophy professor. What lessons can be learned about civic engagement during an off-year election like this one? Beyond voting and serving on jury duty when called, what else is essential to civic engagement in the 21st century? How can philosophy provide us with techniques and ways of thinking about problems that elevate our understanding and drive more critical engagement with civic matters? We model good critical thinking and civil discourse as we think ahead to a year from now and grapple with yet another complex spate of issues on this week's show. Have a listen and enjoy!

In an emerging Trending in Education Halloween tradition, we take time to talk brains, BCIs in particular. Building on our recent episode about Data Privacy, the team dives into an exploration of recent news about Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Over the summer, researchers at Carnegie Mellon demonstrated that non-invasive BCIs could enable the generation of simple commands in computers through use of helmets or other wearable tech. No surgery or implanting of chips required. We take a moment to celebrate the levels of access technology like this will open up before digging into some scarier hypotheticals that tie back to topics of cyber security, ethics, and informed consent. Oh and we talk a bit about how the Terminator's back once again on a very special Halloween Extra. Enjoy!

Mike and Dan catch up on the developing story that is Operation Varsity Blues. With Felicity Huffman serving 11 days of her 14-day sentence while Lori Loughlin and her husband are fighting their charges, we explore how the ongoing coverage of this scandal hints at a deeper sense of simmering cultural unease about fairness, equity, and college admissions. A Lifetime movie is already out and James Van Der Beek was tweeting about this long before he was Dancing With the Stars. It’s everywhere in the zeitgeist, so we try to make sense of this education story that is one part reality tv, one part morality play, and a whole lot of myth-making. We stay mostly on the frothy surface story but at times try to plumb the depths on this week's show. We hope you enjoy your listen.

For this week's extra, Mike is joined by Ron Reed and Greg Rosenbaum from SXSW EDU to talk about trends in learning and education over the past 10 years as the conference gears up for its 10th anniversary run in March 2020. What has changed over the years and what has remained the same? What's it like to run a learning conference as part of SXSW? How is SXSW EDU operating in a way that is inclusive and representative of the community and how does it continue to explore the cross disciplinary nature of the education landscape in the 21st Century? You'll hear about all of this and also get some news about the launch of a dedicated Podcast Stage featuring a live recording of Trending in Education which is on tap for SXSW EDU in the coming Spring. Have a listen to learn more! And join us next March in Austin if you can https://www.sxswedu.com/attend/ !

A Complex Nexus: Melissa Griffith is back with Mike and Dan as we dive into the complex and highly relevant topic of data security and data privacy with special attention to the learning implications for consumers, brands, and educators. We focus on recent research from Pew and elsewhere that indicates that a majority of Americans don’t understand key terms and concepts in data privacy and cybersecurity. You can read up more about this topic in a recent article by Nicole Lindsey from CPO Magazine: https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/new-pew-research-study-a-majority-of-americans-know-little-about-digital-security-and-privacy/ Questions Covered in Today's Show: What is GDPR and why is it relevant? How do the different ways in which the US, China, and the EU address data privacy and data innovation set the stage for an emerging AI Race? Do private companies have a fiduciary responsibility to their customers to protect their data? Is government regulation the answer or will it stifle innovation? How does

Mike and Dan recap their time at the Sound Education conference and explore some of their key takeaways. How does our own podcast fit into the growing learning audio ecosystem? How might new entrants like Luminary, Himalaya, and Lyceum change the way we understand educational audio? Is there a freemium model that will allow learning podcasts to remain free but allow for more growth and sustainability? We discuss all this and more on our latest Trending in Education.