Trending In Education

As we’ve said on numerous occasions, you need 21st Century skills to pay those 21st Century bills. To that end, Coursera, the online learning platform, recently released its inaugural Global Skills Index, billed as "data-driven insights into the world’s top career skills.". Dan and Mike are once again joined by Melissa Griffith as we dive into the global insights this report has to offer. What skills are most sought after by Coursera’s users? How might this data be interpreted to understand global upskilling trends? Are there any gaps or biases in the data that Coursera is working with and how might future 'GSI' reports look as Coursera refines this report? What other learning platforms could add broader context to what’s happening with global skill development? How does the United State stack up against the rest of the world and how should we interpret those comparisons?We cover these questions and tie the conversation to broader trends in workforce development and the future of work on this week’s show

Amazon announced they'll be investing over 700 million dollars in upskilling and reskilling a large portion of their current workforce between now and 2025. Over the next six years, the retail giant will be providing training in AWS, machine learning, and other areas of work within the organization.  Mike and Dan are joined by Melissa Griffith to dive into what this could mean to the future of work at Amazon and beyond. We also explore the implications to the broader field of workforce development as AI and automation intersects with human upskilling. How is Amazon choosing which employees will receive this training? What sort of data might Amazon collect to measure the efficacy? Should that data be open or proprietary? How might this training scale to other companies?  Get primed and ready to go as you dive into this episode on what’s emerging in workforce training at Amazon.

This week, we dive into the learning myth of "summer learning loss." Based on a recent article from EducationNext.org, we discuss the history of summer learning loss, where the current mythology stands, and how we might move forward with a better understanding of school calendars, summer assignments and more. If you’re in search of summer learning gain, this is the podcast for you!

Have you ever felt like you don't have one true calling? When asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, did multiple answers spring to mind? On today's extra, we dive into the idea of multipotentiality, spurred by a recent TED talk by Emilie Wapnick. In a world where much of the discussion around talent and career advancement has focused on deep specialization, what role can sharp, flexible generalists play in the future of work? How is the latest research pointing to the benefits of pairing experts with generalists to drive towards creativity and a good blend of both vertical and lateral thinking? We discuss these topics and reflect on our own perspectives on talent on our latest extra. Enjoy!

We’re “all-in” this week, as we welcome Annie Duke, author of Thinking In Bets and retired poker pro, to the show. Annie begins by sharing the long, winding path she took to become an author and expert in decision science. From her time as a PhD student in cognitive science to her introduction to poker as a novice, to her inspiration to write her books, Annie provides great detail on all of the influences throughout her life that have come together to write Thinking In Bets. We also dive into the non-profit, The Alliance for Decision Education, that Annie co-founded in 2012 and discuss how she hopes to push decision education at scale to millions of students in K12. How do we get decision-making wrong? How often do we worry about the result, see Pete Carroll’s play-calling in Super Bowl XLIX, rather than the process that led to the decision? If we were to teach students the basics of good decision-making, how might this improve their ability to decide quickly and adapt to a variety of environments and no

Following on the heels of our conversation with the researchers who studied the impact of environmental factors, including temperature, on performance, here we dive in to get more reactions from Dan, Mike, and a few friends of the show.  The most buzzworthy component of the research has been the findings that women, on average, perform better on cognitive tasks in warmer temperatures while men, on average, tend to perform better in cooler temperatures.  We welcome Dr Erika Blumenthal to the show for the first time to get her takes on this hot topic, and bring back friend of the show, Kristen Smith, to help round out the conversation. Find a microclimate to listen optimally, turn up the volume, listen in and enjoy. 

You most likely saw a news article or morning television show covering a recent study on temperature and performance. Mike and Dan chat with the researchers behind the story!  Debates have raged for decades on office temperature and how it might change the way we work. This research shows that women do perform better in warmer temperatures, while men perform better in cooler temperatures. We talk with Dr. Agne Kajackaite, WZB, Berlin Social Science Center and Dr. Tom Chang, Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics at USC about the process, results, and potential implications of their project. How might educators and test proctors better understand how a shared environment can be best set up for everyone? Can students use this sort of information to prepare themselves for better performance on test day? We discuss all this and what other factors, such as pollen levels, might truly change one's ability to perform at top levels.

On a very special Fourth of July extra, we share some news about co-host Brandon Jones. We talk through some of the highlights of Trending in Education over the past two-and-a-half plus years. We also discuss what topics we look forward to revisiting as the show accelerates into the future. We also bring back an old feature of our podcast, the quiz! Dan quizzes Brandon and Mike on July 4th history. Light your sparklers and tune in!

We revisit the Meeker report after our high-level discussion last week, to drill down on Mary Meeker's outlook for education and online education throughout the world. The world is changing at an ever increasing pace. How is online education attempting to keep up? We take a look at the intersection of public and private partnerships with MOOCs. Have MOOCs made the move up the Gartner Hype Cycles' Plateau of Productivity? As more colleges and universities move online, have we solved for the proper credentialing of future students? Are these schools moving their brick and mortar curriculum online properly and what should students and life-long learners be aware of as they seek out learning tools? Finally, how does a player like YouTube influence the space and what might their own platform look like in the future?We discuss all that and more on our latest. Tune in and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook @TrendingInEd. 

What might the global landscape of learning and education look like in 2030? We dive into a recent dynamic report from HolonIq.com on five key trends to watch for over the next 10 plus years. In a global market place that is set to reach over 10 trillion dollars in the year 2030, how might the world of learning and education evolve? Will learning be most influenced through regional change or will a global big bang in learning and education change the state of play? What demographic and technology changes will influence the space? We dive into the five macrotrends highlighted in the report and get all futuristic in our mindsets for this week's show. Listen in and enjoy.

It's that time of year again! Join us as we dive into the 2019 Meeker Internet Trends Report. Mike and Brandon take a high level look at the report in it's entirety and explore what trends Mary Meeker thinks are most important. For the first time, over 50% of the world has access to the internet and that number should continue to climb. What does that mean for education, learning, and connectivity around the globe?How has our consumption of digital media changed and how important are mobile devices in that consumption? In a world where more and more content is created each day, how do we, as consumers, adapt to it all? How important will curation of content be as we’re all “drinking from the firehose” of midern life? We have all that and more on this first episode of two diving into the Meeker report!

A recent "click-bait" story out of the Washington Post describes a study in Italy that explores using Twitter to study a novel. The study, done at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, split students into two groups: one group used more standard classroom approaches to reading and understanding a novel while the other group used Twitter to learn about the book. The results showed that the students on who studied on Twitter struggled in retention and understanding of the novel. Does this prove that Twitter is, in fact, "eroding our intelligence" as the WaPo headline decries? Do studies like this help or hurt the cause of those trying to fight against Fake News and social media's shortcomings? Can using Twitter be a positive in certain contexts, lesson plans, and content domains?  We talk about all of this and more on our latest episode. Tune in and feel free to tweet about it! 

A recent study out of Stanford University shows that a new creation, Quizbot, proves to be more effective in students' knowledge retention than old school flashcards. We dive into how the Quizbot works and why it appears to be a welcomed addition to a student's studying tool box. How can the Quizbot's interactivity help students where analog study aides may fall flat? How might something like the Quizbot help augment study aides already in use? With chat and other text-based formats already popular across the web, how easily could this sort of instruction be introduce to students? And how does this relate to the blending of great human teaching with emerging innovation in technology and new media? Listen in to find out more and enjoy!

Happy Father's Day! On this extra, we tackle a news story out of Canada about the implementation of robot babies as a study tool for onboarding and training medical professionals. How might robot babies better prepare healthcare professionals for everything that could happen during the early days of life? Where might screen-based simulations be a better learning tool than a robot? Will future medical trainees get lost and creeped out in the uncanny valley? Listen in to hear all this and more.

As IQ has been thrust into the mainstream news with folks measuring each other based on obscure psychometric quotients, we take some time to look at what it's supposed to represent and what exactly can be understood by this number. We touch on Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences and raise some questions about whether IQ is an idea past its prime. What value do we get from IQ numbers and is it something that is fixed or changes over time? We explore the weaponization of IQ and the downside of pigeon-holing someone based on their IQ. How do EQ (Emotional Quotient) and AQ (Adaptability or Adversity Quotient) relate to IQ and which quotient(s) are most germane to life in our modern world? How does the math behind IQ, (your mental age over your actual age) remind us that life-long learning truly is important? We discuss all these things and more on our latest episode. Listen up and enjoy!

Octochamps? Octochamps! This year's Scripps Spelling Bee finished in an eight way tie. We discuss the fallout from the way it all ended and attempt to conjure up new innovations to the Spelling Bee and to Bees in general. We hit on some of the history of the National Bee along the way..What went wrong at this year's spelling be too cause an eight way tie? How has spelling bee prep changed the game for some of the brightest spellers in the country? Would a few simple tweaks to the rules and preparation help change the results? We conclude by musing over whether it's it time to ditch the Spelling Bee and replace it with a multievent Beecathalon? Tune in for all that and more. You'll be gladiolus you did!

If you step into a classroom today, you're likely to hear the tap tap of keyboards and cell phones, as students attempt to type down as many notes as possible from the lecture. While technology in the classroom can help push students forward, does technology win out on note-taking or does the "old school" paper and pen(cil) approach win the day? This week we dive into the digital v analog note-taking debate! Recent studies have shown that retention rates are higher for students who take notes with a pen and paper. What is it about the "old school" approach that proves better? How can students resist the pull of technology to take better notes? Should note-taking, notes management, and other studying techniques be something schools focus on with younger students? What technology can be used to get the best of both worlds?All that and Mike works on a sketch of Dan live on the show! Get your notepads and pens ready as you listen in and enjoy!

Inspired by Robert Smith's announcement that his family would help pay off the debt of the 2019 Morehouse College graduating class, we dive into commencement season. We look at what makes a great speech to graduates. Looking at speeches from this year and hearkening back to the best from the past few years, what common themes tie them together? Do the best speeches combine compassion and humor? Mike muses about working on his own commencement speech and what that might entail. Brandon shares a story of his own brush with commencement greatness. Dust off your cap and gown and have a listen!

On our latest episode of the Citadel, Brandon, Mike, and Dan break down the final episode of Game of Thrones. We talk through the all the major plot points, discuss what's next for those characters that are still with us, and share what we think could have been better. SPOILER ALERT!!! We talk about the conclusion of GoT in the show and in the rest of the description!Was Jon and Dany's final scene on par with the death of the Night King? Did the show runners deliver on story lines that have been building since season one? What should we think of the future of the monarchy in Westeros? Which future stories are the most compelling?We discuss all that and discuss the potential for spinoffs along with the prequels already in production. Tune in and join the conversation on Twitter using @TrendingInEd.

Why did the engineer teach the robot to tell a joke? To see if they could be funny, clearly.On our latest episode, we dive into a recent article on teaching artificial intelligence to tell jokes and puns. The Wired article we dig into describes the work of He He, a postdoc candidate at Stanford, who is attempting to teach robots how to construct and tell puns and jokes. How might a world where robots can tell good jokes change what we find funny? How does a shared human experience inform how we understand enjoying humor? How might AI work in conjunction with humans to write better jokes and comedies? We also share some of our favorite jokes and puns about robots, as well as a tease out another topic on chat bots. Tune in and enjoy!