Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Adrian Ridner is the Co-founder and CEO of Study.com, a trusted education website used by over 30 million students and teachers each month. Adrian is committed to improving online education through personalized learning solutions that are engaging, effective, and affordable. In this episode of Trending in Education, Adrian joins Mike to tell his origin story leading up to the founding and scaling of Study.com over the past 20 years. We dig into how a program like Study.com opens up access for learners to work at their own pace to find pathways to success. We also explore how the pandemic has driven new behavior patterns on Study.com and get Adrian's perspective on emerging trends in online learning in the coming years. It's an episode you won't want to miss. To get more shows like this, visit us and subscribe at Trending in Education.

Mike Iskandar joins Mike on this episode to talk about how he founded Time Travel Journeys to help schools & organizations empower kids to turn self doubt, anxiety, and isolation into self compassion, confidence, & connection. Mike tells the story of how what began as a project of self-discovery in his 40th year evolved into the program he runs today that centers around getting to know yourself across the years of your life and learning to forgive yourself. If you're interested in Social Emotional Learning (SEL), self-discovery, and perspective taking throughout our lives, this is the episode for you.

Howard Blumenthal joins Mike on this episode about reimagining school for the future. Howard's best-known work is Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, which he created and produced for PBS. Nowadays, Howard's keen interest is in growing up in the 21st century; what children and teenagers learn, and how they learn; global citizenship; social change; and human progress. We explore his big picture thinking about media/technology, behavioral change, public good, and international relationships as we dive into his founding of Reinventing School earlier this year. We also touch on his work with Kids On Earth. Howard's lifelong interest connects play, fun and imagination with curiosity as the primary driver for learning. We hope you enjoy this conversation that explores how to foster global citizenship in kids that is enabled by personal learning, media, and technology. Thanks as always for listening. Subscribe to Trending in Education here.

Kelly Palmer is the author of The Expertise Economy: How the smartest companies use learning to engage, compete and succeed, which focuses on the urgent need to upskill the workforce with the skills needed most for the future of work. She's been published in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Forbes, and Fast Company among others. Kelly joins our host, Mike Palmer, to explore how trends with workforce skills and job readiness are reshaping the professional landscape and how smart organizations and individuals are playing with their heads up to get out ahead of what's emerging through automation and digital transformation. Listen up and enjoy! Subscribe to us at https://trendingineducation.com/subscribe or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Adam Gamwell, a Design Anthropologist and Host of This Anthro Life, returns to Trending in Education to explore the relevance of anthropology and the social sciences to the workplace and business. Adam recounts his experiences teaching anthropology, managing Missing Links Studios, and most recently working with MotivBase on blending AI and Machine Learning with Anthropology. If you're passionate about the value of the social sciences, ethnography, and qualitative research, this is a great episode for you! Thanks as always for listening!

Amrit Ahluwalia is the Managing Editor of The EvoLLLution, the online newspaper developed by Destiny Solutions to create a conversation hub focused on non-traditional higher education and the transforming postsecondary marketplace. On this episode, Amrit joins Mike Palmer to talk about non-traditional learners in higher education, the importance of continuing education, and the need to reframe the focus of higher education to encompass the broader needs emerging in the workforce. Amrit shares what got him to where he is in his career as we explore why the pandemic may be increasing awareness of the importance of continuing education and the wide array of learners who engage with it. We conclude with Amrit's perspectives on what's on the horizon for non-traditional higher education and beyond. Thanks as always for listening!

Zach Silverzweig is the CEO and Founder of TinyIvy, a startup that is focused on helping children and families learn to read English. Zach joins Mike in an exploration of why learning how to read English presents unique challenges and how the TIPS system developed by Zach and team helps make things better. We begin with Zach's origin story before diving into the complexities of English language learning. By adding unique diacritical symbols to letters to clarify pronunciation rules, the team at TinyIvy has borrowed insights from other languages to help crack the code on learning to read English. We get Zach's perspective on how this approach may transform things in the early childhood education system and how he sees things progressing in that space before shifting to get his take on new and emerging trends more broadly. Whether you're a parent, an educator, or someone curious about how learning to read works, there's a lot to gain out of listening to this episode. Thanks for taking the time.

Nicolle Merrill joins Mike to talk about acquiring skills, shifting careers, and overcoming fear and self-doubt. Nicolle is the author of the book Punch Doubt in the Face: How to Upskill, Change Careers, and Beat the Robots. She tells her story of career growth and lessons learned along the way. Nicolle is also the host of a podcast called 50 Conversations in which she explores career shifts, skill development, and the challenges of automation and disruptions in the workplace. Of course, there is talk of robots and some fascinating insights based on Nicolle’s recent experiences as a conversation designer who leverages her writing and creative skills to bring diverse perspectives to her teams that tend to consist of engineers with different skills, biases, and backgrounds. It’s a fascinating conversation that you won’t want to miss. Thanks again for listening.

Dr. Mark Sanders, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at UNC Charlotte, returns to the show to talk to Mike and Melissa about student voter engagement, the relevance of philosophy, and the importance of supporting faculty and the broader community. Mark describes the work that is being done by FacNet, the Faculty Voting Rights Engagement Network where he is on the Steering Committee. We explore how to drive student engagement in a way that is non-partisan but doesn't shy away from politically-charged topics. We also dig into how philosophy can help us navigate these difficult times and help hone the media literacy and critical thinking skills necessary the be engaged citizens. If you haven't voted yet, please do so. And from there, the real work of ongoing civic and student engagement can begin..

In a Special Fall 2020 K12 Education episode, Mike is joined by Sarah Darville, Matt Barnum, and Kalyn Belsha from Chalkbeat to talk through trends they've been seeing while reporting on K12 throughout the challenging year that is 2020. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization committed to covering one of America's most important stories: the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education. Sarah is the Managing Editor for Chalkbeat and she shares a broad perspective on how they've navigated this complex year with a local focus that can coalesce into national themes over time. Matt brings a sharp focus on educational research and policy while Kalyn reports on stories from the perspective of educators, parents, and students. Both Matt and Kalyn are Reporters with the National Desk at Chalkbeat. As we all look ahead towards the 2020 US Presidential Election in the coming week, the Chalkbeat team helps us get out ahead of what might be on the horizon for K12 Education in a rich and engaging conversation that concludes with a few lifehacks, cocktail tips, and a book recommendation from Sarah. In all, a wonderful conversation that you won't want to miss.

For this episode, Dr. Eric T. Weber joins Mike to talk about the importance of educational philosophy, especially in schools of education. Eric is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. He's also one of the hosts of the radio show and podcast, Philosophy Bakes Bread, where he regularly raises relevant issues to explore with the help of a critical, philosophical mindset. Eric recently authored a 1-sheeter raising relevant philosophical questions about education in a time of crisis with further questions in which education is always in crisis. These questions were designed for a Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA) event but they are relevant for any of us grappling with the role of education in these challenging times. Eric provides a heartfelt perspective on what John Dewey would think if he were around today. Eric edited a book of essays by Dewey that is due out at the end of the year. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Thanks as always for listening.

Dr. Lorne Buchman, the President of ArtCenter College of Design and host of the Change Lab Podcast, joins Mike this week to share his experiences as a maker and the leader of an esteemed College of Art and Design. Lorne shares his origin story that is deeply steeped in the practical application of his education in the theater at Stanford University where he earned his doctorate. We touch on the power of humanistic psychology and the importance of building a culture where creatives can truly thrive to do their best work. Then we dive into how Lorne and team have delivered on the mission statement of ArtCenter which is "Learn to Create. Influence Change" both historically and particularly in the context of the challenging year that is 2020. We also get some of Lorne's perspective as a podcaster since he's been hosting Change Lab going on seven seasons now. Lorne is a visionary who to this day still thinks like a theatrical director. We feel privileged to have gotten access to his unique perspective on this episode. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did pulling this episode together.

Dr. Jonathan Cohen joins Mike this week to explore the global trend of social emotional learning (SEL) and violence prevention in schools. Jonathan recently co-edited the book Feeling Safe in School through Harvard Education Press where he and team studied school climate and violence prevention programs in schools across 11 cultures spanning the globe. In our conversation, we explore Jonathan's origin story before digging into what can be learned by understanding how different cultures conceptualize and address many of the challenges children face by feeling unsafe in their schools. Jonathan explains the work he's doing with the International Observatory of School Climate and Violence Prevention as we tease out what folks are getting right and what they might be missing in the realm of school safety and violence prevention. We're happy to showcase the important work being done here to provide educators and students with the tools and techniques needed to foster safer, more effective learning environments. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Maria Andersen, the Founder and CEO of Coursetune, joins Mike to talk about the importance of good instructional design and curriculum development to effective online learning. Maria walks us through her extensive and varied experiences ranging from teaching math at a community college, to working at Canvas, the large LMS company, to leading instructional design at Western Governors University (WGU) before founding Coursetune three years ago. We dig into the benefit of having a central place where courses can be mapped to learning objectives and visualized in a way that helps everyone understand with some detail the design thinking that has gone into the course. We conclude with some thoughts about how the pandemic has accelerated movement to online and how this can ultimately be a good thing once we address issues of access and equity. Thanks as always for listening.

Dr. Chad Goldberg, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins Mike to delve into the history and relevance of The Wisconsin Idea in understanding the role of a public university. Chad's written a book called Education for Democracy Renewing the Wisconsin Idea that is due out this Fall and we explore many of the relevant and timely themes covered in the book. Chad catches us up on the history of The Wisconsin Idea which dates back over 100 years and envisions the university's purpose as in service of the public and democracy. While it's called The Wisconsin Idea, the concept is broadly relevant to questions about the role of higher education today. Chad was the Instructor of Record when the course launched in 2016 and he's returned to lead the course again this year. We dive into how things have changed since 2016 and learn how the course design and related conversation have evolved in 2020. The public lecture series is accessible to everyone and can be found here. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Dr. Neil Heffernan, the William Smith Dean Chair Professor at Worcestor Polytechnic Institute (WPI), joins Mike to talk about how his career interweaves great teaching, computer science, and "ASSISTments" - a set of digital tools designed to make homework assignment and evaluation more efficient. Neil tells us his origin story which includes meeting his wife Cristina while teaching and doing research in K12 Education right through their creation of the ASSISTments Foundation for which Neil serves as the Chair. We talk about the effective blending of artificial intelligence and human teaching to deliver next-level learning opportunities. We dive into the critical importance of the human elements of motivation, coaching, and inspiration in great teaching. We also discuss how Neil and team have been able to leverage a platform built on crowdsourced content to begin to truly scale ASSISTments to reach hundreds of thousands of students and how the pandemic has increased demand and usage. Neil and team are doing fascinating work. We hope you enjoy learning more about it!

Kelly Ryan Bailey, the host of Let's Talk About Skills Baby and the Director of Open Skills at EMSI, joins Mike to talk about the journey that brought her to where she is today as a mother, a podcaster, and a global skills evangelist. After exploring Kelly's personal journey, we dig into the three parts of the job skills marketplace: the employee, the employer, and the educator. How do they relate? And how can we as individuals learn to continue to acquire relevant skills, be grateful for small improvements, and stay motivated to learn throughout our lifecourses? Kelly brings a lot of energy and passion for the world of skill development and we've very happy to have gotten time to dive into this emerging trend with her. We hope you enjoy.

This week, Mike is joined by Prakash Nair, the Founder of Education Design International (EDI) and author of Blueprint for Tomorrow from Harvard Education Press. Prakash describes how the design of K12 schools can and should be completely rethought. School buildings and their institutional designs contribute to a "cells and bells" culture that stifles learning, creativity, and joy. Prakash provides alternative approaches to conceiving of school architecture that are less tied up in the expensive construct of a school building and classrooms. We explore how David Thornburg's four primordial learning spaces: campfire, watering hole, cave, and life can be designed into school environments. We also discuss the power of outdoor learning. Through our conversation with Prakash, we see how we can let go of legacy models of school architecture to genuinely reimagine how and where learning can be done. It's a fascinating conversation. We really appreciate getting a chance to talk with Prakash. We hope you enjoy.

This week Mike is joined by Bryan Alexander, Senior Scholar at Georgetown University and author of Academia Next , to talk about what happens when a Futurist gets a prediction right. In Bryan's recent book, he explores a possible future where a widespread pandemic akin to the 1918 Spanish flu hits and majorly disrupts higher education. Bryan's book was released prior to Covid-19 and it's received a lot of attention since. Although it's tragic and we empathize deeply with those impacted most severely, we use this as a jumping off point to explore how gaming, scenario-based thinking, and "futures work" help build out our ability to think through and manage the novel situations that life continues to throw at us. What does Bryan see on the horizon for Higher Education and the world more broadly? Listen in to find out!

David Adams, the Senior Director of Strategy at The Urban Assembly, joins Mike to explore the many facets of Social Emotional Learning or SEL. David shares his career journey which charts a path through many of the key centers of research in the field along with practical experience in schools in New York City and around the world. He recently co-authored a book titled The Educator's Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence. David expands on how he's established a cutting-edge SEL program at The Urban Assembly schools in New York and provides tips and insights for educators, parents and the rest of us on how to incorporate emotional learning into the educational experience. We also dig into the role of SEL in navigating a difficult and transformational year like this one. Of course, there are a few Whitney Houston and Star Wars references in there to keep things engaging. David's a tremendous resource in the field and we very much appreciate getting his perspectives on the show. We hope you enjoy and learn from the conversation as much as we did.

Mike Tringe and Sean Graham from CreatorUp, a Digital Media Studio and Training Company, join Mike Palmer to discuss the critical role of visual storytelling and video for brands, universities, and individuals. We explore how CreatorUp leaned into Live Online delivery and educational use cases as the pandemic response required agility and resilience. We conclude with advice for educators from media professionals with a keen understanding of the learning ecosystem. We hope you enjoy.

Evan Gappelberg, the Founder and CEO of NexTech AR Solutions, joins us this week to dive into the emerging megatrend of augmented reality (or AR). Evan describes how NexTech AR Solutions was formed and how it went public as the first publicly traded pure AR play. We then explore how the pandemic response has led to unprecedented growth both in AR and specifically in its educational applications. Evan outlines the recent work NexTech has done with Ryerson University as activities like lab session and other learning interventions have benefitted from use of their Augmented Reality as a Service platform ARitize. Mike picks Evans brain about new and emerging trends to be on the lookout for as we think through the instructional design opportunities that come with new technologies like Augmented Reality. Come join us for an imaginative ride on this week's cutting edge episode!

Warren Kennard, the Founder of ConnectED, returns to the show to describe his recent experience designing and building a crowdsourced 8-week course in EdTech and Strategy for Higher Ed. What problems was he trying to address when conceiving of this course? What elements of design thinking powered the approach? Who is it designed for and how has the COVID-19 pandemic increased the relevance and interest in online learning and innovative leadership in higher education? We answer all of these questions and garner insights from Warren based on his transformative experience building this course. Listen in and enjoy.

Kate Dalton and Dr. Eliot Chayt join Mike to talk about the critical importance of media literacy in today's world. Eliot and Kate are the founders of an EdTech startup called Mucktracker, which provides a platform for students and educators to co-create a critical understanding of news and media drawn from various sources. We discuss the origins of the concept of Muctracker and its ties to the storied history of investigative journalism and the muckrakers as we muse on the notion that all literacy is media literacy. The profusion and democratization of new media of late brings with it a responsibility to educate K12 students, as well as undergraduates and lifelong learners, to develop more mature critical understandings of the media we're all consuming.

Are you ready to get HYPE? We sure are. For the fourth year in a row, the team at Trending in Education digests and breaks down the Gartner Hype Cycle For Emerging Technologies which was recently released for 2020. Mike welcomes Melissa Griffith and Dan Strafford back to the show for the beginning of our fifth season to break down our favorite hype curve. What trends are emerging according to Gartner? How have they been impacted by COVID-19? What are the learning implications to the new and emerging technologies highlighted by Gartner? Which trends are rising to the Peak of Inflated Expectations? Which ones are headed to the Trough of Disillusionment? Listen in to find out!

Dr. Jon Shelton, Associate Professor of Democracy and Justice at UW-Green Bay, joins Mike for a special Labor Day edition where we dive into the history of Labor and Education in the US on today's show. Jon walks us through the history of the Labor Day holiday, expanding beyond barbecues and rules about when it's okay to wear white. From there, we delve into the long history of collective action among educators and other workers over the years. We draw parallels to the recent actions in the NBA and other sports leagues as we explore how Teachers and Teachers Unions have extended the focus of their actions to include acting in service of what's right not just for themselves as workers, but also for what is right for their students and communities. Today's episode will give you plenty to chew on beyond what you might get at your holiday barbecue. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy!

Dr. Terri Givens, CEO of the Center for Higher Education Leadership, returns to join Melissa and Mike in a wide-ranging conversation about what we see on the near-term horizon for Higher Education in the Fall of 2020. We touch on the "Corona Gap Year" phenomenon, put ourselves in the shoes of University Administrators and faculty navigating these uncertain times, and get advice based on Terri's experience as a Professor, an Administrator, and now as the Founder of a company focused on helping Higher Education navigate the complexities of this day and age. It's a Back To School special edition you won't want to miss on Trending in Education!

Youki Terada, Research and Standards Editor at Edutopia, returns to the show to revisit trends in K-12 Educational research in light of the tumultuous year in which we're living. The response to the pandemic has re-emphasized the critical role of social emotional learning along with issues of digital divides and Youki and team have been shifting Eduopia's focus in that direction. As Edutopia continues to provide tools and supports for teachers diving into remote teaching, Youki highlights some of the critical differences with online teaching, particularly with regard to receiving feedback. It's a fascinating conversation and you'll come away thinking of horses doing math problems in an entirely new way. You can find more of Youki and team's great work at edutopia.org . Thanks as always for listening.

In this emergency bonus episode of Running It Back, Tarlin and Mike dive into the transformative events of the past week beginning with the shooting of Jacob Blake and culminating in the walkout of NBA players led by the Milwaukee Bucks. As these actions set off a cascade of similar actions in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and elsewhere, how can we put this into a broader historical context? We run through the long history of athletes as activists who have asserted their power by choosing not to play. Some have set off movements by pulling in others to follow. Others have been ostracized and mostly forgotten. Now as the games have started again in the Bubble, we take a moment to pause and reflect on the historical context of the momentous events of the week as we continue to monitor this developing situation. And fear not, fans of regular episodes of Trending in Education! We've got plenty of great content coming together there as well. Thanks as always for listening.

We open with a quick note on the Jacob Blake incident in Wisconsin and the ripple effects across our culture. It's something we'll continue to cover. Then, in this bonus episode from the soon-to-launch podcast, Running It Back, we transport ourselves back to November 7th, 1991 when Magic Johnson first announced that he had HIV. How do Tarlin and Mike remember this flashbulb event? What lessons can we learn from Magic's approach to sharing the news and leaning into his fight against the virus? How does this tie to COVID-19 and the NBA's design for life in the Bubble in Orlando? And who was on the dais with Magic when he had to share his difficult news? We answer all of this on today's show. And if you like what you're hearing, follow us on twitter and keep an eye on runningitback.fm as we gear up to launch Running It Back later in September.

Kristin Kearns-Jordan, the CEO of The Urban Assembly, joins Mike this week to describe the career-themed approach to public education that is driving social mobility in 23 schools in New York City. We begin by hearing Kristin's origin story and career arc which has led to her current role with The Urban Assembly. From there, we dive into the mission and educational philosophy of the organization and its schools, which is all about career relevance and social mobility. Kristin describes how The Urban Assembly's approach is making an impact in her students' lives by showing them how their public education ties to their longer term college and career paths. We discuss the impact of Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 on public education and emerge with a sense of optimism despite the suffering and genuine peril students and families are facing this year. As we conclude, Kristin spotlights the screening of entry into public schools in New York as something that limits diversity and subverts the true goals of public education. She suggests that in light of the events of this year, there are genuine opportunities to open up access to address many of these inequities and deliver more quality, career-relevant education to all students. Thanks as always for listening. If you want to learn more about Urban Assembly, visit urbanassembly.org .

As a bonus gift, we're bringing you an episode of the upcoming podcast Running It Back. Tarlin Ray and Mike Palmer look to moments in sports history to give insights for our lives today. On this episode, Mike and Tarlin run it back to the 1999 NBA season and the historic run for the 8th-seeded New York Knicks all the way to the NBA Finals. They ultimately lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals marking the beginning of the Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich dynasty. As we head into the 2020 NBA Playoffs in the Bubble in Orlando, what lessons can be learned by running it back to 1999?

Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, returns to the show to join Mike in a conversation about how to open up access to the digital tools many of us take for granted. Last time we had Angela on the show in March, we were still in the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Now as we approach the Fall, there remains plenty of work to do and the focus is shifting. Digital inclusion is important work. You can learn more about what Angela and team are doing at digitalinclusion.org. Listen in to find out how you can help make a difference.

This week Dr. H. Richard Milner IV, Professor of Education at Vanderbilt University, joins Mike to explore how he is thinking about issues of diversity, opportunity gaps, and the mindsets that must be overcome to effectively engage diverse students and classrooms. Rich’s book, Start From Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There was just reprinted by Harvard Education Press to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of its initial printing in 2010. While many of the themes are enormously relevant to this day, several warrant further discussion in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rich is a leading thinker on teacher education and diversity and we very much appreciate getting time with him on today’s show. Enjoy!

Dr. Shannon Clute joins Mike to share his broad and varied experiences in education, innovation, marketing, and digital media. He begins by telling the story of his early experiments with podcasting and other new media to innovate in higher education where Shannon was a Professor of French Literature. In the early 2000s, he launched an enormously successful podcast called Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir that began as an innovative project for his students but rapidly grew in broader appeal. From this experience, Shannon began to understand the value of pursuing your passion projects and being flexible and opportunistic in your career choices. From there, he transitions to a marketing role at Turner Classic Movies before ultimately returning to academia now leading The Hatchery, The Center for Innovation at Emory University. In a wide-ranging conversation, Shannon reinforces the critical importance of knowing your customers and shifting from push to pull dynamics when it comes to program development and innovation. It's a fascinating conversation and we look forward to staying in touch with Shannon as he grows and evolves the program through great design thinking and product discovery. We hope you enjoy. Thanks again for listening.

Howard Lurie, Principal Analyst, Online and Continuing Education at Eduventures, joins Mike this week to discuss recent research findings from the firm that dives into the mindset and sentiment of adult learners. Eduventures has published findings from two surveys of adult learners--one fielded before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and then a second survey fielded in June 2020. Howard shares his perspective on changes in demand, desired credentials, and delivery mode pre- and post-pandemic. We explore the short-term and longer-term implications of the economic and public health impact on adult learners as we expand the perspective beyond the graduating high school population to begin to wrap our heads around the much larger and more diverse population of adult learners writ large. Howard and Eduventures provide great insights on today's show. If you want to learn more from them, visit eduventures.com. Thanks for listening!

Fresh on the heels of the release of Coursera's second annual Global Skills Index Report, Melissa and Mike break down what's new and noteworthy in the 2020 report. How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted global trends in course completion on Coursera? What's new and emerging in the key fields of business, technology, and data science and how is the US stacking up on the global stage? It's a fascinating report on the emerging skills that are relevant to career growth, earning potential, resilience, and lifelong learning in these wacky times. Check out the report, have a listen, and let us know what you think on Twitter at @trendingined

Dr. Stephen Kosslyn, President of Foundry College, returns to Trending in Education to discuss a new book he's been working on. The book has the working title of Active Learning in the Digital Age and covers the six key principles that drive active learning. The principles are deep processing, deliberate practice, incentives and consequences, dual coding, chunking, and associations. Join Stephen and Mike as they explore these concepts and how they can be applied to create great learning interventions in these tumultuous times. Thanks as always for listening!

Welcome to the second half of 2020. We made it to July. For this episode, Mike, Dan, and Melissa reflect on the year so far while tracking some of the more sensational stories that are breaking lately. Did Donald Drumpf hire someone to take his SATs? If he did, is that better or worse than Lori Laughlin paying for access to the USC Crew team? What do we think about Betsy DeVos's bookcases for her Zoom meetings? Or the administration's take on getting students back on campus and physically in our schools for the Fall? And how about the near miss of threatening to revoke international student visas for students at schools that are going entirely online? We lean into the crazy a bit this week as we spot emerging trends about class outside and schooling from home as we all agree online and hybrid learning in its varied forms is here for the long haul. Thanks for listening.

UNC Greensboro Chancellor, Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., joins Trending in Education to share his experiences leading a university with a long history of opening up access to higher education. Beginning as a women-only university in the late 19th Century, UNC Greensboro has since opened up to non-white students soon after to men. Dr. Gilliam has been Chancellor since 2015 and he tells the story of how he got the job and what he's been able to do since joining the school. UNC Greensboro has eliminated race and ethnicity differences in retention for first-year students. They've nearly eliminated income-based gaps and are now focused on reaching rural students and providing access to the tools necessary for success in these changing times. We discuss the importance of digital inclusion, Dr. Gilliam's transformative experiences leading the university through the COVID-19 response thus far, and responding to the George Floyd murder and related unrest. We dig into the importance of having a mission-based culture and getting comfortable being uncomfortable in the chaotic and uncertain times we live in. We conclude with the Chancellor's take on the new and emerging trends that he's tracking as we head into the 2020s. We hope you get as much insight and inspiration from the conversation as we did putting it together. Thanks as always for listening.

Liz Leiba, an education professional, teacher, and podcast host, joins Melissa and Mike to discuss her personal response to George Floyd's death. In response to this travesty, Liz has become much more active on LinkedIn and on her podcast, The Ed Up Experience, telling her personal story as a black woman in higher ed and the corporate world. Melissa and Liz share their experiences, how their perspectives have changed, and how going along to get along just doesn't cut it anymore. Liz is a powerful voice on this and many other topics and we look forward to having her on again soon. Thanks for listening.

Dr. Terri Givens, the CEO and Co-Founder of The Center for Higher Education Leadership, joins Mike and Melissa this week to explore her experience as a Professor, an Administrator, and now as an entrepreneur focused on transforming higher education. Terri tells the story of her academic career spanning Stanford, UCLA, University of Washington, University of Texas at Austin, and most recently Menlo College. Throughout her journey, she's advocated for the importance of teaching and providing faculty, adjuncts, and graduate students access to leadership development tools to help them navigate their careers. We conclude with a deep dive into the ideas in Terri's upcoming book, Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides. We very much appreciate having Terri on the show and hope to have her back on again soon. Thanks for listening.

Dr. Mohanbir Sawhney, the Associate Dean for Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, joins Melissa Griffith and Mike Palmer to explore how the traditional approach to Business School and Executive Education is ripe for disruption. As the McCormick Foundation Professor of Technology at Kellogg, Dr. Sawhney is launching and testing several varied and distinct approaches to providing business education both through the traditional two-year on-campus model and also through hybrid and online models. The Professor engages with Melissa, a Kellogg alum, in a conversation about providing continuous value and lifelong learning to alums through communities of interest, small private online courses (SPOCs), along with access to human-powered services like executive coaching, live webinars, and 1-on-1 office hours. We genuinely enjoyed the imaginative and impassioned perspectives Dr. Sawhney provides on this topic and hope you'll lean in with us to explore how graduate education will accelerate forward in the tumultuous times of the 2020s.

Elise Awwad, Vice President of Strategic Enrollment at DeVry University, joins Mike this week to explore how DeVry has been delivering proactive care as part of its educational philosophy for adult learners. We examine how they were able to respond to the twin challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the civil unrest in response to the death of George Floyd. DeVry's long history of online learning along with a holistic approach provided the tools to respond to a tumultuous 2020. Elise shares her passion for helping adult learners in need and, as a regular listener to Trending in Education, she reinforces the critical importance of digital inclusion in opening up access to higher education for adults who are ready to advance their careers.

Warren Kennard joins Mike this week to explore the current state of affairs in educational technology. Warren has been working in educational technology for the past 20 years and is the Founder of ConnectEd and the Managing Director of the Cahoot Academy. After defining the distinctions between small private online courses (SPOCs) and massive open online courses (MOOCs), we dig into the importance of delivering people-mediated programs especially as the waves of automation and artificial intelligence can be dehumanizing. Warren draws from his experiences at Get Smarter, the Cahoot Academy, and ConnectEd to round out a more human-centered understanding of what's emerging in the growing field of educational technology.

Melissa and Mike begin with a frank conversation about how we've been responding to the Black Lives Matter protests and related civic and personal upheaval in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis. What's the best way for organizations to navigate these tumultuous times? How should we think about acts of omission versus those of commission? How do we begin to lean into awkward conversations about race to begin to reach new levels of psychological safety, empathy and understanding. Then Dan Strafford adds his perspective as a father of three and someone who is frequently at a loss when it comes to reaching a clear understanding of what's going on these days. We reference a great Chalkbeat article that captures the perspectives of K12 educators across the US, touch on an article by Dr Howard Stevenson out of U Penn Graduate School of Education on how to talk to children about racial issues, and conclude by referencing a quick Forbes article by Adunola Adeshola that describes 3 Things You Should Not Say to Your Black Colleagues Right Now. We don't reach any tidy answers, but we're happy to begin the conversation and look forward to continuing it.

Vikram Baliga, host of the Planthropology podcast, joins Mike this week to talk about his experiences as a horticulturist, a science communicator, and a podcast host. Vikram expounds on what brought him to horticulture and how the importance of setting has meaningful ramifications to education. As we explore the origin story of the Planthropology podcast, Vikram provides insight into what it means to teach people how to appreciate the plants in their lives. Whether you're officially "Plant People" or just interested in a deeper perspective on learning and the future, you should get a lot out of this week's episode. We hope you enjoy!

We are deeply saddened by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many other black men and women at the hands of police. We plan to cover the emerging trends of civil unrest, increased awareness of race and social justice, and how this relates to learning, media, and future trends in future episodes of Trending in Education. For today's show, we're releasing an upcoming episode of Running It Back with Tarlin Ray and Mike Palmer where we break down Blackballed, the new Quibi short-form docuseries about the 2014 Los Angeles Clippers and the Donald Sterling scandal. What leadership lessons can be learned from the Sterling incident and the responses by Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Adam Silver, and Matt Barnes, among others? What parallels can be drawn between the reaction to the Sterling scandal and the response to George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement that have been activated on a global scale today? We don't reach any tidy answers to the current situation, but by running it back to the story of the Clippers in 2014, we gain relevant insights that help grant us perspective on the challenging times we're living in today. Thank you for listening.

As The Eurhythmics say, "sweet dreams are made of this." On today's episode, Ken Florence joins Mike for an expansive and imaginative exploration of lucid dreaming, something Ken's been drawn to since overcoming challenges with sleep paralysis earlier in his life. Ken is a musician and composer who created the original music for Trending in Education and its sister podcasts. We begin by discussing how there have been increased reports of vivid dreaming during the Covid-19 pandemic response citing the research of Deidre Barrett. Then we discuss tactics like dream journals and looking for "triggers" in dreams such as clocks and light switches to help us gain conscious control over many aspects of our dream worlds. We conclude by exploring how dreams relate to psychedelic and VR simulation experiences as the trend towards varied phenomenological experiences continues to grow. We hope you enjoy the ride! uGbqPz7OMCeMU7lX1cpm

Brandon Jones returns to Trending in Education in his new capacity as CEO of Triad Behavioral Health to explore emerging trends for behavioral health professionals. How do the expansion of telehealth and the easing of HIPPA requirements impact the delivery of behavioral health services? As we see upheaval in many professions, what's the prognosis for behavioral health and what makes sense for folks curious about embarking on a career in mental health? What's the best way to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and our collective response to behavioral health and the professions that focus on it? Mike and Brandon discuss what's new and on the horizon in the field and showcase the launch of the new podcast Behavioral Health Today. It's great to welcome back Brandon, one of the founding hosts of Trending in Education. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording.