Author: BelieveAgain

Dr. Ken Carter is a Psychology Professor and the Founding Director of Emory’s new Center for Public Scholarship and Engagement. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about bridging the gap between academic research and the public through new initiatives to help academics translate their work for general audiences. Ken shares his own path from aspiring to be a TV anchorman to becoming a clinical psychologist skilled at making complex concepts accessible. The conversation then shifts to psychology to cover the “epidemic of loneliness” and lack of deep social connections in the social media age. Dr. Carter offers perspectives…

Jane Oates is the President of WorkingNation, an organization that highlights career transitions and lifelong learning through media stories. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about motivating anxious workers and embracing AI. Oates predicts growth in healthcare, education, and green energy jobs. She advises acquiring human skills like creativity that AI can’t replicate, and continuously re-skilling through online learning. Oates explores motivating sidelined workers to re-enter the workforce and contribute their talents. She expects a hybrid remote/in-office work mix, benefiting employees without remote options. Oates urges lifelong learning and pushing ourselves in new directions. Subscribe to Trending in…

Kareem Farah is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Modern Classrooms Project. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about innovative approaches to teaching and learning. You can learn more about their approach here. Kareem explains how he started out in finance but pivoted to become a math teacher. After teaching traditionally for several years, he realized it was not meeting his students’ needs. This led him and a co-founder to design a new blended, mastery-based, and self-paced instructional model that became The Modern Classrooms Project. They started testing it in their own classrooms in Washington D.C. and founded…

Dr. Mark Windschitl, Professor of Science Education at the University of Washington, joins host Mike Palmer to discuss his new book Teaching Climate Change: Fostering Understanding, Resilience, and a Commitment to Justice. Drawing from his experience as a teacher and researcher, Dr. Windschitl advocates for more support to equip K-12 teachers to teach this interdisciplinary topic. You can learn more at Mark’s companion site The Climate Change Educator. We discuss the limited, disjointed climate change instruction happening currently in K-12 schools. Mark promotes more coordinated, authentic projects that foster student agency and break down disciplinary silos. He shares an example modeling…

Nafez Dakkak is the Founder of bldr. ventures and the writer behind Nafez’s Notes on Substack. He joins host Mike Palmer in a lively discussion exploring how artificial intelligence and emerging tech can enhance learning by making thinking visible.  We consider how play, games, and hands-on learning could engage students’ intrinsic motivation and unlock new learning potentials. Nafez shares insights from launching Edraak, the Arabic MOOC platform, emphasizing the need to empower teachers, design locally, and avoid overhyping any single technology’s potential. We dig into changes to the nature of work driven by AI and the tactics that help to build…

In our kickoff to Season 8 of Trending in Ed, host Mike Palmer welcomes Melissa Griffith and Dan Strafford back to the show to discuss the 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. We reflect on how the hype cycle framework can be applied to understand the trajectory of any new technology or cultural phenomenon. We debate whether the current hype around AI will lead to an “AI winter” as expectations aren’t met, or if investment and development will power through any disillusionment based in part on Eric Siegel’s HBR article on the topic. We explore how individuals can take…

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed a potentially groundbreaking case as it took up the state attorney general’s request that it undo a contract that would allow the first religious charter school in the nation to open this fall.“This case is not about the exclusion of a religious entity from government aid, which would implicate the free exercise of religion,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond told the court during a compelling 90-minute argument session. “Rather, it is about the state creation of a religious school which unequivocally establishes religion. … St. Isidore has promised to be ‘Catholic in every way,…

Andy Temte is an experienced executive and business author who recently penned The Balanced Business: Building Organizational Trust and Accountability through Smooth Workflows. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about creating effective management operating systems. Andy stresses defining organizational purpose and vision as foundational. With AI disrupting jobs, he argues learning budgets can no longer be discretionary. Companies must invest in upskilling talent. Learning has intrinsic motivational benefits similar to R&D. Later, we discuss marrying organizational health with continuous improvement for smooth workflows that minimize waste while respecting people. Andy advocates applying approaches like Lean and Agile beyond…

In this eye-opening episode, host Mike Palmer dives into the alarming rise in chronic absenteeism among U.S. students, as highlighted by a recent New York Times article. The conversation pivots to explore how AI-powered chatbots and personal virtual assistants like “Ed” from AllHere are being leveraged to combat this issue, getting notice for their work in the LA Unified School Disctrict. Mike revisits his insightful 2021 interview with AllHere’s founder Joanna Smith, who discusses the company’s innovative use of conversational AI to foster engagement and support student achievement beyond the classroom. The episode also features a lively exchange with the…

The rapid emergence of AI tools like ChatGPT is sending shockwaves through education. Host Mike Palmer talks with Alex Kotran, Founder and CEO of nonprofit The AI Education Project, about this technology tidal wave and what it means for education. Alex shares his origin story, from politics to pivoting into AI back in 2015. He started aiEDU in 2019 to get ahead of the coming AI disruption. Since then, the pace of change accelerated with advances like ChatGPT and other LLMs. Educators have reacted with bans, excitement, and overwhelm. Ultimately, Kotran argues teachers need training and support to thoughtfully integrate…