Author: Palmer Media

Anurupa Ganguly, the Founder and CEO of Prisms VR, returns to Trending in Ed to catch us up on her journey as Prisms begins to implement VR Math interventions at scale. We hear what it’s been like since February of 2021 when we first spoke with her. We hear how Anurapa and the team at Prisms are designing rich narrative-based simulations couched in real-world examples of simulations that require math for problem-solving. We learn where Prisms is headed next and get an expert’s take on how virtual reality simulations can allow a deeper foundational understanding of mathematical concepts. This aids…

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Professor Rebecca Mendoza is the Lead Faculty for Accounting at Palo Alto College in San Antonio. She joins us to talk about how she is overcoming Impostor Syndrome to launch her teaching career and reach Gen Z students in new and relevant ways. We learn what it’s been like for Rebecca to pivot from what could have been a career in corporate accounting to focus on teaching and reaching students in San Antonio. As a Hispanic woman, Rebecca reflects on the importance of being there for students who she hopes can see themselves in her. She talks about launching her…

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To celebrate our 500th episode of Trending in Education, host and Founder, Mike Palmer reflects on the origins of the show and how it has evolved and grown through the years. Mike recounts the pod’s humble beginnings as a skunkworks media R&D project to its exit from Kaplan to continue as an independent pod amid all of the tumult and disruption we’ve been navigating since early 2020. It’s been an incredible ride and we couldn’t have gotten there without our guests, listeners, and supporters. Many thanks to all of the “Friends of the Show” out there as we continue to…

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Mike reports back from the Global Talent Summit in Washington, DC. We learn what Ana Rold from Diplomatic Courier and Kelly Ryan Bailey from Skills Baby pulled together with help from Gallup and a team of experts and thought leaders focused on the skilling revolution and its impact on the future of work. Jim Clifton, the Chairman of Gallup, kicked things off by talking about the importance of engagement and awareness of disengagement and unhappiness that is globally on the rise. Mike references Jon Clifton’s book, Blind SpotThe Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It, and makes connections…

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In this lively conversation, host Mike Palmer catches up with Dr. C. Edward Watson, Associate Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Eddie shares insights from his new book, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, exploring the practical implications of generative AI tools like ChatGPT on higher education. We dive into the pressing challenges AI presents, from academic integrity concerns to the need for developing AI literacies in students. Eddie offers pragmatic strategies for educators, such as allowing assignment extensions to reduce cheating temptations and…

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Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and the author of Teach More, Hover Less: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about what drove her to write the book. In a thought-provoking conversation about the tactics that allow for more student agency and voice, we explore topics like teacher burnout, building trust and student engagement, and the advantages of a more intentionally “hands-off” approach that yields surprising results. We also connect Miriam’s perspectives on what works in the classroom to what works for parents and…

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Dan Gonzalez is a former high school physics teacher and successful education executive. He’s the Co-Founder and CEO of District C, a non-profit working to reimagine the internship by forming diverse teams of high school students who work together on real-world business problems. Dan joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about District C’s Teamship model which is central to their unique approach. We learn how students, teachers, and business partners work with District C to provide students with hands-on, relevant work solving real problems. We also hear a bold prediction from Dan about the future of education. Don’t miss…

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Dr. Mylien Duong is a clinical psychologist and SEL researcher who serves as Senior Director of Research at the Constructive Dialogue Institute. She joins host Mike Palmer in an exploration of emerging research in SEL, the surprising backlash against it, and perspectives on how to support teachers whose jobs have become increasingly demanding in recent years. Mylien shares recent research from CDI that demonstrates the evidence-based tactics that reduce polarization and improve dialog in college classrooms. We also discuss the Educator Toolkit CDI is providing to help educators encourage constructive dialogue in their classrooms. Don’t miss this insightful dive into…

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Deborah Lee is the Founder and CEO of Dancing Panda, an SMS-based learning product for parents of PreK to 3rd-grade kids. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about building a product that helps parents bond with their kids through fun learning exercises that can connect to what they’re learning in class. We begin by hearing Deborah’s origin story as a social entrepreneur, working in K12 and then EdTech at Newsela before launching Dancing Panda during the pandemic. We learn how she came up with the idea for Dancing Panda based on her experience as a mom to two…

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Mario Vasilescu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Readocracy, a product that explores how we might get credit for all the content we consume these days. He joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how credentialing is ready to be transformed for the 21st Century. We then explore how they’re building media literacy and knowledge mapping into the design. We conclude with Mario musing about AI, the Blockchain and more. In fact, as referenced in the conversation, the logo for this episode was designed by Mike using DALL-E 2. It’s a forward-looking view into the world of credentialing knowledge…

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