Getting Smart Podcast

iNACOL's Symposium is an excellent opportunity for education leaders to meet up with like-minded peers to discuss ways they're working to impact the future of education. Listen in as we interview several of the attendees about why they choose to attend the Symposium, what sets the event apart from others and what they were taking away from the event to use back in their school, district or organization. The iNACOL Symposium is being held October 23rd-25th at the Swan & Dolphin Resort in sunny Orlando, Florida. Registration is open for the event, so be sure to reserve your spot today: www.inacol.org

Juan Cabrera, superintendent of El Paso Independent School District, shares more with Tom on what he feels the trustees' role is in implementing the innovation agenda in a school district.

Katie King of KnowledgeWorks interviews Tom Vander Ark about EdReform, EdTech, EdLeaders and what learning will look like a decade from now.

Nate McClennen of Teton Science Schools and Neva Geisler of student-led One Stone school take you on a walking tour of downtown Boise to talk place-based education, learner experience and the power of community connections.

Adam Kulaas reflects on 21 lessons learned during a decade of leading schools, sharing insights on everything from encouraging student voice to supporting your staff.

Erin Mote and Erik Tucker, co-founders of Brooklyn LAB, discuss building a school that is both durable yet flexible enough to be future-ready, as well as a customized learning platform from scratch.

Following the release of a research report, Getting Smart shares findings connecting Minecraft and student SEL outcomes. This podcast features educator and student voices and results from a global survey.

Barry Schuler, entrepreneur and partner at the DFJ Growth Fund, chats more with Tom Vander Ark about his part in the creation of the internet, the future of smart machines and the power of networks.

Don Shalvey, Deputy Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Founder of Aspire Public Schools, talks school networks, district-charter relations and the 70s songs that describe them.

This podcast is the final entry in a three-part series, on which Getting Smart is proud to have partnered with the Learning Assembly. Designing a pilot process to experiment with a new strategy or EdTech tool is complicated. New communication channels must be established, goals and strategies must be agreed upon, and a diverse range of stakeholders (from teachers to EdTech vendors) must be brought on board and set up to work together effectively. One component that all of these details share is the involvement of teachers, and in keeping with that idea, one of the key themes that has emerged in this series has been the importance of teacher voice and engagement to the success of a pilot program. In this podcast, we hear from Kristen Howell, Pilot Network Director of LEAP Innovations (a Learning Assembly member), and Jessica Kertz (who has participated in two of LEAP’s pilots), Assistant Principal of Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy. They share more about how important teachers are to pilot program success, and the three key lessons they’ve learned in their time organizing and implementing pilots.

In this podcast, Dr. Bernadette Musetti shares benefits of bilingualism, programs or innovations in education that move emerging bilingual students forward and common myths or misconceptions about teaching emerging bilinguals and English learners.

So you’ve decided that you want to plan a pilot for a new EdTech tool. Where to start? There are a number of factors that affect the outcome of, and reliability of information obtained in, a pilot, from the cultural right down to the technical. In this podcast, we learn more about these factors from Laura Jackson and Joshua Marland (Project Manager and Director of Data & Analytics, respectively) of Highlander Institute, an organization that cultivates and disseminates innovative education solutions that improve educator and system capacity to provide personalized experiences for every learner. We also hear from Cameron Berube, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Providence Public Schools (a participant in one of Highlander’s pilots). For more on pilots, see the first entry in this podcast series: http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/06/podcast-pilot-programs-foundation-for-innovation/

Barriers to getting into, paying for and persisting through college inhibit many students and adults across the country from achieving their dream of graduating from college. Hear from a mother and daughter about their journey to post-secondary education.

This podcast is the first in a three-part series produced in partnership with the Learning Assembly. In this series, we are exploring the most important lessons that the members of the Learning Assembly have learned in their work developing pilot programs for districts and schools looking to try new personalized learning and EdTech programs. In this installment of the series, we speak with Megan Smallidge (Professional Development Project Manager of LearnLaunch’s piloting initiative, which is part of the Learning Assembly), Lynda-Lee Sheridan and Cathy Lyons (Principal and second-grade teacher, respectively, at Franklin D. Roosevelt K-8 School, which is part of Boston Public Schools and a participant in one of LearnLaunch’s pilots) about what a pilot is, and what it takes to lay the foundation for an initiative that can provide the data its organizers are looking for. For more, see the podcast on our blog: http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/06/podcast-pilot-programs-foundation-for-innovation

The Getting Smart team visits Oso New Tech in El Paso, Texas to learn more about how EPISD and New Tech Network are personalizing learning for all students. In this podcast, you’ll hear from: Nick Kappelhof, New Tech Network Director, District and School Development Scott Gray, New Tech Coordinator, Innovation Design and Development Celeste Cano (Algebra teacher) Mauricio Olague (Art teacher in an Art and Biology combination class) Diego Medina (English teacher in a World History and English combination class)