Trending In Education

Mike sits down with Michael Fitzpatrick, President and COO of Pullstring to discuss Voice Assistant technology and it's applications in education and in life. They walk through the history of interactive audio and related simulation and explore the balance between data privacy and convenience. HAL 9000 would be so proud!

Mike, Brandon, and Dan discuss the growth of the voice assistant in every day life. How do we interact with Alexa, Siri, and other voice assistants? What amount of privacy are we willing to give up for the ease of use with voice? What are the applications of this emerging technology in learning and education? We dive into all that and discuss the Uncanny Valley, the Turing Test, and much, much more on this week's episode.    

In a special live presentation of the podcast, Brandon, Mike, and Dan explore how companies, managers, and employees alike can help grow a learning culture by fostering inclusion, interaction, and great communication amongst all employees. What's one of the biggest skill gaps that companies see emerging within their workforces? How might a culture of learning address this and other emerging challenges in modern work life? Tune in to find out!

Mike, Brandon, and Dan take a trip to Westworld to discuss the popular HBO show. Is the show must-watch television for developers and coders? How can educators incorporate programming like Westworld into their curricula? What can we learn from the series about artificial intelligence and machine learning? How does the Delos Corporation's focus on data relate to themes from contemporary life in 2018? Our three hosts kick off the discussion with these questions and explore themes we will dig into further in an upcoming pop culture analysis spinoff called The Cradle (CR4-DL).

Mike, Dan, and Brandon celebrate the 100th episode of Trending In Education. We take a little time to reflect on and celebrate the ride thus far. From Bror Saxberg to Tarlin Ray to Early Childhood Education to Torobo-Kun, we've covered a wide range of topics, articles, and ideas across our first 100 shows. This week we thank our guests and listeners and provide updates on some of our favorite topics as we explore what's on the horizon for the next 100 episodes.  Thanks again for listening and here's to building on and expanding the conversation!

This week, Brandon, Mike, and Dan revisit Massive Open Online Courses, or MooCs. Are Blockbuster MooCs the way forward for online courses? How important is having well-known teachers lead these courses? How have universities leveraged their best teachers for long-lasting content? What kinds of roles are emerging for people passionate about teaching? And what sorts of courses are attracting the most learners and why?  Have a listen to learn more.

Mike sits down with Andy Temte, the President of Kaplan Professional, to explore the future of corporate education, the emerging Skills Gap, and the blend of behavioral and technical competencies essential to leaders in the 21st century. Andy provides guidance and insights drawn from a long and successful career in education and management to help lifelong learners and aspiring leaders prepare to navigate the changing dynamics of the workplace of the future. 

On this week's episode, Mike, Brandon, and Dan dive into the recent release from the World Health Organization recognizing Gaming Disorder. Following up on our recent episode on eSports, we look deeper into the disorder and potential now for treatment. We also discuss the educational ramifications of this announcement. How might schools and institutions learn from game design while still ensuring the health and growth of their students? That and much more on this week's show.

Brandon, Dan, and Mike jump onto the pitch with this look at the 2018 World Cup. We talk predictions from mystical animals as well as artifical intillegence. Does Mystic Marcus the Pig have the final four teams locked up or do AI's 100,000 simulations prove Spain and Germany will be the last teams standing? We touch on Random Forest simulations and Poisson distributions as we explore the various ways in which humans make predictions. Ane we wrap it all up with a quick dive into a great set of resources from TheirWorld.Org which breaks down the teams and their respective countries based on relevant educational statistics. All that and more on the latest Trending In Education.

Following up on recent episode on Sleep and Learning, Mike and Dan talk to Dr. Kimberly Fenn, Associate Professor and Lead Researcher for The Sleep and Learning Lab, Michigan State University. Dr. Fenn provides more insight and detail regarding chronotypes, circadian nadirs, napping, and insomnia. We explore her research into the important role sleep plays in memory consolidation as we track the growing awakening (see what we did there) to the importance of sleep to health and cognitive performance. In all, it was an especially impressive team performance considering it was recorded during the siesta hour. Enjoy!

Mike, Dan, and Brandon take a look at how sleep influences our learning. The myth of learning while you sleep (hypnopaedia) may have been debunked long ago, but sleep greatly influences being ready to learn. According to recent studies, sleep is also a time your brain works to consolidate long term memories. Our trio digs into that and much, much more.

Dan and Mike spend some quality time with Sean Swidersky, a former professional Halo (video game) player who has since retired and is now producing gaming content for Microsoft and Halo. Sean shares his story of becoming a professional gamer at age 13 in the early days of eSports . We explore how the world is changing with more and more young folks spending time, generating income, and building careers in the growing gaming industry. We examine the challenges both kids and parents are facing in a rapidly changing world of streamers, gaming, and new media.

Mike, Dan, and Brandon take a look back at the Starbucks nationwide implicit bias training that took place across over 8000 stores and reached more than 175-thousand employees in last week. We explore the approach Starbucks took to design their trainings and provide feedback and insight into what was included. We dig into the policy changes that are taking effect and explore how this ties to a long history of limiting access to public space and Starbucks' mission of providing a Third Place.

Mike and Dan sit down with Melissa Griffith, Vice President of Analytics and Strategy at Kaplan Test Prep, to discuss the newly released 2018 Meeker Report on Internet Trends. We dive into the growth of the internet, expansion of mobile access, the importance of data privacy and more. How does China's population view the sharing of their data in comparsion to that of the United States? What does the report have to say about life-long learning and the future workforce? How do Fortnite and Slack relate to all of this? Tune in to find out.

This week, Mike, Dan, and Brandon welcome Tarlin Ray, co-founder of Kaplan Labs and former president of Dev Bootcamp. We talk generational learning and the future of work. What's the biggest issue facing managers and new workers? What does GenZ need to succeed in the work place? How important is open communication and feedback? Listen in to find out. 

This week we explore the Laurel v Yanni phenomenon before diving into the psychology of spoiling and how it relates to the Zeigarnik effect, a pyschological phenomenon describing a tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks more easily than tasks that have been completed. We talk about the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster The Avengers: Infinity War. Mike and Brandon gradually expose some spoilage potential for the movie for Dan. The first part of the show is spoiler-free. By the end of the show, however, let the listener beware. Caveat audiens, lest ye be spoilt!

Have you ever had a student say "I can't learn by reading?" Have you ever opined "This would be a lot easier if I could listen to it?" Do you consider yourself a kinesthetic or visual learner? This week on the show we explore the myths of learning styles, teaching styles, VARKO the AARPVARK, and much much more.

We close out our celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week and National Teacher Day (on Tuesday) by interviewing Kaplan's Teacher of the Year, Craig Harman. Mike and Dan talk with Craig about his path to teaching, engaging with students in an online classroom, the diversity of an online classroom, and more.

We continue our celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week and National Teacher Day by talking to a friend of the podcast. Mark Sanders is a professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte. Mike and Dan sit down to chat with Mark about a wide range of topics in higher education and the larger learning field. Mark discusses some of the challenges of teaching philosophy, digital and anaolog citzenship, the generation/class of students, difficulties with reaching certain students, and the future of higher ed.

We continue our Teacher Appreciation Week celebration by talking to Allison McDonald, an early childhood educator. We dive into the early education space, her focus on thematic lesson planning, and how to handle screen time with the pre-k population.