Synopsis
A weekly podcast, with insightful conversations about edtech and the future of learning, hosted by EdSurge's Jenny Abamu and Jeffrey R. Young. Whether youre an entrepreneur, an educator, or an investor, theres something for everyone on the air.
Episodes
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Did Students Learn As Much During Remote Online Instruction?
19/05/2020 Duration: 24minAs this chaotic and unexpected semester comes to a close, we wanted to know how well this online teaching went, and what it felt like from the instructor point of view. Was it as good? Did the students seem to learn as much? So for this week's podcast, we talk with two college professors who debrief about how the partially remote semester went.
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Why Students Want Tuition Refunds Over Shift to Online Teaching
12/05/2020 Duration: 25minShould colleges be giving students a partial refund on tuition since their campuses were forced to shift teaching online for the COVID-19 pandemic? Students around the country say yes because they say that online is not as good as what they signed up for. But is college just like any other service, like dry cleaning or going to a restaurant? What are students paying for, and what are colleges really selling?
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Researcher Behind ‘10,000-Hour Rule’ Says Good Teaching Matters, Not Just Practice
05/05/2020 Duration: 32minYou've probably heard of the "10,000-hour rule" popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell, which says that it takes that much practice to gain mastery of a complex subject area. The professor who Gladwell cites as the basis of that rule, Anders Ericsson, says things are a bit more complicated than the popular author explained.
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How YouTube Star John Green Thinks About His Educational Videos
28/04/2020 Duration: 33minIn this time of pandemic, when schools and colleges have shifted teaching online to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, more and more teachers find themselves making videos for their students, and more students are turning to educational videos online. So for this week’s podcast, we decided to reach out to one of the masters of making educational videos, John Green, for his advice and thoughts on education during this unprecedented time.
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Studying While Financially Stressed During COVID-19
21/04/2020 Duration: 22minToday we’re talking to two students facing financial challenges, as part of our series about how COVID-19 is impacting education. One is an undergrad struggling to balance his studies and a precarious financial situation at home, and the other is a grad student with six-figure debt with a surprisingly upbeat view of his situation.
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What a Global 'Corona Diaries' Project Reveals About Education During The Pandemic
16/04/2020 Duration: 15minThere's a new global effort called Corona Diaries. This simple but elegant website invites visitors to record a short audio clip answering one of three prompts: How was your day? How has your life changed? Or What’s troubling you right now? Even though people could talk about any aspect of their lives during COVID-19, a large percentage of the clips come from either parents struggling to homeschool their kids while schools are closed, or educators trying to make sense of this time.
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One Teacher’s Year Inside the World’s Largest Library
14/04/2020 Duration: 25minThe largest library in the world is the U.S. Library of Congress, and each year it invites one teacher to serve as a Teacher in Residence. This year that's Jen Reidel, and she's been at the Library of Congress researching, writing and seeking out primary sources that K-12 teachers across the country could use in their classroom lessons. Here's what she's learned.
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When 7 Family Members Continue Their Studies While Sheltered In Place
07/04/2020 Duration: 24minOne house in Massachusetts is suddenly brimming with remote learning. With seven family members all trying to keep their studies going while their schools or colleges are closed, it's an accidental experiment about how different students are reacting to emergency remote instruction.
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The Future of K-12 School Post-Coronavirus
02/04/2020 Duration: 19minToday we’re looking at what K-12 schools could look like after social distancing is over and people reassess what they want from our school systems. To do that we talked with Simon Rodberg, who has been the principal of a charter school in DC, and is the author of a forthcoming book from ACSD called "What If I’m Wrong? and Other Key Questions for Decisive School Leadership."
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How a Preschool for At-Risk Children Is Prioritizing Mental Health During COVID-19 Closures
31/03/2020 Duration: 27minLast fall, EdSurge wrote about a specialized preschool program in Ohio for kids who have experienced severe trauma. These are kids who depend on wraparound services such as meals, transportation and mental health services. So when the coronavirus hit and Ohio's governor closed schools, this program had to scramble to come up with a plan: How would they ensure their kids got fed? Would they have to stop counseling sessions? Would the TIP kids slip further behind?
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Bonus Episode: Scenes From College Classes Forced Online by COVID-19
26/03/2020 Duration: 21minWith college campuses across the country shut-down due to COVID-19, teaching has suddenly moved online. For many students and instructors, this is the first time they've done online learning. So how is it going? We talked with students and professors to hear what their experiences look and feel like so far.
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‘Let Yourself Off the Hook’: Advice for Teachers and Parents During COVID-19
23/03/2020 Duration: 28minThe new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic are starting to set in this week, as schools across the country have closed and shifted to online learning. This week on the podcast, EdSurge spoke with Christine Elgersma, a senior editor of social media and learning resources at the nonprofit Common Sense Media. As both a parent and a former teacher, Elgersma understands just how much is being asked of educators and families right now. She offers some actionable advice for teachers and parents looking to better support their children—and themselves.
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How Librarians Continue Their Work Digitally Even as Coronavirus Closes Libraries
17/03/2020 Duration: 35minWe’ve been doing a lot of coverage this month of schools and colleges closing and shifting online to try to finish out their semesters amid this pandemic. And of course, libraries that are being forced to shut their doors are trying to shift online too. To get a sense of what the widespread closure of libraries could mean, and hear some creative ways libraries are reaching out digitally, I connected yesterday with Jessamyn West, an educational technologist who runs the librarian.net blog and is author of "Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide."
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Bonus Episode: Coronavirus Has Led to a Rush of Online Teaching. How Can Professors Manage?
11/03/2020 Duration: 24minEvery day, a new batch of colleges announces that in-person classes are closed and teaching will shift online to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. So EdSurge asked our teaching advice columnist, Bonni Stachowiak, to offer a quick primer for teaching online. We also talk to her about a debate that has been going on among long-time online teaching experts about whether it’s a good or a bad thing for online learning that there’s this crisis forcing so many to try this mode of instruction.
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How Education is Becoming the Front Lines for Debating the Role of Algorithms
10/03/2020 Duration: 47minEven though SXSWedu was cancelled, we pressed on with our planned session—recorded remotely rather than in person. We talk to researchers and students confronting how algorithms are being applied in educational settings.
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Bonus Episode: Healing the Youngest Victims of the Opioid Crisis
04/03/2020 Duration: 24minOn this bonus episode of the EdSurge Podcast we’re talking about the youngest victims of the opioid crisis. They’re preschoolers whose parents or caregivers misuse pain killers, or have moved on to addictions to heroin or other street drugs as a result. One expert called these kids “America’s lost children.” Of course educators haven’t given up on these kids. But teaching them brings unique challenges. EdSurge reporter Emily Tate talks about one program making a difference.
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What Does Inclusive Teaching Look Like?
03/03/2020 Duration: 30minHow can teachers keep any racial or cultural bias they might have out of their classrooms, and make sure every student feels equally valued? To tackle that big question, we talked to Justin Reich, the host of a new podcast about teaching that comes out of MIT. The podcast is called TeachLab, about the art and craft of teaching, and its first season is devoted to becoming a more equitable teacher.
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Dave Eggers on Finding Creative Refuge From the ‘Lunacy’ of Technology
25/02/2020 Duration: 35minDave Eggers is best known for his best-selling books, including The Circle and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. But he's also an education advocate, having helped start a series of unusual writing centers around the country. For this week's podcast, we talked with Eggers about his thoughts on the growing use of technology in the classroom, and what he sees as a need for "refuge" from the digital.
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How ‘Dialogue’ Can Create Empathy in a Divided Classroom
18/02/2020 Duration: 25minIn many classrooms these days, student discussion can grow so heated that passion threatens to overwhelm productive conversation. And in today’s highly polarized atmosphere, when a comment taken out of context can go viral on social media, the consequences of an out-of-control conversation can be severe. But there’s another option. This week on the podcast, we’re learning about “dialogue,” a type of mediated discussion that may help students and educators tackle touchy topics more productively.
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Why Talking About ‘Screen Time’ Is the Wrong Conversation
11/02/2020 Duration: 26minToday we’re diving into this issue of screen time, with a guest who for years has tracked research about the impact of screen media on children and young people. She’s Lisa Guernsey, director of the Teaching, Learning, and Tech program at New America. She says she has a better way to think about regulating tech, including a model of how educators and librarians can become better mentors for students and parents.