The use of online synchronous communication tools in education has dramatically increased because of ubiquitous access to technology as well as external pressures such as the Pandemic. Remind is an online platform that facilitates easy communication between teachers, students, and families. Recently, Remind expanded its services to include online Tutoring. In this episode, Remind President and CEO, Quenton Cook, discusses the potential for online tools to provide robust options for high-dosage tutoring to help students achieve at higher levels.

High-Dosage Online Tutoring

Don Berg is an education researcher and practitioner who has focused his career on understanding how to better enact authentic pedagogy that equitably serves students. He has authored multiple books, the most recent of which is the 2022 publication, Schooling for Holistic Equity: How to Manage the Hidden Curriculum for K-12. In this discussion, Don explains his perspective on authentic pedagogy as well as the fake achievement, resulting from an over-emphasis on standardized testing, that can hamper students’ growth.

Authentic Pedagogy and Student Achievement

As we navigate to post-pandemic normalcy, schools are seeking ways to address achievement gaps heightened by the pandemic while also addressing the wellbeing of students, faculty, and families. Dr. JuDonn DeShields, Chief Program and Strategy Officer from the education nonprofit PowerMyLearning, discusses a case study of how Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) was integrated into Meadows Elementary in San Jose, CA. This case study narrates the power of distributed leadership, innovation, and empowerment stemming from an integrated rather than “another thing” approach to SEL.

The Story of SEL at Jeanne Meadow Elementary

Tyson Smith

Ample evidence shows that reading proficiency is one of the most important skills developed by students. Our guest, Tyson Smith, is the CEO of Reading Horizons, a publishing and technology company that specializes in reading instruction. Tyson discusses his passion for eradicating illiteracy, the vital confidence cultivated through robust reading instruction, and new trends in technology that empowers both teachers and learners.

Empowering Learners with Reading Instruction: A conversation with Tyson Smith

Since the winter of 2020, students across the globe have experienced significant disruption to learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote learning, anxiety, economic instability, and a host of other social and cultural factors have negatively impacted students’ experiences. A recently released report titled, How Kids are Performing: A Snapshot of K-12 Academic Performance and Growth, analyzes these trends and makes recommendations. Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Renaissance, publisher of the report, discusses findings and recommendations for improved achievement.

The COVID-19 Effect on Achievement

Pew Research reports that 46% of teens report using the Internet “almost constantly.” Because of such rampant consumption of media, our students, and in fact, all of us, need robust tools for critically analyzing media. We are joined by two authors of a 2022 book titled, The Media and Me: A guide to critical media literacy for young people. Allison Butler and Nolan Higdon discuss multiple areas of literacy important for consumers of digital and social media as well as ways in which teachers could integrate those concepts into already-existing lessons and curriculum.

Critical Media Literacy

Both K-12 and Higher Education are built on the idea of credentials. Students matriculate from academic programs and use transcripts to demonstrate completion of specific credentials, such as the completion of a degree. These traditional credentials potentially conceal specific, high demand skills that could be pivotal for employment. Territorium is a Texas-based Ed-Tech firm that helps students translate academic experiences into durable skills. CEO and Co-Founder Guillermo Elizondo and Vice President of Equity and Innovation Keith Look discuss the need for competency-based, lifelong learning as well as more transparent reporting of those skills to potential employers. For more information on Territorium, visit their website: https://territorium.com/

Both K-12 and Higher Education are built on the idea of credentials. Students matriculate from academic programs and use transcripts to demonstrate completion of specific credentials, such as the completion of a degree. These traditional credentials potentially conceal specific, high demand skills that could be pivotal for employment. Territorium is a Texas-based Ed-Tech firm that helps students translate academic experiences into durable skills. CEO and Co-Founder Guillermo Elizondo and Vice President of Equity and Innovation Keith Look discuss the need for competency-based, lifelong learning as well as more transparent reporting of those skills to potential employers. For more information on Territorium, visit their website: <a href="https://territorium.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://territorium.com/</a>

Translating Academic Credentials

Nigel Nisbet

Learning math is hard, but could it be made easier if we had better ways to introduce math to students? Nigel Nisbet is a math expert and Vice President of Content Creation for the MIND Research Institute, an organization focused on teaching math the way children learn. Nigel discusses the challenges of traditional pedagogy as well as Spatial-Temporal approach taken by the MIND Institute to help children reprogram their minds to better understand math. For more information on the MIND Research Institute, visit :  https://www.mindresearch.org/

Learning math is hard, but could it be made easier if we had better ways to introduce math to students? Nigel Nisbet is a math expert and Vice President of Content Creation for the MIND Research Institute, an organization focused on teaching math the way children learn. Nigel discusses the challenges of traditional pedagogy as well as Spatial-Temporal approach taken by the MIND Institute to help children reprogram their minds to better understand math. For more information on the MIND Research Institute, visit : <a href="https://www.mindresearch.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.mindresearch.org/</a>

Nigel Nisbet on the Neuroscience of Learning Math

Despite the desire for increasing students in STEM fields, educators still face challenges in keeping students engaged as they learn concepts like math, biology, physics, and other topics. Louise Krmpotic, Vice President for Enterprise Services at DigitalEd, discusses strategies for keeping students engaged, even in remote learning environments, as well as benefits of authentic assessments for teachers seeking to elevate learning in STEM courses.

Engaging Students in STEM

Ardis Kadiu

Digital transformation increasingly shapes how students interact with schools and universities. Ardis Kadiu is a computer scientist who is also founder and CEO of Element451, a company specializing in using artificial intelligence, user experience, and digital transformation in colligate admissions. Our discussion provides an excellent overview for understanding what artificial intelligence is, how it is used effectively, and possible warnings about its effects on our privacy.

Ardis Kadiu Discusses Artificial Intelligence

Teaching Matters is an audio series exploring the unique needs of students.

Children are learning differently than in the past.  Technology is leading the way to new ways to teach and to learn.  This podcast is having the needed conversations in re-evaluating the way we learn and the way we teach.  Please keep up the good work.

Needed Conversations...

Teaching Matters

Dr. Craig Davis and Mr. Chuck Borghese teach courses in strategic communication in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Both Craig and Chuck draw upon years of experience working in the communication industry to integrate real world, problem-based learning into their courses. They emphasize creativity, problem-solving, team-based collaboration, and real-world application. In this episode, Chuck and Craig describe their approaches and how teachers in various settings might use problem-based learning to help students develop transferable skills.

Problem-Based Learning

A constant challenge facing educators is to determine the best ways in which to motivate students to succeed. A recent collaboration between JFF, Persistence Plus, and several community colleges explored the use of “behavioral nudges,” or short personalized messages, to promote student success. Barbara Endel, Senior Director at Jobs for the Future, Jill Frankfort, Co-Founder and President of Persistence Plus, and Aaron Weiss, an Instructor at Lorain Community College in Ohio discuss the use of behavioral nudges as well as results of a large research trial showing a 10% gain in academic success when STEM students receive such messages.

Behavioral Nudges 

Educational institutions at all levels establish concrete objectives related to diversity. In discussions about diverse educational environments, inclusion is mentioned less, but is critically important. Our discussion today with Dr. Michael Arrington from Sam Houston State University and Dr. Marlene De La Cruz-Guzmon from Ohio University explores the need for inclusive educational environments as well as inclusion strategies for teachers, schools, and institutions.

Creating an Inclusive Educational Environment

Linda Rice is professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University. Linda, who has taught at various levels, discusses the process of learning as it relates to contemporary students and how educators must adapt to provide meaningful learning experiences.

1Linda Rice

On this episode of Teaching Matters, Scott discusses the problem, the challenge, and the rewards of technology, specifically cell phones, in the classroom with Dave Panzer, Director of Sales at Pocket Points, Inc. and Dr. Jeff Kuznekoff, Assistant Professor of Communication at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Pocket Points is a new app providing a powerful and innovative solution to a modern day challenge for Educator's across America. Pocket Points rewards students for doing the right thing of staying off their cell phones during class time. For more information on the app, visit: https://pocketpoints.com

On this episode of Teaching Matters, Scott discusses the problem, the challenge, and the rewards of technology, specifically cell phones, in the classroom with Dave Panzer, Director of Sales at Pocket Points, Inc. and Dr. Jeff Kuznekoff, Assistant Professor of Communication at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Pocket Points is a new app providing a powerful and innovative solution to a modern day challenge for Educator's across America. Pocket Points rewards students for doing the right thing of staying off their cell phones during class time. For more information on the app, visit: <a href="https://pocketpoints.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://pocketpoints.com</a>

The Problem of Cell Phone Use in Class

Wendy Reinke

Keith Herman

Dr. Wendy Reinke and Dr. Keith Herman are Co-Directors of the Missouri Prevention Center, which brings together community members and researchers to help schools and families promote social and academic success. This interview focuses on a recent research article published by Reinke and Herman exploring dynamics of classroom interaction related to problematic behaviors in classroom settings. If you'd like to learn more about the work being done at the Missouri Prevention Center, visit: http://prevention.missouri.edu http://pbi.sagepub.com/content/15/1/39

Dr. Wendy Reinke and Dr. Keith Herman are Co-Directors of the Missouri Prevention Center, which brings together community members and researchers to help schools and families promote social and academic success. This interview focuses on a recent research article published by Reinke and Herman exploring dynamics of classroom interaction related to problematic behaviors in classroom settings. If you'd like to learn more about the work being done at the Missouri Prevention Center, visit: <a href="http://prevention.missouri.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://prevention.missouri.edu</a> <a href="http://pbi.sagepub.com/content/15/1/39" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://pbi.sagepub.com/content/15/1/39</a>

Wendy Reinke and Keith Herman

Lynette Guastaferro

Teaching Matters is not just a great name for a podcast, its also a great name for an organization devoted to teacher development. Today’s guest is Lynette Guastaferro, the CEO of the non-profit organization, Teaching Matters, based in New York City. We will learn from Guastaferro how the organization uses micro-credentialing to empower teachers with best practices, innovative thought, and leadership skills that have far-reaching positive impact in their schools.

Micro-Credentialing to Empower Teachers w/ Lynette Guastaferro

Linda Darling-Hammond

Marc Tucker

Linda Darling-Hammond led a team of researchers to conduct an international comparative study, Empowered Educators. The study and accompanying series of policy briefs related to teacher recruitment, professional development, appraisal, and other topics was funded and supported by the National Center on Education and the Economy, a Washington DC-based organization led by Marc Tucker, with the help of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Our discussion focuses on some of the lessons learned from a multi-country comparative study of practices used in high-performing education systems, and their implications for policy and practices in the United States. View the series of policy briefs at: http://ncee.org/empowered-educators/empowered-educators-resources/#PolicyBriefs

Linda Darling-Hammond led a team of researchers to conduct an international comparative study, Empowered Educators. The study and accompanying series of policy briefs related to teacher recruitment, professional development, appraisal, and other topics was funded and supported by the National Center on Education and the Economy, a Washington DC-based organization led by Marc Tucker, with the help of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Our discussion focuses on some of the lessons learned from a multi-country comparative study of practices used in high-performing education systems, and their implications for policy and practices in the United States. View the series of policy briefs at: <a href="http://ncee.org/empowered-educators/empowered-educators-resources/#PolicyBriefs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://ncee.org/empowered-educators/empowered-educators-resources/#PolicyBriefs</a>

"Empowered Educators" w/ Linda Darling-Hammond and Marc Tucker

In an effort to improve assessment practices, a collaboration between 19 different organizations representing educational researchers, educational policy reform advocates, private sector interests, and others, recently released “The Ten Principles for Building a High Quality System of Assessment.” (http://deeperlearning4all.org/10-principles-building-high-quality-system-assessments) A primary objective of the Ten Principles is to improve the ecological validity of assessment practices by bringing equity to the development of students’ academic, career, and civic aptitudes. Guests on the program include workforce Expert, Gail Norris, who is the U.S. Lead for Industry Learning Services at Siemens; Dr. Rebecca Wolfe, who is an education policy advocate and Associate Vice President of JFF’s Students at the Center initiative; and, Dr. David Conley, Founder of Ed Imagine and researcher focused on college and career readiness, student ownership of learning, and systems of assessment.

In an effort to improve assessment practices, a collaboration between 19 different organizations representing educational researchers, educational policy reform advocates, private sector interests, and others, recently released “The Ten Principles for Building a High Quality System of Assessment.” (<a href="http://deeperlearning4all.org/10-principles-building-high-quality-system-assessments" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://deeperlearning4all.org/10-principles-building-high-quality-system-assessments</a>) A primary objective of the Ten Principles is to improve the ecological validity of assessment practices by bringing equity to the development of students’ academic, career, and civic aptitudes. Guests on the program include workforce Expert, Gail Norris, who is the U.S. Lead for Industry Learning Services at Siemens; Dr. Rebecca Wolfe, who is an education policy advocate and Associate Vice President of JFF’s Students at the Center initiative; and, Dr. David Conley, Founder of Ed Imagine and researcher focused on college and career readiness, student ownership of learning, and systems of assessment.

The Ten Principles for Building a High Quality System of Assessment

Paul Mayhew

Dr. Mayhew is a professor of Music in the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University and Conductor of the Ohio University Women’s Ensemble and Ohio University Choral Union. Paul discussed the role of communication and creativity in the classroom.

Angela Hosek

Dr. Angela Hosek directs the basic communication course in Ohio University’s School of Communication Studies in the Scripps College of Communication. Dr. Hosek discusses how group dynamics play a role in the learning process for millennial students, as well as how education approaches must adapt to the ways in which millennial students tend to learn.

Eric Berlin

Teaching students to think creatively about problems is a critical step in promoting metacognition, problem-solving, and even productive collaboration. A lifelong puzzle enthusiast, Eric Berlin has created a variety of resources, including puzzle-based mystery novels and free word puzzles, that can be used by teachers, parents, and students to promote creative thinking. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of using puzzles in a variety of settings, both in the classroom and at home. Through a free subscription to his website, www.puzzleyourkids.com, you can receive a weekly free puzzle.

Teaching students to think creatively about problems is a critical step in promoting metacognition, problem-solving, and even productive collaboration. A lifelong puzzle enthusiast, Eric Berlin has created a variety of resources, including puzzle-based mystery novels and free word puzzles, that can be used by teachers, parents, and students to promote creative thinking. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of using puzzles in a variety of settings, both in the classroom and at home. Through a free subscription to his website, <a href="http://www.puzzleyourkids.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.puzzleyourkids.com</a>, you can receive a weekly free puzzle.

Eric Berlin - Using Puzzles to Promote Creative Thinking

As Basic Course Director in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Melissa Broeckelman-Post is responsible for training and supervising 50-60 instructors who teach 3500-4000 students per year in the required introductory communication skills courses taken by all students, as well as developing curriculum, managing the program, and assessing learning outcomes.  Dr. Broeckelman-Post discusses how different course structures and interventions facilitate learning.

As Basic Course Director in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Melissa Broeckelman-Post is responsible for training and supervising 50-60 instructors who teach 3500-4000 students per year in the required introductory communication skills courses taken by all students, as well as developing curriculum, managing the program, and assessing learning outcomes. Dr. Broeckelman-Post discusses how different course structures and interventions facilitate learning.

Melissa Broeckelman-Post

Terri Givens

Excellence in teaching and learning is increasingly tied to the need for assessment. As both students and methods of instruction change, faculty are called upon to assess learning in ways that are increasingly nuanced so that meaningful improvements can be made across programs and within specific courses. Dr. Terri Givens, an education consultant and former provost, argued in a recent Inside Higher Ed essay that doctoral students should receive more training in this area. We discuss this idea and the general importance of assessment with Dr. Givens in this episode.

Eva Moskowitz

Eva Moskowitz is a leading figure in the education reform movement promoting charter schools. Her charter school system, the Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, has 45 locations and serves nearly 15,000 students. In this episode of Teaching Matters, Moskowitz describes how her schools have created a culture of success despite the many political challenges advanced by charter school opponents. Additional information about Eva’s work as an educational reformer can be found in her memoir, “The Education of Eva Moskowitz,” published by Harper Collins.

Eva Moskowitz, Educational Reform Advocate

Laeeq Kahn

Nathan Carpenter

Nathan Carpenter and Laeeq Kahn – Nathan Carpenter is the Director of the Social Media Analytics Lab at Illinois State University, and Dr. Laeeq Kahn is director of the Social Media Analytics Research Team Lab at Ohio University. Carpenter and Kahn discuss uses of social media analytics as a new arena for teaching millennial students a wide range of liberal arts issues, ranging from quantitative reasoning to critical thinking.

Nathan Carpenter and Laeeq Kahn

This episode expands on the topic of place-based learning, which was also covered in Episode 103. Whereas the previous interview focused on place-based learning in an urban setting, this episode focuses on a rural-based program, the Teton Science School. The science school offers place-based experiences for students and faculty, and also helps conduct workshops on this topic for faculty. We are joined on the podcast by Josh Kleyman of the Teton Science School, as well as Dr. Scott Seaman, Dean of Ohio University Libraries, Delaney Dixon and Brandan Hogan, both Ohio University Students. Seaman, Dixon, and Hogan are all affiliated with the Ohio Fellows program, which participated in place-based learning at the Teton Science School.

Place-Based Learning In the Grand Tetons

The rise of smart and mobile technology has opened many doors for students and teachers. Although we use our devices to share pictures of pets and to argue on social media, we also have access to information unimaginable even a few years ago. Therein lies the problem: mobile smart technology provides powerful opportunities for learning and for distraction. Abraham Flanigan is an Assistant Professor at George Southern University in the College of Education. In this episode, Abraham discusses the topic of digital distraction, including rather specific ways that technology can help and hinder learning.

Digital Distractions and Learning

Lynn Gangone

Dr. Lynn Gangone is President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, a national advocacy group based on Washington, D.C. The AACTE advocates at both national and state levels in support of high-quality teacher preparation. The organization represents over 800 postsecondary institutions with teacher education programs. Dr. Gangone explains core tenets of the AACTE approach and delves into specific issues like school gun violence, promoting women leaders in the field, and challenges facing today’s teachers.

Teacher Preparation w/ Lynn Gangone

The second of a two-part series on augmented and virtual reality, this episode features faculty and students who work on the production of AR/VR content. Our discussion focuses on how content creation for AR/VR applications provide high-impact problem-solving opportunities for students with a diverse array of interests. Lessons learned from the Immersive Media Initiative at Ohio University can spur ideas for other educators wanting to use contemporary technology as a learning opportunity. Guest for this episode include John Bowditch, professor in the School of Emerging Communication Technology at Ohio University, as well as two students, Alyssa Stahl and Mitchell Cook.

Learning through AR/VR Production

The best podcast episodes on non-current politics. Covering topics such as universal basic income, democracy, poverty & justice and more. For anyone interested in learning more about politics that affect that world, not just now, but in the longer term. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Non-Current Politics Podcasts

The best self improvement podcast episodes. From improving productivity, to finding purpose in your life to what constitutes freedom, this topic is on anything and everything that can help people to improve their lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!