HiTech Podcast

Will and Josh bring their lists of hot takes. Strap in for a lotta laughs, and a good time! For more on our conversation, check out the episode page ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Want to build your business like we have? Join us over at Notion by ⁠signing up with our affiliate link⁠ to start organizing EVERYTHING you do. Head over to our website at  ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠  for all of our episode pages, send some support...

In Episode 178, we kick off 2025 by returning to the conversation that inspired us to create the podcast: designing a successful online course. Over the years, we have designed numerous courses for both formal education and employee training, discovering which processes lead to success and which don't. Join us as we share how to design a successful course from kickoff to evaluation and everything...

In Episode 177, we end our holiday episodes and our year with the man, the myth, the legend...Steven Miletto! Steve joins us to help answer the question everyone's been asking: what are the best holiday tech toy gifts ever? We debate Star Wars, the iPod, and even the Zune. You won't want to miss this episode—we learn a lot about Steve and share way too many laughs. This episode will definitely get...

In episode 176, we continue our holiday episodes! In this episode, we share how to teach tech well. Whether you are formally training people or teaching family how to use technology during the holiday's most of us have to teach tech to others at some point. We share key principles for teaching tech well that can apply to anyone and share how we have used  @iorad  to teach tech quickly. Also, make...

In episode 175, we kick off our holiday episodes! In this episode, we share tech that has helped us bring people together for the holidays. Josh shares how he uses Notion and Airtable to gather friends regularly despite busy schedules, while Will explains how DrawNames helps simplify family gift-giving. Tune in to learn how technology can bring people together. Also, make sure to check out our Twi...

In episode 174, we continue our Human Tech series, exploring how to thoughtfully evaluate your technology use. We discuss ways to assess whether technology is truly helping—not hindering—us in achieving our "why." Join Will and Josh as they share insights on evaluating tech for teaching, learning, and life. For more on our conversation, check out the episode page ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Want to build your busin...

In episode 173, we continue our Human Tech series, focusing on the importance of approaching tech with cautious creativity. We talk about how we should want to create and innovate with technology, but be cautious at the same time, so we can consider the real impact of tech. For more on our conversation, check out the episode page ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Want to build your business like we have? Join us over at...

In episode 172, we continue our Human Tech series, focusing on the importance of clarity in our relationship with technology. This thought-provoking conversation explores why understanding our purpose is crucial when creating or using tech. Whether you're a teacher, designer, or professional, we delve into the significance of knowing "why" we need a particular technology. For more on our conversat...

In episode 171, we kick off our Human Tech series, discussing the four ways we can successfully manage our relationship with technology. In this thought-provoking conversation, we explore the first way: understanding our human nature and how it impacts our interactions with technology. We delve into our vulnerabilities and strengths. Additionally, we introduce Humane Tech, an organization dedicate...

In this spine-chilling Halloween episode of Hitech Podcast, we dive into the terrifying world of tech practices. Join us as we rate the scariness of common (and not-so-common) tech habits, from the mildly concerning to the downright horrifying. We'll explore hair-raising topics such as never updating your computer, the potential perils of using a Mac, and other digital habits that might be more da...

Episode 169, we continue Season 8 by discussing the importance of online collaboration and writing-first approaches. In this thought-provoking conversation, we explore why reflection and taking time to think first are crucial in both professional and educational settings. Prioritizing written communication can help avoid excessive meetings where we talk about work rather than doing it. In classroo...

Episode 168 we kick off Season 8 with Bryan Ollendyke, a web developer and educator from Penn State, discussing his innovative movement HAX (https://hax.psu.edu/). In this enlightening conversation, we explore HAX's mission for Web Ubiquity - making internet content creation and presentation accessible and portable for everyone. While primarily designed for OER and online course environments, HAX...

In Episode 167 of the Hitech podcast, we're roasting big tech's wasteful practices that force us to spend more and create tech waste. But fear not! We're also praising  @FrameworkComputer  for their easily upgradable and fixable laptops. Join us for a snarky celebration of owning your tech instead of being a slave to forced obsolescence! ;) For more on our conversation, check out the episode page ...

Episode 166 features a good friend of the podcast, Sophie Youngs from the Under the Hat Podcast! In this exciting discussion, we explore Sophie's innovative QR multi-modal adventure activity idea designed to boost engagement and send learners on a quest. Sophie shares her creative process and explains how she leveraged Canva to develop stunning student templates. We delve into the potential applic...

In Episode 165, we tackle the question: Can evaluation be done without an instructor, and if so, how? Will and Josh discuss the importance of instructors while exploring alternative evaluation methods. They delve into scenario-based learning, knowledge checks, and self-evaluation as ways to assess learning in a course. Additionally, they introduce Typeform as a powerful tool for evaluation. For mo...

Episode 164 features our Social Media Manager, Chris Crosdale again! In this thought-provoking discussion, we dive deep into the controversial topic: "Is social media ruining the world, or are we the problem?" Chris shares his expert insights on the impact of social media on society, exploring both its benefits and potential drawbacks. We examine how user behavior, algorithm design, and...

Episode 163 features our friend and newest team member, Chris Crosdale. We discuss Chris's experience in social media, how he used technology to find our voice and brand, how  @Hootsuite  and  @StreamYard  saves him hours of work, and how we can be more authentic on social media platforms. For more on our conversation, check out the episode page ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Want to build your business like we ha...

In episode 162 of the Hitech Podcast, we dive deep into our three-week journey of creating an engaging and fun learning experience we call the “Smoothie Overlord.” It is a fun, gamified space journey that teaches learners how to make a great smoothie. We share how we storyboarded the experience, prioritized features, and managed the project to complete this learning experience in just two weeks. W...

In this episode of the Hitech Podcast, we sit down with Michael Smith, known as the Dadsigner, to explore his agile collaboration techniques in digital design. We discuss our recent collaborative experience with Michael, where he helped us create a new brand for the podcast in a month. We also delve into his client process from onboarding to project completion, and get a firsthand look at how he u...

In Episode 160 of the HiTech Podcast, we are thrilled to welcome back Renee Dawson.. This time around, Renee delves deeper into her rich and varied experiences as a consultant in the ever-evolving ed-tech world, highlighting the significant and positive impact she has been able to make in this dynamic field. She generously shares insights into how she initially embarked on her career path, detaili...

In Episode 159 of the HiTech Podcast, we host our first Old Tech Wars! We dive into a friendly competition with our old friend, Steven Miletto, the host of Teaching Learning Leading K12. Together, we embark on a quest to uncover the best old technology and explore how it has shaped our world, education, and learning. From vintage projectors to retro gadgets, we examine the innovations of the past...

In the final episode of our 5-part series on reducing anxiety with key productivity practices and tools, we delve into the crucial topic of prioritization. Often, people try to do too much at once, leading to overwhelm and inaction. It also causes people to split time and resources between too many things, resulting in little to no progress. In this episode, we emphasize the importance of identify...

In episode 157, we continue our 5-part series on reducing anxiety with key productivity practices and tools. Too often we have seen people who try to manage their tasks, documents, and more all in their inbox. They live there and too often things get lost, people get overwhelmed, and inevitably things don't get done. From dedicated task management apps to effective prioritization systems, we c...

Episode 156 continues our 5-part series on reducing anxiety with key productivity practices and tools. Over the years, we have discovered game-changing practices, systems, and tools that help us get through our weeks, and we are sharing all of them in this series. So far, we have covered how productivity starts with a system and what types of tools you need to be productive and reduce anxiety. In...

Episode 155 continues our 5-part series on reducing anxiety with key productivity practices and tools. Over the years, we have discovered game-changing practices, systems, and tools that help us get through our weeks, and we are sharing all of them in this series. In this second episode, we talk about the key tools we think we could all use to reduce anxiety and up productivity. We also share how...