Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Dr. April Willis joins Mike to talk about the work she and team are doing at the National Virtual Teachers Association (NVTA) to help teachers manage the difficult transition to teaching online. April recounts her experiences beginning in the classroom and then moving across various roles in education before joining the NVTA to help establish best practices for virtual instruction. What began prio...

After graduating from college, Mike Marriner travelled across America with two college friends in an old, green RV. Along the way, they interviewed leaders across a wide array of fields and occupations to learn how folks got to where they were. That first trip resulted in the book Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Road in Life and soon led to the founding of Road Trip Nation where Mike...

In this special edition of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer shares the 21 Trends he's seeing on the horizon for 2021. Based on over 100 shows in 2020 talking to 75 different guests, we've been able to glean insights that help us get out ahead of what's emerging in the future of learning in 2021 and beyond. And this is the episode where we share that all with you! You want to discover what's...

Melissa Griffith and Dan Strafford join Mike Palmer for this special 2021 Kickoff show. What trends are top of mind for us as we lean into 2021? How will we turn the page from 2020 into the New Year? What have we learned? We talk Biotech, EdTech, Data Privacy, and the enormous opportunities emerging in Learning due to the forcing function of rapid digital adoption in 2020 due to the pandemic. Than...

To bring 2020 to a close, we've compiled highlights from the 10 most downloaded episodes of Trending in Education this year. We begin with Angela Siefer talking about Digital Inclusion before hearing Adi Hanash's perspective on how to be a great live online instructor. Then we listen to Dr. Rich Milner talk about the importance of grace in light of the Black Lives Matter movement and the challenge...

Melissa Griffith and Dan Strafford rejoin Mike to look back on an amazing year in learning trends. We take a cautiously optimistic stance looking back on the year and peering ahead into the future as we review highlights from some of the top episodes of Trending in Education from 2020. We talk about the pandemic response, the promise of the vaccines, and the transformational thinking about race th...

Dustin Ramsdell is a higher ed tech professional who works to support student success. For the past few years, he’s also been the host of The Higher Ed Geek Podcast exploring trends in higher ed and educational technology. Dustin joins Mike for this episode of Trending in Education to share his perspective on three trends to be on the lookout for heading into 2021. It’s a fun conversation to kick...

Sean D’Arcy, VP of Kahoot! at School and Home, joins Mike to talk about what’s new and emerging from the interactive, gamified EdTech platform. We begin by getting Sean’s backstory as a technology, product, and marketing executive as we learn how he landed at Kahoot. Then we shift to the challenges and opportunities he’s seeing in this tumultuous year. We conclude with a conversation about Kahoot!...

Lindsey Dixon and Julissa Baez from The Urban Assembly join Mike to talk about Postsecondary Readiness, Workforce Pathways, and the Future of Work. We hear Julissa and Lindsey’s origin stories and learn what drives their passion to make a positive impact on students and families overcoming poverty and striving for social mobility. We explore how to move work readiness programs further upstream int...

Noah Teitelbaum is the Executive Director of Empowering Education. That means he does a bit of everything, from chatting with the principals and teachers using the program to managing program updates to writing SEL children's stories about bunnies (https://empoweringeducation.org/book/). Empowering Education is a non-profit that enables learning by contributing to the social and emotional wellness...

James Nottingham is the Co-Founder of Challenging Learning and is the Creator of the Learning Pit, a program that he founded in 2003 to encourage students to get out of their comfort zone. Since then it has scaled across the globe to millions of educators and learners who have grabbed hold of its message of inspiration. James joins Mike to explain how this all got started with his experiences as a...

Kate Eberle Walker is an education industry leader with 20+ years of experience in leading, managing, advising, acquiring and investing in education companies. She is the CEO of Presence Learning, the leading provider of live online special education related services for K-12. On this episode, Kate returns to Trending in Education to talk through what it was like to lead her organization through t...

Robyn Phillips is the Deputy Director of Postsecondary Access at The Urban Assembly. The Urban Assembly is a non-profit organization working to advance students' economic and social mobility by improving public education. Robyn is also the Board Chair of the College Access Consortium of New York (CACNY). On this episode, Robyn joins Mike to explain what postsecondary education looks like in 2020 a...

Brian Tobal is the CEO of SchoolHouse, an education company that provides a home to microschools led by outstanding educators. On this episode, Brian joins Mike to tell the story of the series of successful education ventures and initiatives that he's embarked on throughout his career. We conclude by diving into what led to his joining SchoolHouse to lead them through these tumultuous times. We di...

Steve Joordens is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He's also the Director of the Advanced Learning Technologies Lab at U of T where he researches the application of research findings to real life learning interventions. Steve joins Mike in a free-flowing conversation about the challenges and opportunities with online learning in these very confusing times. Steve shares his p...

Melissa, Dan, and Mike regroup to reflect on the year that was in 2020 and how gratefulness and reflection have become key trends in our thinking. While we talk through the allure of doomscrolling and social media, we also shift our focus to think through how we're becoming more reflective and intentional about how we spend our time and those opportunities we have to share with those we're close t...

Adrian Ridner is the Co-founder and CEO of Study.com, a trusted education website used by over 30 million students and teachers each month. Adrian is committed to improving online education through personalized learning solutions that are engaging, effective, and affordable. In this episode of Trending in Education, Adrian joins Mike to tell his origin story leading up to the founding and scaling...

Mike Iskandar joins Mike on this episode to talk about how he founded Time Travel Journeys to help schools & organizations empower kids to turn self doubt, anxiety, and isolation into self compassion, confidence, & connection. Mike tells the story of how what began as a project of self-discovery in his 40th year evolved into the program he runs today that centers around getting to know yourself ac...

Howard Blumenthal joins Mike on this episode about reimagining school for the future. Howard's best-known work is Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, which he created and produced for PBS. Nowadays, Howard's keen interest is in growing up in the 21st century; what children and teenagers learn, and how they learn; global citizenship; social change; and human progress. We explore his big pictur...

Kelly Palmer is the author of The Expertise Economy: How the smartest companies use learning to engage, compete and succeed, which focuses on the urgent need to upskill the workforce with the skills needed most for the future of work. She's been published in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Forbes, and Fast Company among others.  Kelly joins our host,...

Adam Gamwell, a Design Anthropologist and Host of This Anthro Life, returns to Trending in Education to explore the relevance of anthropology and the social sciences to the workplace and business. Adam recounts his experiences teaching anthropology, managing Missing Links Studios, and most recently working with MotivBase on blending AI and Machine Learning with Anthropology. If you're passionate a...

Amrit Ahluwalia is the Managing Editor of The EvoLLLution, the online newspaper developed by Destiny Solutions to create a conversation hub focused on non-traditional higher education and the transforming postsecondary marketplace. On this episode, Amrit joins Mike Palmer to talk about non-traditional learners in higher education, the importance of continuing education, and the need to reframe the...

Zach Silverzweig is the CEO and Founder of TinyIvy, a startup that is focused on helping children and families learn to read English. Zach joins Mike in an exploration of why learning how to read English presents unique challenges and how the TIPS system developed by Zach and team helps make things better. We begin with Zach's origin story before diving into the complexities of English language le...

Nicolle Merrill joins Mike to talk about acquiring skills, shifting careers, and overcoming fear and self-doubt. Nicolle is the author of the book Punch Doubt in the Face: How to Upskill, Change Careers, and Beat the Robots. She tells her story of career growth and lessons learned along the way. Nicolle is also the host of a podcast called 50 Conversations in which she explores career shifts, skil...

Dr. Mark Sanders, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at UNC Charlotte, returns to the show to talk to Mike and Melissa about student voter engagement, the relevance of philosophy, and the importance of supporting faculty and the broader community. Mark describes the work that is being done by FacNet, the Faculty Voting Rights Engagement Network where he is on the Steering Committee. We explore how to...