Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Following on the heels of our conversation with the researchers who studied the impact of environmental factors, including temperature, on performance, here we dive in to get more reactions from Dan, Mike, and a few friends of the show.  The most buzzworthy component of the research has been the findings that women, on average, perform better on cognitive tasks in warmer temperatures while men, on...

You most likely saw a news article or morning television show covering a recent study on temperature and performance. Mike and Dan chat with the researchers behind the story!  Debates have raged for decades on office temperature and how it might change the way we work. This research shows that women do perform better in warmer temperatures, while men perform better in cooler temperatures. We talk...

On a very special Fourth of July extra, we share some news about co-host Brandon Jones. We talk through some of the highlights of Trending in Education over the past two-and-a-half plus years. We also discuss what topics we look forward to revisiting as the show accelerates into the future.  We also bring back an old feature of our podcast, the quiz! Dan quizzes Brandon and Mike on July 4th histor...

We revisit the Meeker report after our high-level discussion last week, to drill down on Mary Meeker's outlook for education and online education throughout the world. The world is changing at an ever increasing pace. How is online education attempting to keep up?  We take a look at the intersection of public and private partnerships with MOOCs. Have MOOCs made the move up the Gartner Hype Cycles'...

What might the global landscape of learning and education look like in 2030? We dive into a recent dynamic report from HolonIq.com on five key trends to watch for over the next 10 plus years.  In a global market place that is set to reach over 10 trillion dollars in the year 2030, how might the world of learning and education evolve? Will learning be most influenced through regional change or will...

It's that time of year again! Join us as we dive into the 2019 Meeker Internet Trends Report. Mike and Brandon take a high level look at the report in its entirety and explore what trends Mary Meeker thinks are most important. For the first time, over 50% of the world has access to the internet and that number should continue to climb. What does that mean for education, learning, and connectivity...

A recent "click-bait" story out of the Washington Post describes a study in Italy that explores using Twitter to study a novel. The study, done at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, split students into two groups: one group used more standard classroom approaches to reading and understanding a novel while the other group used Twitter to learn about the book. The results showed t...

A recent study out of Stanford University shows that a new creation, Quizbot, proves to be more effective in students' knowledge retention than old school flashcards. We dive into how the Quizbot works and why it appears to be a welcomed addition to a student's studying tool box. How can the Quizbot's interactivity help students where analog study aides may fall flat? How might something like the...

Happy Father's Day! On this extra, we tackle a news story out of Canada about the implementation of robot babies as a study tool for onboarding and training medical professionals. How might robot babies better prepare healthcare professionals for everything that could happen during the early days of life? Where might screen-based simulations be a better learning tool than a robot? Will future medi...

As IQ has been thrust into the mainstream news with folks measuring each other based on obscure psychometric quotients, we take some time to look at what it's supposed to represent and what exactly can be understood by this number. We touch on Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences and raise some questions about whether IQ is an idea past its prime.  What value do we get from IQ numbers a...

Octochamps? Octochamps! This year's Scripps Spelling Bee finished in an eight way tie. We discuss the fallout from the way it all ended and attempt to conjure up new innovations to the Spelling Bee and to Bees in general. We hit on some of the history of the National Bee along the way.. What went wrong at this year's spelling be too cause an eight way tie? How has spelling bee prep changed the gam...

If you step into a classroom today, you're likely to hear the tap tap of keyboards and cell phones, as students attempt to type down as many notes as possible from the lecture. While technology in the classroom can help push students forward, does technology win out on note-taking or does the "old school" paper and pen(cil) approach win the day?  This week we dive into the digital v analog note-ta...

Inspired by Robert Smith's announcement that his family would help pay off the debt of the 2019 Morehouse College graduating class, we dive into commencement season. We look at what makes a great speech to graduates. Looking at speeches from this year and hearkening back to the best from the past few years, what common themes tie them together? Do the best speeches combine compassion and humor?  M...

On our latest episode of the Citadel, Brandon, Mike, and Dan break down the final episode of Game of Thrones. We talk through the all the major plot points, discuss what's next for those characters that are still with us, and share what we think could have been better.  SPOILER ALERT!!! We talk about the conclusion of GoT in the show and in the rest of the description! Was Jon and Dany's final sce...

Why did the engineer teach the robot to tell a joke? To see if they could be funny, clearly. On our latest episode, we dive into a recent article on teaching artificial intelligence to tell jokes and puns. The Wired article we dig into describes the work of He He, a postdoc candidate at Stanford, who is attempting to teach robots how to construct and tell puns and jokes. How might a world where ro...

Our fifth episode of the final season of The Citadel breaks down The Bells, Episode 5 of Season 8 of Game of Thrones. Be forewarned, we discuss numerous details of the show so if you're not a GoT fan or if you haven't seen the third episode of Season 8, steer clear for fear of spoilage.  Brandon, Mike, and Dan try to find bright spots in a season that's been headed in the wrong direction. We check...

This week, we welcome Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform, to the show to discuss school choice, innovation, and more. We dive into CER's history and goals on a national, state, and local level. Jeanne shares her views on what's wrong with our education system and how CER believes these problems can be fixed. She discusses where her organization spends its resources an...

Our fourth episode of the final season of The Citadel breaks down, The Last of the Starks, Episode 4 of Season 8 of Game of Thrones. Be forewarned, we discuss numerous details of the show so if you're not a GoT fan or if you haven't seen the third episode of Season 8, steer clear for fear of spoilage. Brandon, Mike, and Dan make their way through what's been seen as a disappointing episode four of...

First, we say thank you to all the teachers out there as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day! Then, we dive into the latest wearable technology, hearables. As Fitbits and Apple Watches continue to flood the market, what is the latest technology available for our ears? Apple's Air pods are a popular example of the growing product area of smart, wearable audio devices known as hearables which are...

Our third episode of the final season of The Citadel breaks down, The Long Night, Episode 3 of Season 8 of Game of Thrones. Be forewarned, we discuss numerous details of the show so if you're not a GoT fan or if you haven't seen the third episode of Season 8, steer clear for fear of spoilage. We begin by checking in with Mike and Dan to set the stage for the podcast now that everyone has had time...

This week we dive into the topic of Summit Learning and some of the backlash it's seen in school districts across America. We react to a recent New York Times article that explores a spate of recents cases of community opposition to this program at high schools in Kansas. How is local activism intersecting with broad educational initiatives like Summit Learning which is back by the Chan Zuckerberg...

Our second Episode of The Citadel breaks down Episode 2 of Season 8 of Game of Thrones, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." Be forewarned, we discuss numerous details of the show so if you're not a GoT fan or if you haven't seen the second episode of Season 8, steer clear for fear of spoilage. This week we dive into the details of the episode that sets us up for the big battle of Winterfell that see...

On this week's episode we tackle the topics of cryptomnesia and multiple discovery. Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognized as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original. Multiple discovery is the theory that most scientific discoveries and inventions are made independently and more or less simultaneously by multiple scientists and in...

We're back! Your friends at Trending in Education are relaunching our Game of Thrones breakdown show, aka The Citadel, to coincide with the final season of the legendary television series. Be forewarned, we discuss numerous details of the show so if you're not a GoT fan or if you haven't seen the premiere of Season 8, steer clear for fear of spoilage. This week, Brandon and Mike are joined by frie...

This week, we dive back into one of our favorite topics, robots. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have created and refined a robot who can sense and respond to human emotion in real time. While "Woody" is still being fine-tuned, his existence opens up questions of how socially and emotionally aware robots might further empower a human-led classroom? While it's easy to wax dystopic on...