Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Were you a student who was frustrated by the amount of homework you had to do? Are you a parent who continually argues with your children about getting their homework done? Is it all worth it? On this week's episode, we dive into the debate on the true importance of homework for younger students. Should homework be banned in elementary school? Is homework truly helping reinforce what's happening i...

This week, we close out our 2019 Learning March Madness tournament. Over four rounds and 15 games, 16 of our favorite trends and topics were voted on by our listeners and now it’s time to dig into the results. Could JOMO make a Cinderella run from the 16-seed at the bottom of the bracket? Did Mindful Learning earn a coveted spot in the finals? How did Kidsolving fare defending its crown? We take s...

Dan and Mike chat with Russell Glass, co-author of Voting with a Porpoise. Voting with a Porpoise is a new children's book focused on fostering a discussion around civic engagement and voting with younger kids. The authors describe the purpose of the book as: to help change the culture around elections and voting. To that end, 100 percent of the profits for Voting With a Porpoise will be donated t...

Mike sits down with Rohit Bhargava, author and Founder of the Non-Obvious Company, to discuss the 2019 edition of the Non-Obvious guide. Rohit, as a friend and influencer of our show, always provides surprising and insightful takes on where the world is heading and this year is no exception. Mike and Rohit engage in a free-flowing conversation that covers Non-Obvious 2019 trends like Strategic Spe...

In this episode, we dive into the edutainment value of Game of Thrones as we gear up for the final season of the show which debuts in just a few weeks. We discuss how GoT provides good foundations for political science, leadership and management, language learning, and even epidemiology curricula. What are the advantages of using timely, relevant entertainment content when designing instruction? H...

Mike Palmer is joined by Frank Jones and Kristen Smith to discuss the sprawling college admissions scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues. What does this scandal say about the current state of selective higher ed admissions in the US? How is this scandal and its coverage a reflection of broader trends we’re seeing in our society? Why are Aunt Becky from Full House and Felicity Huffman from Despe...

This week, we tackle the topic of "unlearning." We begin by defining what unlearning has meant across psychology, organizational change, and in the classroom and dig into the debate about whether it is truly part of the learning process. Can we truly "unlearn" something or do we build upon or reframe our understanding as new data and insights come to light? How much of a part does our own humility...

Mike Palmer and Melissa Griffith sit down with Aaron Dignan to talk about his new book, Brave New Work. Aaron walks us his story of writing the book before focusing in on what isn't working in current organizational environments and how anyone within any organization can help bring about the type of change that is so desperately needed. Aaron discusses getting to the heart of organizational, depar...

We take you to our live presentation of our podcast at SXSWEdu 2019. Mike and Brandon were joined on stage by Ashley Mannka-Suydam, Director, Learning Products at ACT to talk about the top trends at the conference. We also discussed through our brand new March Madness bracket. After our live show, you'll hear two interviews from the Expo floor. Dan talks to a company called In My Shoes. They are l...

We had the great pleasure of sitting down with Ron Reed, Founder and Executive Producer, and Greg Rosenbaum, General Manager, of the learning conference SXSW EDU. Ron and Greg share the origin story of SXSWEdu and explore the emerging trends they've seen over the first nine years of the conference.  We talk about community building, the power of convergence zones, and the ways in which innovation...

It's time for our 2019 Learning and Education March Madness! Mike and Brandon draft eight topics each to go head to head in round one of this year's tournament. Which of our best episodes made this year's field? What didn't make the cut? Tune in to find out how we break down the field for this year's tourney! Join in the fun by entering your predictions.

After much ado, fanfare, and aplomb, it's finally time for our hosts to put forth their own predictions for trends in learning and education for 2019. What important topics do we see on the horizon that will change the way students and lifelong learners acquire knowledge and skills in the year ahead? Brandon shares his thoughts on Education2020 and how politics, the presidential race, and educatio...

In this week's extra, Mike catches up with new author Logan Thompson on his book Beyond the Content: Unlocking the Other Half of Test Prep with a Tailored Mindfulness Approach. Logan talks about his own path to becoming more mindful and self-aware and how good mindfulness practices have helped to shape who he is as a teacher and a person. Logan discusses how performing on a standardized test doesn...

We dive into learning and education trends to watch in 2019. Using two Forbes.com articles as our jumping off point, we talk trends in STEM, K-12, and higher education. How will teacher shortages influence the learning and education landscape? Does STEM help lead the way on the whole child learning experience? Can national and local legislation help change the higher education space in the US? Are...

Just in time for Valentines Day, we're joined by KS Wiswell, author of Full Frontal Nerdity - Lessons on Loving and Living With Your Brain. In addition to being an author, KS is also a screenwriter, an improv performer, and also a Kaplan instructor. We dive into the thought process behind her launching a blog and how that grew into publishing her first book. How did a background in improv help her...

We take a look at some of the emerging media trends to watch for in 2019. Mike dives into the Gimlet and Anchor acquisitions by Spotify and how audio will continue to be a focal point for advertisers. We also take a look at how small a portion of advertising podcasts currently garner. Does the in-house content creation Spotify is paying for mirror a Netflix and it's approach to video content? Bran...

We tackle a recent article from BuzzFeedNews.com that explores Millennials as the 'Burnout Generation'. Does Anne Helen Peterson's work paint with too broad a brush or do younger generations face a tougher road? How does burnout change the way we might be open to learning? Brandon discusses how every generation faces tough decisions about where their careers might go as they enter college. Mike ex...

We take a look back at some of the hottest gadgets at CES 2019 and discuss where some potential crossover to learning may exist. Mike points out the lack of education and learning categories / focus at the trade show. Brandon focuses in on wearables and the tracking of individual data that could help shape how we understand personalized learning. We also discuss the explosion in sensors and how gr...

The team takes a look at interactive media and interactive video with Netflix's recently released Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch as a backdrop. We talk through how interactive media has grown and developed over the years from Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books and Role Playing Games to interactive video experiences like what Netflix is now offering. We discuss the positive and negative use cases f...

The crew dives into a wide range of emerging macrotrends concerning teachers at the start of 2019. We begin by taking a look at a recent Wall Street Journal report on the current 'quit rate' in the teaching profession. What could be behind the all-time high in teachers leaving the field seen in 2018? Could the gig-economy and financial pressures be leading some teachers to leave their profession?...

We're back with a brand new episode and this week we talk about parenting. More specifically, we discuss proud new papa Mike's first few days on the job and how we learn to be parents. Are there enough formal education opportunities for expecting parents? Do certain societal norms keep us from studying up before we're responsible for another person? How can a parent who wants to learn seek out ver...

On our first show of 2019, we look back to some of the great guests we had throughout 2018 with this highlight show. Mike and Dan kick off the conversation with a big announcement from Mike and a discussion around the guests you'll hear from through this episode. We'll hear highlights from our conversations with Wendy Zukerman, Rohit Barghava, Tarlin Ray, Melissa Griffith, Debbie Berebichez, and K...

Mike, Dan, and Brandon kick off our review by discussing our favorite episodes and topics covered throughout the year. We touch on some of the great guests we’ve had on the show and some of the predictions we made that came true (e.g., Kidsolving). We then catch up with friend of the show, Matt Cooper, CEO of Skillshare. We explore what trends might have emerged since last we spoke. Matt talks abo...

Mike and Dan welcome two great guests, Dr. Bror Saxberg and Glenn Whitman, to discuss the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL), neuroscience and learning, and how a holistic approach to education applies to teaching and teacher development. Phew! Bror, Vice President, Learning Science at CZI, discusses the mission of the organization and how...

On this week’s episode, Mike, Brandon and Dan tackle the importance of math! How does learning math benefit a student? Has science isolated the parts of the brain most used when learning and applying math? Math, in all its forms, has long caused anxiety and fear amongst students and life-long learners. Why does math cause so many issues for some learners and how can they learn to adopt a growth mi...