Getting Smart Podcast

In today's episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Emily Liebtag is joined by Danish Kurani, a learning space architect and professor at Stanford and Harvard University. He's also the Director of Kurani.us, a company that uses deep research on education and architecture to create spaces that improve learning outcomes. They design campuses, buildings, and interiors for K-12, university, and education initiatives for all ages.

Together, Emily and Danish discuss learning spaces that inspire; how the learning model makes a difference on the space (and vice versa); and the good, the bad, and the ugly of learning spaces. Danish also shares what he feels is important in a learning space and why, what creates a learning space failure, and how the process of design needs to really include the people who will be using the space vs. just the outcomes you want that space to elicit.

Danish sheds light on what he's seen across the country (and around the world!) in terms of how schools are transforming their spaces so that they're more conducive to the type of learning they want to see from students.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[:48] Emily welcomes Danish to the podcast.

[1:07] Danish introduces himself and talks about his background in education.

[3:00] Danish sheds some light on how education became a part of his work.

[5:33] Danish describes the good vs. the bad in learning spaces, giving several examples.

[17:38] Learning spaces — they're not just about the furniture (and look and feel) but also incorporating who the students are.

[20:43] Danish elaborates on how he feels the learning model makes a difference on the space and vice versa.

[24:45] Danish talks about some learning space failures.

[27:33] Some aspects of great learning spaces that Danish wants to see more of.

[31:03] Where to find Danish and his work online.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Danish Kurani (LinkedIn)

Danish on Twitter @Kurani_Us and @DanishKurani

Kurani.us

Stanford University

Harvard University

"TEDx — Danish Kurani — Designing Places for Learning" (Video)Code Next Lab

Khan Lab School

Want to learn More about Learning Spaces?

Check out, "Three ways to design better classrooms and learning spaces," a blog Danish published with the team on GettingSmart.com.

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

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In this week's episode, Tom is joined by Tim Taylor. Tim is the Cofounder and President of America Succeeds, a national network of business organizations working to improve and modernize the education system. Prior to launching America Succeeds, he served as the founding President of Colorado Succeeds. Both Colorado Succeeds and America Succeeds are based on the core principles of business that apply to education: transparency, return on investment, accountability, competition, and customers first.

In fall 2017, America Succeeds released their report, "The Age of Agility: Education Pathways for the Future of Work," to call attention to the misalignment between what is being taught in schools (both K-12 and higher education) and the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required by the modern workplace.

Join Tim and Tom as they discuss "The Age of Agility" report and discuss the conscious effort America Succeeds is making to ensure that educators are valued and equipped with the agility to succeed in a rapidly changing workforce.

Key Takeaways:

[:19] About today's episode!

[1:51] Tom welcomes Tim to the podcast.

[2:03] Tim talks about his early education.

[4:00] Tim's speaks about his path to advocacy.

[6:55] Is there something about Denver that attracts a lot of advocates?

[8:08] What led Tom to become an education advocate.

[9:08] From Colorado Succeeds to America Succeeds; Tim's journey launching America Succeeds.

[12:00] Tim describes the mission of America Succeeds.

[13:12] The changes in the economy Tim began to see that have some important implications for education.

[15:54] Why Tim describes the period that we're in as "The Age of Agility."

[18:35] Tim highlights some of the key drivers of change.

[23:14] Why entrepreneurship is more important than ever for young learners.

[25:11] Tim speaks about the Agility Tour and its implications.

[27:19] Does Tim predict a standard response emerging in terms of agility or will every community be specially crafted?

[29:50] Does Tim see States standardizing a standard approach or each crafting a unique approach based on need and opportunity?

[31:14] The importance of business partnerships.

[32:58] How schools can adapt to these changes around the world.

[34:55] How can businesses that want to get involved help?

[36:14] On the Agility Tour, is the importance of work-based learning and partnering with schools to help them become more agile talked about?

[36:46] Tim shares a policy example that they're super excited about right now at America Succeeds.

[40:45] Tim gives a quick look forward at 2019 — what's in store for America Succeeds, going forward.

[42:30] Where to find Tim and his work online.

Mentioned in This Episode:

America Succeeds

Colorado Succeeds

Albertson Foundation

EDVenture Summit (in Boise)

"The Age of Agility: Education Pathways for the Future of Work"

Colorado Children's Campaign

Jamie Casap (Chief Education Evangelist for Google)

Agility Tour

Want to learn More about Getting Smart's Future of Work Campaign?

Head to: GettingSmart.com/FutureofWork and follow #FutureofWork on social media!

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

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The Getting Smart team has learned a lot about opening successful, new schools in communities that need them but they're still learning about transforming inherited factory-model schools into design studios — and it definitely provides many challenges.

To make things better, it's necessary to name and frame the problems faced — that's the first step in design thinking. The next step is empathy research; it's time to make the problems real by talking to kids and teachers about what's really going on. Then comes the fun stuff — ideating and prototyping updated goals.

In this week's episode, Tom is flying solo as he enumerates some of the problems that school systems are facing. He digs into some of the problems with his list of top 10 — from reworking goals and basic requirements for addressing the complexity of transformation and the lack of research and development.

Key Takeaways:

[:16] About today's episode.

[1:21] Tom kicks off this week's episode by talking more about today's topic.

[2:12] The first problem at hand: transforming an inherited factory-model school into a design studio.

[2:57] Problem #2: the rules at these factory-model schools and moving beyond basic requirements.

[3:56] Problem #3: the gravity of the factory-model system inherited.

[5:48] Problem #4: the business model.

[7:54] Problem #5: the complexity of transformation.

[9:06] Problem #6: the technology/invention problem; the need for new measures of learning and better ways to capture and communicate expanded human capabilities.

[11:31] Problem #7: the serious lack of research and development (R&D).

[12:53] Problem #8: the speed problem — work is progressing too slow!

[14:36] Problem #9: the flaws of well-intentioned efforts.

[15:46] Problem #10: the challenges of poverty and inequality.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace, by Gordon MacKenzie

The Promise and Practice of Next Generation Assessment, by David T. Conley

Mastery Transcript Consortium

Virginia School Consortium for Learning

If You'd Like to Learn More About Great Schools and Lesson Learned from Visit, Check Out:

"What 100 School Visits Taught Us This Year" — where Tom and Emily talk all about their last year of school visits!

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

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Today's episode is all about competency-based education and professional development. Professional development in education is notoriously bad. BloomBoard was co-founded by Jason Lange in 2010 to try to fix the problem by powering the micro-credential revolution. The team behind BloomBoard are dedicated to empowering schools, districts, and states to help meet these needs by providing educators professional learning with purpose. They know how important teachers are to student growth and learning — and through micro-credentials, they can be empowered to take control of their own growth and advancement.

Back in November, Tom caught up with Jason at the iNACOL Symposium in Nashville. There, he described the different ways that states are collaborating withBloomBoard to move professional learning to a more personalized and competency-based approach, teacher induction programs, what kinds of micro-credentials exist, and his advice for those who are interested in micro-credentials but have yet to take the leap.

Key Takeaways:

[:35] About today's episode.

[1:35] Tom welcomes Jason to the podcast.

[1:44] Tom asks, "What's new in micro-credentials?"

[2:26] Jason summarizes some of the different ways that states are collaborating with BloomBoard to move professional learning to a more personalized and competency-based approach.

[4:42] Jason explains how the many teacher induction programs generally work.

[5:58] How many micro-credentials might an induction program include?

[7:26] Jason highlights some teacher micro-credentials.

[8:31] WorkBloomBoard is doing in regards to leadership development.

[9:27] About Harmony Public Schools' commitment to micro-credentials for teachers and leaders, and their partnership withBloomBoard.

[11:36] HowBloomBoard's honeycomb chart (that shows how these school clusters are related to different levels of learning leadership) helps them build a partnership with a district or a network.

[13:57] Jason's advice to those who don't know where to start with micro-credentials.

[16:12] Could a district get content fromBloomBoard? And can they author their own micro-credentials?

[17:42] Jason gives a sneak peek of what's next in micro-credentials and BloomBoard.

Mentioned in This Episode:

BloomBoard

iNACOL

ILead

Harmony Public Schools

Getting Smart Blogs on Competency-Based Learning

For More on Competency-Based Learning, Check Out:

Episode 177: "Scaling Competency-Based Education: Equity Focused Strategies for Policy and Practice"

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

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Today, the Getting Smart team is throwing it back to an interview they did at High Tech High in San Diego back in 2017. While there, they got the chance to chat with HTH leaders, Larry Rosenstock, Jeff Robbins, and Kalem Rashad — who all have such a contagious passion for their students.

In today's interview, they discuss projects, starting new schools, hiring teachers, and why making the city the text is so important. First to be interviewed by Tom is Larry Rosenstock, a carpenter from Massachusetts who started HTH on a run-down navy base. Larry describes how to get started with a school like HTH, how they communicate the work happening at HTH with the community and parents, how students create such incredible, high-quality work, what the enrollment process is like, and how to apply. After Larry, Tom interviews Jeff Robin, a Fine Arts teacher at HTH. In their discussion, he shares a description of the Staircase to Nowhere project (where students design full-size models of staircases to nowhere around the school.) And lastly (but certainly not least), Tom speaks with Kaleb Rashad, Director at HTH, about starting schools.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[1:10] Larry describes how to get started with a school like HTH.

[2:22] Larry talks more about the incredible art the students produce at HTH.

[3:10] Larry elaborates how HTH recruits, grows, and keeps teachers at HTH.

[5:10] Larry shares how they communicate the work happening at HTH with the community and parents.

[6:15] Larry talks about the students at HTH, the enrollment process, and what it's like to apply.

[7:30] Larry explains the process that creates the high-quality work the students create.

[7:50] Tom asks where students get feedback.

[7:58] Larry tells a story about skepticism around HTH's achievements around learning and how he helped clear that.

[10:07] Next up, Tom speaks with Jeff Robin, who explains the Staircase to Nowhere project at HTH.

[13:12] Larry talks about the culture at HTH and how they include advisory at the high school level to truly deepen the community on campus.

[14:34] Kaleb Rashad speaks on the topic of starting up a school similar to HTH.

[17:20] Jessica wraps up this week's episode.

Mentioned in This Episode:

High Tech High

Staircase to Nowhere Project

JeffRobin.com

San Diego Museum of Art

Professional Learning that Transforms: Meet High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Promising Practices in Deeper Learning and Equity

High Tech High: Student Engagement Leads to Deeper Learning

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

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The Getting Smart team visits a lot of schools, well north of 100 this year. Most were primarily public urban schools, about half were purpose-built schools opened in the last 20 years, and the other half were (at least partially) transformed schools. More than half were district schools, some were charter schools, and there were also a few private schools. And the key factor that tied them all together was that they almost all had some kind of "next generation" characteristics, such as personalized and competency-based learning, project-based learning, and encouraging of design-thinking and maker activities. The team has learned a lot from these school visits and believe they are the best form of professional learning.

In this podcast, Tom and Emily summarize 10 lessons from this year's school visits.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[1:05] Emily and Tom discuss what they have been up to.

[1:27] Emily elaborates on why she believes school visits are so key to professional learning.

[1:58] Emily summarizes what Getting Smart looks for in school visits.

[3:25] Emily kicks off the first of 10 lessons learned: culture is key.

[6:09] The second important lesson: students are known and cared for.

[8:14] Lesson number three: great schools have a foundational set of ideas.

[11:50] Lesson four: getting really intentional about outcomes.

[14:36] Lesson five: it's important that the structures support deep work.

[16:36] Lesson six: shared, public work.

[19:38] Lesson seven: talent matters.

[22:02] Lesson eight: distribute and broaden leadership roles.

[23:59] Lesson nine: learning environments matter.

[26:28] Lesson ten: establishing partnerships is key.

[28:34] Emily and Tom reflect on their top ten list and wrap up this week's episode.

Mentioned in This Episode:

"100+ Middle and High Schools Worth Visiting," by Getting Smart Staff

"70 Elementary Schools Worth Visiting," by Getting Smart Staff

Science Leadership Academy

Thrive Public Schools

High Tech High

Learner-Centered Innovation: Spark Curiosity, Ignite Passion and Unleash Genius, by Dr. Katie Martin

Portrait of a Graduate

Katherine R. Smith Elementary School

Big Picture Philadelphia

The Workshop School

Share Your Learning

@ShareYourLearn

Singapore American School

Opportunity Culture

Envision City Arts and Tech School

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy

Purdue Polytechnic Institute

XQ Super School

Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students' Networks, by Julie Freeland Fisher

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

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The Getting Smart team has been focusing on (and writing a lot on their blog) about artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications on the future of work and learning. This week, they're bringing you an episode published back in October of 2016 on what AI means for our kids; featuring Tom, Emily, and thought-leader, Gerald Huff.

This episode is dedicated to Gerald Huff, giving honor to both his life and his incredible body of work. Gerald passed away a few weeks ago on November 17th after a short battle with cancer.

Gerald was a software engineer by trade but was very invested in education. He was especially concerned about the growing income divide in the country and the prospect of technological unemployment. This inspired him to write a novel, Crisis: 2038, a techno-thriller with a moral imperative, which was just published posthumously and is available on Amazon.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[1:23] Tom recaps his predictions on AI.

[3:50] Tom's predictions on what we're doing now in education and learning that we may not be doing in the future.

[5:30] Gerald Huff introduces himself on the podcast and gives his thoughts on the applications of AI in the transportation industry and where he sees the future of human labor headed.

[12:09] Tom speaks about some of his findings on the future of AI and the connection to education.

[16:30] Tom and Emily talk about the importance and implications of adding coding to schools.

[17:53] The future of AI and its implications on higher education.

[20:02] What AI means for career technical education (CTE).

[23:40] Why should parents and teachers be talking about this? What should educators be following to learn more?

[25:18] About Getting Smart's #AskAboutAI campaign and the areas (within AI) they are exploring.

[27:03] AI's progress and potential risks in health and healthcare.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Crisis: 2038, by Gerald Huff

i-Ready

"Intelligence Unleashed: An argument for AI in Education"

Planet3

"Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Life on Earth: 101 Examples," by Tom Vander Ark

The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World, by Pedro Domingos

#AskAboutAI campaign on GettingSmart.com

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

#FutureofWork on Twitter

#AskAboutAI on Twitter

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

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In this special episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Erik Day and Mary Ryerse are (temporarily) kicking Caroline and Jessica out of the studio to talk about what they've learned (and shared) about competency-based education at the this year's iNACOL Symposium.

Getting Smart staff recently published a landscape report on the state of competency-based education (CBE), entitled: "Show What You Know: A Landscape Analysis of Competency-Based Education," which was discussed at a panel with Mary and a fantastic group of education thought leaders at the iNACOL Symposium. Following that, Mary had a conversation with Tom where they recapped their findings of the report, as well as some of the leading schools and districts that are personalizing learning and pacing.

In this episode, the Getting Smart team will be sharing portions of the panel and Mary's subsequent conversation with Tom. You will be hearing from Michele Cahill, Managing Director of School Success, at XQ; David Ruff, Executive Director of Great Schools Partnership; and Shatoya Jordan Ward, the Principal of Purdue Polytechnic High School (at XQ). Tune in to hear their takes on competency-based education!

Key Takeaways:

[:14] About today's special episode.

[1:16] Tom and Mary set the stage for the report.

[1:34] Mary's favorite examples of competency-based learning in her own life.

[3:17] Mary and Tom discuss the premise of the report and how it all came to be.

[5:00] Why competency-based is more appropriate than measuring learning through grade levels.

[6:18] The importance of keeping equity at the forefront of competency-based learning.

[7:24] Mary introduces the thought leaders involved in the panel.

[7:38] Michele speaks about her time in New York City.

[8:45] What Shatoya has learned about competency-based learning.

[9:38] David shares his thoughts and passion for competency-based learning.

[10:17] Mary summarizes the five key themes they explored in the panel about competency-based learning.

[10:43] Mary and Tom discuss noteworthy model schools and networks.

[13:49] The panel's thoughts on what makes a noteworthy model school or network.

[19:01] Tom and Mary discuss competency learning processes and tools.

[20:15] Tom mentions some promising partnerships where model schools are being developed in conjunction with toolsets.

[20:58] Mary talks about the importance of utilizing tools.

[21:25] Shatoya elaborates more on the tools and model at Purdue Polytechnic High School.

[24:11] Michelle talks about competency tools and their goals at XQ.

[27:38] The panel discusses well-informed assessments.

[29:41] The panels discusses some of the challenging parts of competency-based learning and some of the significant barriers involved.

[34:44] The importance of sharing and getting feedback.

[35:23] The panel discusses policy and advocacy around competency-based education.

[38:57] Michele and David answer an audience question about scaling competency-based education.

[43:39] Tom and Mary discuss how to best prepare teachers for (and support them in) competency-based environments.

[44:46] The panel's observations on the subject of teacher prep.

[47:34] Mary's final words for wrapping up this week's episode and Erik's recommendations for further listening.

Want to Listen to More on This Topic?

Take a listen to Episode 151 where Tom talks with Michael Fullan about how schools worldwide are redefining learning outcomes, and Episode 158, where Tom and Lydia Dobyns discuss why and how schools should work together in networks.

Mentioned in This Episode:

iNACOL

iNACOL Symposium XQ Institute

"Show What You Know: A Landscape Analysis of Competency-Based Education"

Great Schools Partnership

Purdue Polytechnic High School

Lindsay Unified School District

League of Innovative Schools

Nokomis High School

Empower Learning Teton Science School DSST Public Schools

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

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Today, and for the next three weeks, the Getting Smart team is going to explore a new initiative from Education Reimagined.

Education Reimagined recently released a paper entitled, "School's Out," which set out to explore how we could alter our perspective on the meaning, feel, and delivery of learning. Tom had the opportunity to sit down with the education leaders who authored "School's Out," and over the next three episodes, he will be digging deeper into what the future of learning may look like for students. This is part two out of three. For the first episode in the series, take a listen to: "School's Out: Engaging Families and the Community," with Amy Anderson and Scott Van Beck.

In today's episode, Tom interviews Nate McClennen, Vice President for Education and Innovation at Teton Science Schools; and IT Consultant, Oscar Brinson. Nate and Tom discuss anywhere, anytime learning; the community as a classroom; the differences between learning and school; and the importance of guidance of advisory for learners. In Tom and Oscar's conversation; they explore how education keeps up with the technological advances; the role A.I. and automation will play in the future of learning and work; and what he sees as technology's role, along with the role of advisory and guidance relationships.

Key Takeaways:

[:16] A recap on last week's episode (and the first part of this series.)

[1:05] About today's episode.

[1:25] Tom welcomes Nate to the podcast, and Nate gives a bit of background on how his childhood has helped inform how he thinks about place-based education now.

[2:45] Nate and Tom discuss his School's Out paper.

[4:17] Nate's ideas on how we could reimagine learning and community.

[6:30] Nate's thoughts on where and how we can test some of his ideas.

[9:28] The importance of guidance through a 'learning coach' in anywhere, anytime learning.

[10:20] The challenge around equity and scale when making sure every student has access to a great learning coach.

[13:15] The changing role of teachers.

[14:45] The differences between learning and school, and how learning could be introduced through the community rather than school.

[17:22] Nate shares some final thoughts on the evolution of learning.

[19:23] About Oscar Brinson, Tom's next guest.

[19:49] Does Oscar anticipate something that looks like schools or community facilities where students and adult mentors would meet on a regular basis?

[21:23] The caveat: the custodial aspect of school being crucial as long as parents have to go to work.

[23:46] A potential A.I. system solution to the important custodial aspect of school, and the other ways technology and A.I. will help progress and change how learning is done.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Previous episode: Episode 174 — "School's Out: Engaging Families and the Community"

Education Reimagined

ReSchool Colorado

Teton Science Schools

"School's Out: What if Schools, As We Know Them, Didn't Exist?"

"School's Out: What if School Didn't Exist?"

"School's Out: How a 'No School' Society is One of Many Learner-Centered Possibilities" (Nate's paper)

"School's Out: Why Embracing Technology Will Only Expand What's Possible" (Oscar's paper)

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!