Getting Smart Podcast

Today, your host Jessica Slusser and Tom Vander Ark discuss the Pacific NW LX Summit at the Science and Math Institute (SAMi) that the Getting Smart team co-hosted a few weeks ago. There, they explored what powerful learning experiences for kids look like, how you create them, and why they're so important. Throughout the day, with Puget Sound educators, they explored what good learning design looks like.

In this episode, you'll hear from a variety of veteran educators describing what powerful learning experiences mean for kids and teachers. Tom speaks with Rebekah Kim, title; Juliana Finegan, title; Julie Kinzer, who develops and supports instructional coaches in Tacoma Public Schools; instructional coach, Ryan Prosser; Jason Lee Middle School Principal, Christine Brandt; Jason Kettler, title; and Tawnya, Coordinator of the Early Learning Center at SaMI.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's topic of discussion.

[2:18] What does Rebekah Kim think of when it comes to powerful learning experiences?

[3:04] What does Juliana Finegan think of when it comes to powerful learning experiences?

[3:54] What does Woody Sobey think of when it comes to powerful learning experiences?

[4:45] The key to making the makerspace at One Stone (the Foundry) such a magical place.

[5:41] Woody speaks about the creation of makerspaces in the Renton School District.

[6:40] What does Julie Kinzer think about when it comes to powerful learning experiences?

[7:46] How Julie thinks of designing powerful learning experiences for instructional coaches.

[8:26] What comes to mind for Christine Brandt when she thinks of powerful learning experiences.

[9:41] What Ryan Prosser thinks about when it comes to powerful learning experiences.

[10:43] How often Ryan gets the chance to work with teams, programs, and spaces.

[13:35] What does Kelly Tanner think about when designing powerful learning spaces?

[14:52] Kelly describes what she loves about the Science and Math Institute.

[16:26] John Kettler and Tawnya describe the Environmental Learning Center (preschool) at SAMi.

[18:43] What classes are in the makerspace at SAMi?

[19:20] What kind of collaboration is there between the zoo and SAMi staff?

[20:00] What does the mini theatre provide at SAMi?

[20:34] John describes the space upstairs at SAMi.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Science and Math Institute (SAMi)

One Stone Makerspace: the Foundry

Renton School District

Tacoma Public Schools Environmental Learning Center (SAMi)

Albertsons Companies Foundation

Jason Lee Middle School

Adam@GettingSmart.com

Want to Learn More About Hosting One of These Workshops at Your School?

Send an email to Adam Kulaas, Getting Smart's Director of Learning Design. Adam@GettingSmart.com

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

This week on the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom is talking to his colleague, Emily Liebtag. Emily is the Director of Advocacy at Getting Smart. Emily has been a teacher, and a learner, in a myriad of different classroom spaces — ranging from K-12 public schools to online institutes of higher education.

In the last several weeks, The Getting Smart team has visited so many unique, innovative schools. They've been to cities across the country, visiting well over a dozen different schools — all of which serve as great examples of successfully implementing deeper learning, design thinking, and student agency.

In this episode, Tom and Emily talk all about their favorite design-thinking schools, positive trends happening in schools across the country, and the changes they have observed in schools after implementing design-thinking. They also discuss design-thinking across the curriculum, supporting design with skill-building, formative assessment, and extended challenges.

Key Takeaways:

[:14] This week, Tom is talking to Emily Liebtag to discuss all of the amazing, innovative design-focused schools they have had the pleasure of visiting in the last several weeks.

[:31] Emily's favorite school from the last several weeks: Agnor-Hurt Elementary.

[3:40] About Tom's recent visit to Tacoma Public Schools' Science and Math Institute.

[4:46] Why The Getting Smart team thinks design focus is so important in today's education.

[6:50] How design-thinking has changed in education from years ago to now.

[8:47] One of Getting Smart's favorite schools is One Stone, that is a great example of well-structured design-thinking methodology.

[10:09] An example of a successful project by a student, that came out of a design-thinking school.

[11:51] Positive trends taking over schools across the country.

[14:28] All about D39 — a school that embodies these new, innovative trends.

[15:36] What Emily loves about Del Lago Academy.

[16:47] About VIDA school — a school that was going to shut down but reinvented themselves as a design-thinking school.

[17:38] What Emily and Tom love about High Tech High in San Diego.

[19:55] Tom's thoughts on Purdue Polytechnic Institute.

[21:18] How the design-thinking frame helps students to incorporate different skills.

[23:26] Some elements of design-thinking in Albemarle County Public Schools that have really stood out to Tom and Emily.

[27:27] SAMI and other schools in the Pacific Northwest that Tom would like to shed a light on.

[29:30] Recapping this week's episode.

[31:25] Where to learn more about school visits.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Emily Liebtag

Agnor-Hurt Elementary School

Albemarle County Public Schools

Tacoma Public Schools: Science and Math Institute (SAMI)

One Stone

Design39 (D39)

Del Lago Academy

VIDA

High Tech High

High Tech High International

El Paso School District

Purdue Polytechnic Institute

Carnegie Mellon

University of Pittsburgh

Grable Foundation

Woodbrook Elementary School

Design Tech High School

Emily@GettingSmart.com (Emily's email)

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today, Tom has a conversation with Dr. Susan Bell, Superintendent of Windsor Locks Public Schools, a Connecticut district moving to mastery-based learning where students show what they know and progress when they demonstrate mastery.

Next month, after 17 years working with Windsor Locks, Dr. Bell will be joining the Mastery Transcript Consortium. There she will be helping schools and districts adopt new competency-based transcripts that help learners better communicate their capabilities and accomplishments.

In this episode, they discuss Windsor Locks's goals and efforts to becoming a mastery-based district, Susan's work at Windsor Locks and the strides she has made in her 17 years as Superintendent, and all about her new position at Mastery Transcript Consortium and the work she hopes to accomplish there.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's conversation with Dr. Susan Bell.

[:50] About the community of Windsor Locks in Connecticut.

[2:59] About Susie's early life and education.

[3:40] Did Susie go to MCLA with the intentions of becoming a teacher?

[4:23] Susie's start as a counselor at Windsor Locks, in 2001.

[5:29] What did Susie study at the University of Hartford?

[6:17] The importance of building a rich path to principalship.

[7:52] About Windsor Locks's goals and how they were formed.

[10:00] Windsor Locks's graduate profile.

[11:09] Windsor Locks's efforts to become a mastery-based district and where the idea originated.

[13:53] The challenge of becoming more competency-based and student-centered.

[16:07] Did Dr. Susan Bell start in K-8?

[17:20] How Susie's work has helped her reimagine high school.

[21:09] Supporters that have helped Windsor Locks.

[25:15] The progress being made through Susie's hard work.

[27:11] Susie's new position at Mastery Transcript Consortium.

[29:05] Why a new transcript and the work at MTC is so important.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Windsor Locks Public Schools

Mastery Transcript Consortium

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

University of Hartford

Great Schools Partnership

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Connecticut Center for School Change

Nellie Mae Education Foundation

High Tech High

Most Likely to Succeed film

Want to Learn More About Another Fantastic Connecticut Superintendent?

Listen to: "S3: E16 Leading A Student-Centered Agenda: 10 Lessons from Mark Benigni"

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today on the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom interviews Jeff Dieffenbach, Associate Director of the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili). Prior to joining MIT, Jeff worked in strategy, product management, business development, sales, and marketing roles for a variety of traditional and digital education companies.

With Jeff's current role at MIT, he works with his team to better understand learning and education — and using that knowledge to better enable students and learners around the world to reach their fullest potential. MITili funds, connects, and shares research investigating learning effectiveness.

In this episode, Tom and Jeff discuss his current role at MIT at the ILI center as well as their overall mission. Jeff elaborates on how they conduct literacy assessments, he describes what he has learned about how learners grow and develop, and how they can help improve children's education.

Key Takeaways:

[1:07] Welcoming Jeff Dieffenbach to the podcast.

[1:13] Where Jeff went to high school and how he got hooked on to sailing.

[2:15] How did Jeff get to MIT?

[2:45] The interesting range of topics that Jeff studied at MIT (Tech policy and materials science) and why he chose to study them.

[3:33] About Jeff's extensive career in education, ed tech, and business development and he made the switch from art engineering sciences.

[4:39] About Jeff's current work at MIT's Integrated Learning Initiative and it's overall mission.

[5:40] How they conduct literacy assessment at the Integrated Learning Initiative center.

[7:07] About MIT's work with the Learner Positioning Systems at Digital Promise.

[8:20] Jeff describes what he has learned about how learners grow and develop — particularly younger children.

[9:55] Helping kids access information and re-apply it. How memory and storing information works and why we need to take advantage of it to teach more effectively.

[11:46] Jeff's thoughts on deliberate practice.

[14:45] At the policy level, what can states do to help improve children's educational experience?

[16:17] The changes being made towards generative systems that take advantage of learning and moving away from the traditional, four-year degree and command and control teaching.

[17:35] Does Jeff think that there's a reduced return on higher education?

[19:38] Should we be optimistic about these new forms of learning?

[21:13] The new movement towards education continuing into the workplace.

[23:01] If we had better high school diplomas what would they signify, how would they be earned, and what kinds of experiences would go into them?

[24:35] How might we express what a learner should be able to know and be able to do?

[25:31] Anything new on the roadmap for MITili?

[27:12] Where to learn more about the work Jeff is doing.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Materials Processing Center at MIT

MIT Integrated Learning Initiative

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Learner Positioning Systems (Digital Promise)

Getting Smart's Blog Post on Melina Uncapher (from UCSF)

"S3: E15 The Science of Deliberate Practice: What it Means for Education" (Gene Kerns)

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today, The Getting Smart team is super excited to bring you a conversation with Michael Fullan. As Tom would say, Michael is Canada’s gift to education. For half a century and with 45 books to his credit, Michael has been the world’s most persistent and persuasive advocate for powerful learning experiences. Michael is encouraged by the global momentum he sees with whole systems adopting deep learning strategies and policies.

If you’ve been on Getting Smart’s blog recently, you know the team has started a project around rethinking the high school credential — so asking Michael about this topic was an incredible opportunity for the team.

Listen to this episode to hear Tom and Michael discuss the potential for better high school credentials and how the assessment system is changing — moving away from standardized tests and towards global competencies. Michael goes into detail, outlining the signs of progress and describing why he thinks the focus should be “life readiness” rather than college and career readiness. He also talks about the many books he has authored and co-authored and explains his ideas and theories from them and how they’ve shown up in education today.

Key Takeaways:

[:16] About today’s episode with Michael Fullan.

[1:00] Tom welcomes Michael to The Getting Smart podcast!

[1:06] About Michael’s upbringing in Toronto, where he went to high school and college, and where he formed his deep interest in education.

[2:26] About Michael’s most recent book — his autobiography, Surreal Change: The Real Life of Transforming Public Education.

[3:44] How Michael’s book, Change Forces: Probing the Depths of Educational Reform, influenced Tom as a Superintendent in the 90s, and Michael’s views on his ideas and theories in the book.

[5:05] How The Challenge of Change and All Systems Go were pivot points for Tom.

[5:51] About Tom and Michael’s connection over Stratosphere.

[6:30] More about some of the fantastic books and topics covered by Michael in previous publications.

[8:48] How Michael thinks about the potential for a better high school credential, how the assessment system is changing (moving away from standardized tests), and the concept of global competencies.

[11:56] About the shift from standardized tests to global competencies.

[16:51] How should educators be certifying and helping students communicate their growth, capabilities, and accomplishments to employers and institutes of higher learning?

[22:27] The importance of “life-readiness” and hands-on skills for students.

[24:09] Is Michael interested in microcredentials or badges as a part of a system of communicating capability?

[25:37] Michael’s views on the world’s current shift to deeper learning.

[27:22] Michael’s prediction for the next 12 months.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Routledge

Corwin

High Tech High

Surreal Change: The Real Life of Transforming Public Education, by Michael Fullan

Change Forces: Probing the Depths of Educational Reform, by Michael Fullan

The Challenge of Change: Start School Improvement Now!, by Michael Fullan

All Systems Go: The Change Imperative for Whole System Reform, by Michael Fullan

Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge, by Michael Fullan

The Power of Unstoppable Momentum: Key Drivers to Revolutionize Your District (and Integrate Technology in the Classroom), by Michael Fullan and Mark A. Edwards

Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, by Michael Fullan

and Joanne Quinn

Deep Learning: Engage the World Change the World, by Michael Fullan, Joanne Quinn,

and Joanne J. McEachen

Want to Visit a Deeper Learning School?

Listen in to The Getting Smart team’s walking tour of Design Tech High:

“S3: E25 Building Transferable Skills: Design Tech High At Oracle Campus“

For even more on deeper learning, take a look at all of the blog posts on GettingSmart.com.

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today, Tom speaks with Chris Minnich of the Northwest Evaluation Association — more commonly known as the NWEA. Chris was named the new CEO of NWEA in the fall of 2017. In his new role at NWEA, Chris will help invent the future of assessment. Currently, about 1 in 5 students in America already monitors their academic using the NWEA assessment tests.

Previously to his new position at NWEA, Chris served as the Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. During his decade there, Chris led the chiefs through the update to federal education policy that brought an end to a decade of unprecedented federal control and investment in K-12 education.

In this episode, Tom talks to Chris about where he’s been and where he sees the future of education and assessment heading. Chris describes a future where we combine adaptive assessment and performance assessment to know how all kids are doing in real time.

Key Takeaways:

[1:06] Chris talks about his educational background and whether or not it impacted his career choice.

[2:33] How Chris made it to the Oregon Department of Education.

[3:37] About Chris’ work in becoming an early leader in online assessment.

[4:25] Why and when did Chris join the Council of Chief State School Officers?

[5:51] About Chris stepping in to become the Executive Director at CCSSO after the time of strong federal involvement.

[7:49] Why Chris decided to join the NWEA and what he wants he’s looking forward to working on.

[9:19] About NWEA, their goal, when the tests are given, and the subjects covered.

[10:29] Does Chris see a way to use multiple forms of assessments together to both improve learning and to make mastery judgments?

[14:00] The benefits of assessment.

[15:25] Is there anything that could help teachers combine multiple forms of assessment?

[17:09] About Chris’ interest in assessment literacy and helping teachers make better use of formative data.

[19:02] What Chris is looking to accomplish with NWEA in the near future.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Oregon Department of Education

No Child Left Behind Act

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)

Dreambox Learning

iNACOL

Want to Learn More About High-Quality Formative Assessment?

Listen in to the conversation with experts and teachers from Austin, Dallas, and Tulsa in:

“S3: E14 What is Formative Assessment? Voices from the Field”

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

This episode, Tom speaks with Maura Marino — CEO of Education Forward DC. Before helping launch Education Forward DC, Maura held a number of positions at NewSchools Venture Fund where she worked for 8 years. There, she learned a lot about the national picture and how the trends around entrepreneurship and scaling success looked in public education. She was able to see, up close, organizations that were making huge changes in education.

For the last 20 years, NewSchools Venture Fund has really been the epicenter of education entrepreneurship. Originally founded by Kim Smith, NewSchools really took the idea of designing and incubating new school models to the next level. Since leaving NewSchools, Maura started up Education Forward DC to help support visionary leaders in the city who are working to ensure that all students have equitable access to excellent public education.

In their conversation, Tom and Maura talk about her education; studying at Stanford University, Harvard Business School, and Teachers College of Columbia University; as well as her prior careers, teaching at East Palo Alto and working with NewSchools Venture Fund. She discusses the work and progress made at NewSchools, her work and mission with Education Forward DC, and their work with Education Cities and harbormaster organizations.

Key Takeaways:

[:33] Tom welcomes Maura Marino to the podcast.

[:36] About Maura’s upbringing and education in New Jersey.

[1:39] How and why she ended up going to Stanford University in California.

[2:31] About Maura’s teaching career after college in East Palo Alto, CA.

[4:40] Why Maura decided to go to Harvard Business School, after getting her Masters from Columbia.

[5:50] Was going to Harvard Business School a good experience for Maura?

[7:04] The different positions Maura held at NewSchools Venture Fund (where she stayed for 8 years).

[8:19] More about NewSchools and the visionary work of the early leaders.

[10:52] About the two-year-old organization Maura helped launch called Education Forward DC, and about its mission.

[11:52] Does Maura’s work with Education Forward DC build on any cities in particular?

[13:25] Does Maura see NewSchool development remaining an important part of creating a healthy ecosystem in DC?

[16:29] How the DC Public Charter School Board are an important part of the success story.

[17:44] Is school improvement an important part of Education Forward DC’s agenda?

[18:33] NewSchools relationship with the district now.

[19:34] Does Maura have the sense that these ecosystem leaders (or “quarterback organizations”) can help bring sustainability to an urban innovation and improvement agenda? Can they be part of the bridge that keeps things together in a city when the district may be undergoing change?

[21:46] Does working with like-minded schools in a network resonate with Maura and her work with Education Forward DC?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Stanford University

East Palo Alto Academy

Harvard Business School

NewSchools Venture Fund

NewSchools Summit

U.S. Department of Education

Education Forward DC

Education Cities

New Schools for New Orleans

DC Public Charter School Board

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

The Getting Smart team takes a digital trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take a look at their vibrant education community.

In 1998, Oklahoma passed a law providing free access to pre-kindergarten. Since then, families in Tulsa have benefited from leading-edge programs, supported by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Schusterman Family Foundation. Improvement and talent development efforts are coordinated by ImpactTulsa; a regional non-profit.

In this episode, Tom speaks with Kathy Seibold, Executive Director at ImpactTulsa, and Jessica Smith, Director of Early Learning at Impact Tulsa. Also joining the conversation is Sophia Pappas, who led Early Learning in New York City before joining the Kaiser Family Foundation to advance early learning in Tulsa. The three experts discuss the expanding access to programs and ongoing efforts to improve quality — including building the capacity of early learning teachers.

Listen in to learn more about early learning in Tulsa with Tom, Kathy, Jessica, and Sophia.

Key Takeaways:

[1:27] About ImpactTulsa efforts as a member of the Strive Together Network.

[3:10] About Jessica’s work as the Director of Early Learning at ImpactTulsa.

[4:18] How Oklahoma’s law of providing free preschool for all children for all four-year-olds came to pass.

[5:58] About Sophia’s background in early learning and how she got to her position in Tulsa.

[8:10] Where Kaiser’s commitment to early learning came from.

[9:03] About Kaiser’s early learning focus on children from pre-conception through age eight.

[11:22] How this comprehensive early learning manages to work with the funding provided.

[13:18] The Kaiser Family Foundation’s investment agenda — how do they invest and what do they focus on?

[15:18] About Tulsa’s scaling and their continuous improvement model.

[18:00] What does good early learning look like?

[21:54] Their views and strategies for improving the quality of home-based childcare.

[23:35] Would Jessica like to see an even higher percentage of children in quality preschool?

[24:11] What would be a good goal for a community to achieve (in terms of the percentage of children attending pre-k)? More about ImpactTulsa’s upcoming initiatives and efforts to spread the message of the value of pre-k.

[26:07] Sophia’s and Kathy’s views on strategies to train and compensate early childhood workers and teachers.

[30:31] If a community came on a field trip to Tulsa, where would Kathy take them to learn more?

[31:20] If an advocate in another community were thinking about where to get started, what advice would Sophia give them?

[32:44] Online resources Sophia recommends to those who want to learn more.

[34:02] More about the CAP Tulsa program and Tom’s talk with Steven Dow, CAP Tulsa’s Executive Director.

Mentioned in This Episode:

George Kaiser Family Foundation

Birth Through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST)

Schusterman Family Foundation

ImpactTulsa

ImpactTulsa.org/PreKTulsa

Strive Together Network Teach for America

University of Oklahoma

Tulsa Community College

Center on the Developing Child (Harvard University)

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

Child Trends

CAP Tulsa

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today, the Getting Smart team dives into a conversation about industry-defined student competencies at Del Lago Academy in Escondido, just north of San Diego — with Alec Barron and Brett Goldsmith.

Alec Barron is a Science Coach in the Escondido Union High School District and has taught a variety of science subjects for grades 6-12. He is one of the founding teachers of Del Lago since it first opened in 2013 and was part of the team that helped set up the school. At Del Lago, he developed a program called Competency X that provides the opportunity for students to develop a digital science portfolio to track and reflect evidence of their competency with science and engineering practices. The students earn badges that are validated by industry experts — like Brett Goldsmith, from Nanomedical Diagnostics — who joins Alec on this podcast.

Brett Goldsmith is the co-founder and CTO of Nanomedical Diagnostics — a nanotech company building biosensors that speed up medical research and diagnostics; The first such tool in the world. He’s also one of Del Lago’s business partners that help define what STEM graduates should know and be able to do.

Join Tom, Alec, and Brett as they discuss their backgrounds in the sciences; Del Lago’s genesis and current goals and focus; Brett’s nanotech company, Nanomedical Diagnostics; Alec’s program, Competency X; and all about the use of digital badges and how they help support authentic, competency-based learning and work experiences that help students build rich, digital portfolios to support their college applications and career aspirations.

Key Takeaways:

[:17] An introduction to the topic and guests today — Alec Barron and Brett Goldsmith on industry-defined student competencies.

[2:15] Tom welcomes Alec and Brett to the podcast.

[2:22] How Alec came to study chemistry in college.

[3:08] About Brett’s physics background in college.

[3:35] How Alec went from hard sciences to student-centered learning.

[6:10] Do Alec and Brett see science as a field that lends itself to competency-based progressions rather than a set of linear progressions?

[9:50] How did Alec get to Del Lago? About the genesis of Del Lago and their main focus.

[10:54] How Brett made the switch-up from working in the Navy to starting up a nanotech company.

[12:16] How did Brett make the contacts needed to start and run his new nanotechnology business? What his company currently does and has accomplished.

[13:47] What Brett looks for in hiring new talent for his team at nanotech company, Nanomedical Diagnostics.

[15:38] Alec explains what his program Competency X sets out to do.

[17:47] How Brett got involved at Del Lago.

[18:41] Does Brett see the world of science and engineering moving towards more authentic forms of evidence (i.e. digital badges)?

[19:35] How Alec has developed badges in terms of grade sizes in comparison to each other.

[21:39] Are widespread are the badges use? Are they being used outside of Del Lago?

[22:54] Could the badges work with other subjects (such as english or Math)?

[23:52] How winning the recent Assessment for Learning Project grant has helped advance the work at Del Lago.

[25:37] Brett speaks on how internships are involved in Competency X.

[26:52] An example of what a good internship experience would be like.

[30:42] Do Brett and Alec see the possibility of more subjects in the future being taught in this way (with digital badges and authentic learning experiences)?

[33:55] What’s on Alec’s roadmap for Competency X.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Del Lago Academy

Brett Goldsmith

Alec Barron

Nanomedical Diagnostics

Competency X

LRNG

Escondido Union High School District

University of Colorado

Center for Collaborative Education

Assessment for Learning Project

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 Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

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

Today, the Getting Smart team is discussing the future of transcripts with Matt Pittinsky, CEO of Parchment. In high school, Matt considered himself to be a lousy student — but the experience made him think that education could be different and better. So, after College, he co-founded Blackboard, which became the leading learning management system. Fourteen years later it was acquired for $1.6 billion. Matt then went back to school and earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at Columbia, then later moved down to Phoenix to teach at Arizona State University. While in Arizona, Matt discovered Docufide; a transcript service. He invested in the company, became the CEO, and rebranded the company in 2011 as Parchment — what it is known as today.

Matt is passionate about turning credentials into opportunities. He believes the academic record is not as effective as it could be in admissions, employment, or even in licensing. In this new world where anyone can learn anything, anywhere — how we track, verify, and share capabilities is becoming a big deal.

Listen in as Tom interviews Matt about credentialing and the future of transcripts.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today’s topic and guest: the future of transcripts with Matt Pittinsky.

[1:35] Matt’s early education.

[2:26] Why did Matt initially want to become a teacher?

[2:56] How Matt ended up at Columbia University.

[3:48] How Matt originally got connected to Parchment.

[4:29] The mission of Parchment.

[5:20] What Parchment does and how it works.

[6:09] Parchment’s customer base and where their revenue comes from.

[6:34] The focus of Parchment’s upcoming annual conference.

[7:45] The current programmatic and technology trends in credentialing that are influencing Parchment.

[8:54] The global shift of transcripts becoming more useful but complicated.

[9:35] Why Matt feels as though there’s a great opportunity for a credential management platform.

[11:11] How does Matt feel about the Mastery Transcript Consortium (a group of independent high schools that are trying to build a new transcript format)?

[15:30] Does Matt think more authentic, evidence-based transcripts are making an impact on his business?

[18:41] Is Matt optimistic or skeptical on the current tech trends in credentialing?

[21:59] Matt’s case for how a distributed ledger — particularly Parchment — verifies and shares credentials more conveniently and less expensively than traditional approaches.

[24:55] Does Matt see an extensive learner record belonging on Blockchain in the future?

[29:18] The two holy grails: Longitude record and an extensible learning record, pulling from a broader set of educational service providers.

[30:20] Does Matt see these extensible learner records as distributed databases?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Parchment

Blackboard

Columbia University

Arizona State University

Mastery Transcript Consortium

Blockchain

Coursera

Dreambox

Scottsdale Unified School District

Khan Academy

Want to Learn More About Innovations in Higher Ed?

Listen to “S3:E3 Accessible, Affordable, Achievable HigherEd for Working Adults”, which features Paul LeBlanc; President of Southern New Hampshire University.

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