Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview Alex Darrow, Principal Designer at Microsoft Education. 

Alex discusses his journey from a childhood love for gaming to leading the design of innovative reading tools at Microsoft. He shares his experiences working on reading products, including the development of the Reading Coach and Reading Progress tools that have become essential in classrooms, especially during the COVID pandemic. Alex highlights the importance of observing children's learning processes and emphasizes creating engaging, gamified educational experiences. 

The episode also features a special guest, Alex's daughter Zoe, who provides her perspective on her dad's work and shares valuable advice for designers creating educational tools for kids.

Chapters

01:13 - Early Gaming Influences

03:04 - Career Journey and Academic Background

05:07 - Transition to Microsoft and EdTech

10:02 - Voice User Interface Design

12:11 - Hackathons and Product Development

19:17 - Reading Progress and COVID-19

27:01 - Future of Reading Coach and Gamification

31:34 - AI Hype vs. Panic: Where Do You Stand?

32:21 - The Role of AI in Education

33:57 - Advice for EdTech Designers

34:14 - Personal Literacy Journeys

38:01 - The Impact of Reading Progress and Flipgrid

42:02 - Lightning Round: Quickfire Questions

49:03 - Special Guest: Zoe's Perspective

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