MAGICademy

By Dr. Jiani Wu

Mission Statement

Paired with evidence-based research, the MAGICademy podcast co-explores how advancements in humanized leadership, neuroarts, learning science, and bio-cultural tech are converging to... more

· Society & Culture

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FAQs about MAGICademy:

How many episodes does MAGICademy have?

The podcast currently has 56 episodes available.

MAGICademy episodes:

December 27, 2024 Confetti Consciousness: The New Playfulness Paradigm
Welcome once again to the @MAGICademy Podcast! On S5E3 we give a warm welcome to Jelena Aleksich to the show. She is a creative entrepreneur, visual storyteller, and founder of The Confetti Project, which began as a photography challenge in her bedroom and now has evolved into a global mental health storytelling platform. We talk about our playfulness and how it’s often something that we ignore but it ends up being vital for us to have a healthy and balanced adult life.
Like many entrepreneurs, Jelena had a completely different background from what she ended up doing, starting as a psychology student and then pivoting to follow a more creative path. In this episode, we explore this pivot and the motivations behind it, the playful mindset and how to cultivate it, mental health and Jelena’s answer to the issue, and much more!
Conversation Outline
00:00 - Introduction
00:17 - Jelena talks about her background and founding The Confetti Project
06:20 - Success stories in Jelena’s career
13:33 - About the playful mindset and the “play print”
19:03 - Our way of thinking as a society and how we’re learning to live differently
20:50 - Lack of answers to the mental health issues after the pandemic
25:52 - The role of playfulness and childlike wonder in teams and companies
30:32 - Practicing our playfulness
35:25 - Jelena at 11 years old
42:10 - Jelena’s magic
#MAGICademy #Podcast #JelenaAleksich #ConfettiProject #Confetti #MentalHealth #Photography #Storytelling #Entrepreneurship #Playfulness #ChildlikeWonder #Startup #Creativity
...more
49min
December 20, 2024 The Empathy Engine: How Virtual Reality Simulations Cultivate Inclusive Mindsets
Welcome to a new episode of the @MAGICademy Podcast! In S5E2 we are joined by Evan Sitler-Bates who drops by to have a great conversation about VR. Evan is the CEO and co-founder of XpertVR, a consulting firm that specializes in e-learning and virtual reality solutions, providing companies and skill development initiatives with new ways to deliver their content innovatively and interestingly.

In this episode, we go through the founding and establishment of XpertVR from a passion project to a viable business; what motivates people to learn through VR and the advances in the industry; some pros, cons, and room for improvement in VR-aided skill development techniques; and much more.
Conversation Outline
00:00 - Introduction and Evan’s introduction of himself
01:43 - Story and motivations behind XpertVR
04:35 - Interesting stories from Evan’s career
09:35 - Reasons behind people connecting with VR training than other forms of training12:00 - Pros and cons of the VR world
13:25 - Finding the right balance between VR and actual reality
16:20 - Choosing the right framework to guide ourselves
20:00 - VR training is not meant to replace real-life training
21:35 - The future of VR
28:40 - Potential challenges and risks
32:38 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
34:15 - Evan in his childhood
37:08 - The role of childlike wonder in Evan’s past
39:56 - Challenges in Evan’s life
41:55 - Evan’s magic

#VRTraining #VirtualReality #ElearningSolutions #FutureOfLearning #SkillDevelopment #LearningInnovation #ImmersiveLearning #VRInEducation #FutureOfWork #EdTech #VRForTraining #DigitalLearning #InnovativeTraining #TechInEducation #WorkplaceTraining
...more
48min
December 13, 2024 AI Literacy Framework: Cultivating Future-Ready Leaders
On S5E1 of the @MAGICademy Podcast we’re happy to welcome Stella Lee to the show. She is the Director of Paradox Learning, a consulting firm that specializes in developing innovative learning solutions across various sectors, and she has been working on digital learning strategy, design, and implementation for over 20 years, becoming a known figure in the e-learning and AI fields. We talk about her AI literacy framework, its importance within organizations, and the diverse uses of AI and other tools in education.
One of Stella’s key messages is that while AI can enhance learning experiences, it still requires significant human oversight to ensure accuracy and relevance, creating a necessity for L&D professionals to continuously evaluate AI-generated outputs. In this episode, we explore the need to improve the assessment part of the framework, the importance of feedback mechanisms, and how different tools can be used to improve the digital learning experience for different organizations.

Conversation Outline
00:00 - Introduction
01:03 - Philosophy behind Paradox Learning
03:33 - Stella describes herself in one phrase
04:55 - Why AI Literacy Framework?
07:42 - Defining AI Literacy and AI Pedagogy
14:41 - Room for improvement on Stella’s AI framework
18:04 - Discussing Assessments and case studies
20:52 - Defining Formative Feedback
25:07 - The ideal future for Stella
29:20 - Stella’s ideas at 11 years old
31:52 - Stella’s magic

#MAGICademy #Podcast #PodcastEpisode #StellaLee #AI #Learning #Frameworks #AILiteracyFramework #Business #Technology #ParadoxLearning #DigitalLearning #AIPedagogy #TalentDevelopment
...more
36min
December 06, 2024 Physiological Diversity: An Inclusive Dimension to Manage Stress & Productivity
💕 Story Overview
Welcome to S4E12 of the @MAGICademy Podcast, where we’re joined by Kirill Krasnogir as our guest this week. Kirill is an entrepreneur and the founder of CleverPoint, a company specializing in neurotechnology and virtual reality applications for mental health assessment. We talk a lot about CleverPoint; stress, burnout, how these concepts influence our professional and personal lives; and how productivity can be improved through the power of will and hard work.

Kirill´s vision is to leverage technology to improve mental health outcomes, making significant strides in how psychological well-being can be assessed and supported by using advanced tools. In this episode we also talk about these advanced tools, analyze some of his stories about mental health and managing stress in the workplace, and how stress doesn’t affect us all the same, but we can still find ways to manage it.

Conversation Outline
00:33 - Kirill introduces himself
01:40 - About CleverPoint and its foundation
03:44 - Measuring stress, calmness and productivity
10:53 - The healthy dose of stress to spark productivity
14:10 - Early signs of burnout
16:53 - First hand stories about stress from Kirill
20:28 - Evolving the way in which we manage and handle stress
23:54 - Advices for leaders
26:50 - Accuracy of the data
30:40 - Vision on the future by Kirill
32:29 - Potential risks for physiological studies
33:41 - Thought leaders to follow
34:56 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
37:16 - Kirill at 11 years old
39:23 - Particular challenges for Kirill
40:07 - Kirill’s magic

#MAGICademy #Podcast #PodcastEpisode #KirillKrasnogir #VR #Learning #Stress #Burnout #Patience #DealingWithStress #Healthcare #MentalHealth #Productivity #Physiology #Technology #Workplace
...more
43min
November 29, 2024 Sports Coach Inspired: AI Coach in the Work-Verse
Welcome to a new episode of the @MAGICademy Podcast! Our guest for S4E10 is Dr. Alexander Young, who is very well-known in the fields of education technology and health. Dr. Alex is mostly recognized as the founder and CEO of Virti, an innovative platform aimed at transforming how individuals learn and perform in professional settings. We talk about AI and coaching, how these two concepts intertwine, and how they can be harnessed to develop talents and form excellent professionals.

Dr. Alex graduated with a degree in Medicine from the University of Bristol in 2009 and subsequently trained as a trauma and orthopedic surgeon until 2018 when he decided to fully dedicate himself to Virti and focus on enhancing training and performance in business environments by leveraging advanced technologies. In this episode, he also shares some insights about AI-powered avatars, recognizing AI from real people, and some stories on how AI + coaching have improved talent development.

Conversation Outline
00:57 - Dr. Alex introduces himself
03:24 - The story behind Virti and its foundation
08:42 - Creating micro-scenarios
11:11 - Staying within the learning objectives
14:31 - Defining effective coaching inspired by sports
19:04 - Stories about overcoming challenges in Dr. Alex’s life
23:21 - Best skills for coaches to have
27:57 - Developing empathy
31:14 - Role of childlike wonder in performance and coaching
33:31 - The landscape for AI one-on-one coaching
36:42 - Room for improvement and benefits of AI-powered avatars
40:14 - Recognizing human voices and AI voices
42:40 - Fighting inaccuracy or AI hallucination
45:25 - Virti impact stories
47:46 - Thought leaders to keep in mind
47:27 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
50:12 - Dr. Alex at 11 years old
51:28 - Particular challenges in Dr. Alex’s life
53:52 - Dr. Alex’s magic

#MAGICademy #podcast #surgery #surgeon #innovation #Virti #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #coaching #talents #workplace #workenvironment #professional #childlikewonder #AIavatars #coaches #virtualscenarios #leadershipdevelopment
...more
54min
November 22, 2024 Fun as a Catalyst: Activating Childlike Curiosity in Work Culture
On S4E9 of the @MAGICademy Podcast, we’re joined by Michael Rucker to talk about something we often forget to prioritize: having fun! Michael is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and author of “The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life”. We talked about fun and happiness in organizations and in our personal lives, the different types of fun and how they have different effects on us, and how we react and process fun internally.

Michael's journey into the realm of fun began after a series of personal challenges in 2016, including the loss of his younger brother. This prompted him to reassess conventional approaches to happiness and led to the realization that chasing happiness often results in feelings of inadequacy. Michael talks about this and also shares some vital insights on fun and mental health while providing some tips on how to improve it by ourselves.

Conversation Outline
00:40 - Michael introduces himself and talks about positive psychology
05:29 - Focusing on fun while avoiding toxic positivity
11:50 - Different types of fun
15:24 - Stories on organization pivoting towards fun environments
24:18 - Role of childlike wonder in fun and mindfulness
27:59 - Tips on fostering type-2 fun
33:52 - Michael’s vision of organizational fun in the future
36:43 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
37:55 - Michael’s background and childhood
40:04 - Major challenges in Michael’s life
...more
46min
November 15, 2024 Code of Curiosity: How AI Can Unlock Human Wonder
Welcome to S4E8 of the @MAGICademy Podcast, where we give a warm welcome to Barbara Oakley. She is a professor and the master brain behind the course “Learning How to Learn”, available in Coursera, which has been took by more than a million people making it one of the more successful open learning courses on the platform. We talked about the curiosity in all of us, and how it’s necessary for everyone who wishes to learn a new concept, language or anything they need to know.

Barbara tells us how she developed the course after seeing the disconnection between what was being taught and what actual, modern students need to be taught. She found out that the most important part was to focus on the way of learning before diving into the subject per se, so we can use our curiosity to interest ourselves more on what we need to learn. Barbara also shares some insights on the neurological process behind learning and curiosity, and gives some advice on how to use tools at hand to prepare us to learn something new.

Conversation Outline
02:30 - Barbara introduces herself
03:28 - About “Learning How to Learn” and Barbara’s background
08:02 - The neurological process behind curiosity
12:35 - Different types of curiosity
17:18 - Activating the closure-driven curiosity in learning
19:59 - Harnessing curiosity to learn faster
23:36 - The future for Barbara
35:44 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
37:52 - Barbara’s passion when growing up
38:44 - The role of childlike wonder in Barbara’s life

#LearningHowToLearn #CuriosityDrivenLearning #NeuroscienceOfLearning #EffectiveLearningTechniques #BoostYourCuriosity #LearningStrategies #BrainBasedLearning #UnlockLearningPotential #ScienceOfLearning #CuriosityInEducation #MindsetForLearning #MemoryAndLearning #CognitiveSkills #NeuroscienceForGrowth #CuriosityAndKnowledge
...more
48min
November 08, 2024Awakening Wonder: A Multi-Sensory Narrative to Reignite Childlike Curiosity
In S4E7 of the @MAGICademy Podcast, we welcome Leigh Sachwitz from Berlin, Germany. She has been dedicated to creating immersive experiences for over 25 years, finding new ways for people to learn and explore different concepts and challenging traditional educational environments. We have a great conversation about these types of experiences and how they manage to provoke an emotional response in people by creating stories that touch them in emotional ways they might not have thought about.
Leigh shares some of her background studying architecture in Scotland and pivoting to the music business, where she started experimenting with immersive experiences and had a chance to analyze the deep emotional response they spark in people. She also shares some insights on what makes these experiences unique and tells some anecdotes about past successful events and their outcomes.
Magical Insights:
Multi-Sensory Experiences: According to Leigh, multi-sensory experiences have a greater effect on our bodies and minds since they’re felt from within and involve several stimuli on our bodies. It’s worth exploring the potential of introducing these types of practices into talent development, to guarantee the person feels connected and comfortable on the situation in front of them. An immersive experience on a particular subject will have a more positive impact on the talent than simply another course or conference delivered in a traditional way.
Releasing our Inner Child on Immersive Experiences: The way to ignite a reaction from a participant is through an immersive experience that they can relate to, and spark that childlike wonder into them wanting to learn more. To achieve that, a good story is necessary. It’s not just about putting any type of knowledge into an immersive experience format, it’s about getting people interested in the subject matter by creating stories that touch them in emotional ways. The bulk of the information must be there, but it must be told attractively.
Simple Versions of an Idea: It’s the simpler versions of a thought the ones that get deep into our subconscious and provoke an emotional response on our end. When developing immersive experiences for learning or sharing knowledge, it’s important to make people feel like they’re not learning something but instead, it’s just an experience for them. So concepts and hard knowledge must be kept simple and suggestive and look for the subject to get carried away.
Starting Young: Immersive learning captivates learners by providing dynamic, interactive experiences that engage multiple senses. This approach transforms traditional lectures into engaging virtual scenarios, which significantly increases motivation and participation among students. Translating these experiences into classrooms can be a great educational aid for students even from a young age, while also teaching them new educational techniques to broaden their way of learning and thinking.
#MAGICademyPodcast #podcast #education #immersiveexperience #immersive #leighsachwitz #emotionalresponse #senses #development #knowledge #educationalmodel #immersiveeducation
...more
27min
November 01, 2024 Building Deep Trust: Transform Business with Proactive & Value-Driven Talent
In S4E6, Dr. Keith Heating joins us at the @MAGICademy Podcast. He is an author and a learning advisor who’s passionate about encouraging and empowering people to take control of their futures by truly learning how to learn. We talk about his recent book, “The Trusted Learning Advisor” and his views on formal education, which require a change since they don’t provide the right tools for talents to fully develop their potential and be the figure the business needs them to be.

Dr. Keith shares some insight into business strategy; the pivoting from its business without a clear goal to what the Innovation Lab is now; and some other stories about learning and analyzing the potential and gaps in businesses, which invite reflection on how we, as professionals in the modern business environment, need to properly develop our talents and our company culture.

Conversation Outline
00:50 - Dr. Keith introduces himself
02:29 - What prompted Dr. Keith to write his book
06:33 - Dr. Keith’s view on business strategy
10:04 - What is the Innovation Lab
14:45 - How to build trust
23:30 - Steps to level up the learning development
29:41 - Defining curiosity
37:35 - Learning Development in the future
43:25 - About Dr. Keith’s background and motivations
45:45 - Struggles for Dr. Keith to become the man he is today
48:45 - Dr. Keith’s magic
#MAGICademyPodcast #podcast #education #keithkeiting #learning #trust #companyculture #author #formaleducation #thetrustedlearningadvisor #learningdevelopment #talentdevelopment #businesspartners #development
...more
52min
October 25, 2024 Magic of Programmed Index Cards: Motivational Learning Over the Forgetting Curve
In S4E5 of the @MAGICademy Podcast, my guest is Andrew Cohen. He is the founder of Brainscape, which is a programmed and adaptive flashcard app to learn and practice new skills and keep information fresh. We talk about his adventure and exploration of optimizing memorization, from learning a new language to optimizing skill and performance development; as well as how new technologies can support this optimization by helping us overcome the forgetting curve.
Andrew shares his views on the newest educational models presenting a more holistic approach, challenging their effectiveness, and advocating for a more traditional way of learning while still leaning on new technologies, algorithms, and feedback. He sees a way in which these new techniques can impact how we digest knowledge and how we can apply it to our personal and professional lives.

Conversation Outline
00:40 Andrew introduces himself
01:41 Brainscape and the reason behind it
03:05 Andrew’s background and personal motivations
06:25 The algorithm to help people remember things
12:45 Feedback mechanisms
15:05 Ways to understand when we’re wrong
18:30 Handling cognitive dissonance and keeping things realistic
19:20 Andrew’s own learning experiences
22:10 Different motivational strategies
24:52 Points and leaderboards
27:20 The role of childlike wonder in Brainscape and for Andrew
30:15 Andrew’s view on the future
33:40 Challenges and struggles when looking into the future
34:40 Corporate uses for Brainscape
37:15 Andrew’s magic

#MAGICademyPodcast #education #brainscape #andrewcohen #flashcards #learning #skills #educationalmodels #spacedrepetition #activerecall #study #talent #technology #feedback #algorithms
...more
45min

FAQs about MAGICademy:

How many episodes does MAGICademy have?

The podcast currently has 56 episodes available.