MAGICommons

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

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

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

💕 Story Overview

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

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

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

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

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:

#MAGICademyPodcast #podcast #education #immersiveexperience #immersive #leighsachwitz #emotionalresponse #senses #development #knowledge #educationalmodel #immersiveeducation

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

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