The TechEd Podcast

Data management isn't just a skill for data scientists. Today's shop floor is being managed by connected software systems that put manufacturing-specific data right into the hands of operators.

In addition to setting up and running equipment, operators are expected to interact with high-tech data software right at their work station that makes their job easier.

Data management is a skill every employer wants in a new hire - especially those in technical fields. So how should schools incorporate data into technical programs?

Paul Van Metre, Founder of ProShop ERP, is on a mission to help more schools move from spreadsheets to authentic industrial software so students have the foundation they need for the workforce. We talk all about data management for the shop floor & how to integrate these systems and processes in the classroom.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Spreadsheets are better than no data management, but ERP is even better: If your program isn't exploring data management at all, then spreadsheets are a great place to start (many manufacturers use them all the time). But to truly simulate the advanced manufacturing workplace, use authentic software like an ERP system (which are sometimes free to education)
2. Schools should teach the integration of digital technology and physical machines: There isn't a job in manufacturing where an employee doesn't interact with business management software. Learning these skills in school, especially how they impact the work done on manufacturing equipment, will help students excel in the workforce. Whether using ERP to manage projects over a semester or launching a full student-run business, teachers can explore a wide range of options to incorporate data management into their curriculum
3. Student-run businesses are a great way to teach manufacturing skills & employability skills at the same time: Most technical programs focus on teaching hard skills, like machine operation and programming. Transforming those skills into a student-run business enables students to learn employability skills, too: customer service, sales and marketing, product development, data management, teamwork, communication, time-management, etc. These are the kinds of employability skills that make them ideal candidates for the workforce.

Resources

• Learn more about ProShop ERP
• Educators - contact ProShop if you're interested in getting this software into your technical program!
• Learn all about Eagle Manufacturing, the student-run business in Brown County
• Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

Connect with ProShop on social media:

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Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/proshop/

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What if we threw out grades and focused on proficiency instead? What if students could choose their own curriculum and projects? What would an education model look like if it was truly designed to prepare students for today's world?

Northern Cass School District may be just 700 learners in all of K-12, but this rural North Dakota district is redefining what education should look like.

A few years ago, Superintendent Dr. Cory Steiner and his faculty set out to do the seemingly impossible: throw out the traditional K-12 education system and redesign a model that truly serves students and the community, all while getting student, parent and teacher buy-in.

The journey wasn't easy, but Northern Cass's personalized learning model is making waves with its student-led, choice-ready approach to education. In this episode, Cory takes us through that journey, covering topics you'll love to hear:

• The problem with the current K-12 education system
• Why our metrics for success measure the wrong things
• From college-ready to choice-ready
• Why student voice and choice matters in all aspects of curriculum and learning
• How to get faculty on board (and keep them from burning out)
• How to get parents on board
• Why proficiency-based learning is a better measurement for success

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. If K-12 education doesn't change, we'll lose a generation of learners: Education hasn't changed in 150 years, while every day the rest of the world is evolving. As Cory points out, disrupting the system is challenging and an ongoing journey, but it has incredible results in the form of engaged students, parents and faculty. Without this disruption, we're at risk of losing a generation of students.
2. Proficiency is a better metric than grades: The traditional model teaches to the test; it doesn't measure mastery of a skill or knowledge. Northern Cass's model uses a 1-2-3 scale to measure proficiency, so students can see where they started and how far they have to go to achieve mastery of that skill. This system creates flexibility, autonomy for the student, student voice and engagement, and prepares them for the real world that values mastery over grades.
3. Students need voice and choice, while teachers should be facilitators of learning: In a student-driven K-12 model, students are given choice over their curriculum, projects and schedule. Faculty help them understand state standards they need to meet, then facilitate the learning models that will best benefit each student. Students value the respect and choice they're given (meaning they're more engaged at school). And teachers see a more meaningful impact as their students discover their voice and passions. 

Resources

• Learn more about Northern Cass's Strategy
• Watch Dr. Steiner's Ted Talk

Connect with Northern Cass School District:

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Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/steiner/

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As Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Congressman Frank Lucas is passionate about strengthening STEM in America.

We sat down with the Chairman to talk about the vast technological advances taking place in the U.S. thanks to bipartisan efforts in the Committee, legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act, and the growth of STEM programs in schools today.

Through all that progress, there is still work to be done inspiring and equipping the next generation of technologists to fill high-demand careers across every sector of the economy. Hear about the incredible opportunities for today's students, and better understand where STEM education can meet the growing needs of the skilled workforce.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Don't underestimate agriculture - precision ag is a high-tech field! Having grown up on a fifth-generation family farm in Oklahoma, Frank Lucas has watched agriculture transform tremendously in the last few decades. Today, precision agriculture is a high-tech industry, utilizing satellite networks, drone technology, autonomous vehicles, smart sensors, data analytics and a host of precision machinery.
2. Jobs are going wasted because companies don't have people to fill them; that's where STEM education can help: As technology drives every sector of the economy forward, jobs are becoming higher-skilled but don't necessarily require a four-year degree. Hands-on STEM education, especially delivered in career and technical education programs and community colleges, is a cost-effective way to equip learners to work in these jobs.
3. Research and development around next generation technologies are moving us farther, faster: From nuclear fusion, to high-tech weather prediction technology, to countless new drone applications...technology is evolving at faster rate than ever before. In many ways, it's an exciting time to be in STEM. But there's a lot more work to be done educating students and preparing future generations to keep America moving forward. 

Resources
Learn more about organizations featured in this episode:

• House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
• Learn more about Congressman Lucas

Connect with the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology:

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Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/lucas/

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Women have made tremendous strides in engineering over the last few decades. Rising both in numbers and in leadership roles, girls now have more women to look up to in STEM fields than ever before.

Representation is crucial. When young girls dream about their future, remember this phrase:

If they can see it, they can be it.

No one knows this better than Heidi Balestrieri. In college, she was the lone girl in a class of 50 mechanical engineering graduates. When she entered the workforce, the gender gap was even more apparent.

But Heidi pursued her passions and rose to become Director of Engineering at Sentry Equipment. For her work in manufacturing and STEM outreach, she was the recipient of a Manufacturing Institute Women MAKE award.

Heidi joins us for a discussion around women in engineering: how far we've come, how far we need to go, and what individuals, schools and businesses can do to create a world where every girl feels empowered to pursue a career in STEM.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Engineers are problem solvers: It's not just math and science. Engineering is all about solving problems, and that involves a much wider skillset. Schools can incorporate problem solving into STEM-related activities that teach even young kids how to think like an engineer. But remember, failure is part of the process. Heidi notes that many young girls seek perfection and are afraid to fail, so we must encourage trial and error as part of the problem-solving process.
2. Give interns a real engineering project, and get a long-term employee: Often, engineering interns are assigned clerical work that doesn't challenge them or give them a sense for what a true engineering career can be like. Heidi and Sentry Equipment have given engineering students real engineering projects, real autonomy, and real responsibility, and in turn have seen those interns come back for full-time employment after graduation.
3. Representation + community are needed for women in engineering: Representation starts young: engineering badge days in Girl Scouts and coaching First Lego League teams are two great examples Heidi shares. It continues into later school years, where companies need to have diverse representation at STEM outreach days and career fairs. Finally, women need community in STEM fields, whether at an inclusive company or through organizations like the Society of Women Engineers. Individuals also need their personal board of directors, that group of mentors that can pour into an emerging engineer and help her on her career path.

Resources

Learn more about organizations featured in this episode:

• Sentry Equipment
• Manufacturing Institute Women MAKE
• Girl Scouts STEM badges
• FIRST Lego League

Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn.

View episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/balestrieri/

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 As Vice President for Economic Development at Ogeechee Technical College, Jan Moore's job is to make sure the region has the skilled talent it needs to meet employer demand - and that includes the incumbent workforce. And recently, that need has grown exponentially:

Hyundai is investing in a $5.5 billion campus locally. That has far-reaching implications, bringing in other business to the area to the tune of $20 billion, resulting in 14,000 - 16,000 additional people that will be needed for the workforce.

These are highly-automated facilities, and it's Jan's job to create the training structures to sustain a talent pipeline of new and incumbent workers. That kind of project means disrupting the old model of technical education and thinking outside the box.

We sat down with Jan to hear her innovative approaches to workforce readiness, including 3 ways technical education must be disrupted.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Modern technical education requires a layering of industrial technology with data: Today's production, operations and maintenance workers need a broad skillset covering base technologies (mechanical, electrical, electronics, fluid power, motor control, PLCs, robotics), layered with smart technologies (smart sensors and devices, networking, IIoT) and topped with data (AI tools, data analytics, predictive maintenance).
2. Train to retain - it's the employer's responsibility to continue upskilling their workforce: Technology is always evolving, and workers need consistent training & upskilling opportunities throughout their careers. As a result, employers must become partners in education. Jan shares how non-credit apprenticeships have skyrocketed, combining classroom learning, on the job training, certifications and rapid time scales to get employees new skills and new opportunities at the company. That's value for the apprentice and the employer, resulting in happy employees who stick around.
3. 3 disruptions needed in technical education - apprenticeships, third party credentials, and timing: We dive into these three factors that can help disrupt the traditional model of learning. With this new method, speed to degree is key. With smaller time blocks of focused training that lead to third party certifications, individuals can get the skills they need that are relevant to their employer. Hear about one case where learners went through a 12-week training program, earned 8 credentials from the Smart Automation Certification Alliance, and came out with a higher level of skill and guaranteed 40% raise upon completion.

Resources

Or learn more about Economic Development & Apprenticeship at Ogeechee Technical College

Connect with OTC:

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Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/ogeechee/

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From the designers of the world's first full-sized autonomous helicopter, Gather AI is totally disrupting inventory management.

Gather AI has fully autonomous drones flying around warehouses, using smart sensors & camera systems to gather data on racks and pallets of inventory, communicating that data in real-time with the warehouse management system and keeping a live, accurate log of the entire warehouse's inventory.

No longer do companies need the laborious task of manually driving forklifts to pull inventory, log it in spreadsheets and slowly disperse the data to those who need it. Instead, this system of hardware + software + data is massively speeding up that process and freeing up humans to do more interesting work.

We sat down with the company's Vice President of Customer Success Sean Mitchell to dig into the technology, the role of data and how it's revolutionizing logistics in manufacturing and distribution today.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. A truly disruptive solution like Gather AI's requires the integration of hardware, software and data: It all begins with fully-autonomous drones which are capable of path planning and flying themselves around a facility to perform inventory management. The AI-driven software enables the drones to take data from their sensors and train the model to understand barcodes, LPNs, full pallets vs empty pallets, etc. and keep an accurate image-based database of inventory in real-time. Most importantly, the data can be integrated with warehouse management software and other management systems to make sure every department has the data they need when they need it, and maximize results.
2. Inventory automation enables warehouse operators to do more value-added work: Instead of deploying a team to monotonously drive forklifts around a facility to manually track inventory, companies can now train those individuals to operate autonomous drones, analyze the data, find mistakes and fix them. These operators get to be "detectives" solving inventory questions, getting product where it needs to be, and maximizing throughput for the organization.
3. How can schools replicate a system like this in the classroom? Teach the integration of these 3 key components: Drones are a great tool to teach skills (hard & soft) that are being used in the workforce today. Considering the three main components outlined in Takeaway #1, instructors can teach the following outcomes: Hardware - build, 3D print, design, improve, troubleshoot, optimize drone technology. Software - program controllers, do the encoding, wire electrical systems. Data - capture data and leverage AI tools to drive optimal performance in a process.

Resources
Learn more about Gather AI: gather.ai

Connect with Gather AI:

LinkedIn  |  YouTube

Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/gatherai/

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Every day you interact with hundreds of products made by companies you've never heard of, making things you didn't realize you needed or existed until you learned they exist.

But these companies are everywhere, employing such a huge percentage of our workforce and driving so much economic growth and innovation that, without them, our way of life in America would cease to exist.

Asutosh Padhi is North American Managing Partner for McKinsey & Company. He just published The Titanium Economy, and it's a deep dive into these companies and the immense value they bring to the U.S.

We sat down with Asutosh to uncover his findings and celebrate the work being done in the Titanium Economy.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Titanium Economy companies are productivity superstars: These superstars are up to 5.5x more productive than their counterparts in the same industries. Their secret? These companies excel at workforce development (attracting and upskilling great talent), digitization to drive business outcomes, and investing in faster and better R&D.
2. The Great Amplification Cycle: The Titanium Economy can revitalize regions and spur economic growth across the U.S., resulting in "the Great Amplification Cycle." These companies attract others into a region, creating "hubs" all over the country. These hubs employ thousands of people, who then participate in their local economy and drive growth in other sectors; for example, by purchasing clothes, eating at restaurants, sending their kids to school...the list goes on and on. Everyone benefits when Titanium Economy companies come to town.
3. The Titanium Economy is a little-known secret that shouldn't be kept secret any longer: When it comes to economic impact, the Titanium Economy is as vital to America as consumer-facing giants like Google, Apple, Ford and others. Companies and schools need to work together to generate more exposure for students to this whole world of opportunity right in their neighborhood. Asutosh shares some examples of partnerships that are getting it right, as well as some ideas for how we can keep getting the word out about the career opportunities in industrial technology.

Resources

Learn more about The Titanium Economy book: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/the-titanium-economy

Connect with McKinsey & Company:

Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  Facebook  |  YouTube

Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/titaniumeconomy

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Jarrod Barnes, Professor at NYU, is an early adopter of AI in the classroom. As a lifelong coach, he's developing an AI playbook for educators to help others engage with these tools and drive positive outcomes in the classroom.

Jarrod has been experimenting with AI in his own classes, and now he's sitting down with us to share all the key takeaways. This is a great episode for those wanting to embrace AI but first want to hear from someone who has already paved the path.

Inside this episode:

• Primer on AI: what is it and how does it work?
• The top concerns facing education around AI
• 3 core applications for AI in the classroom that have proven to be highly successful for students
• How to implement AI practice into every class
• Educators as facilitators vs. keepers of the knowledge

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. AI is a reasoning machine: The GPT in ChatGPT stands for "generative pre-trained transformer" - a reasoning machine that takes your inputs, evaluates them based on the parameters it was trained on, and generates an output. Get a primer on ChatGPT, GPT4, other AI tools for the classroom...plus some key concerns educators are thinking about.
2. 3 applications for AI that have benefited students at NYU: Translation of lecture notes for international students whose first language is not English, adapting the content of the lecture to the preferred learning modality of the student (shift text to images and graphs, transform video to text, etc.), and solving for the "cold start" for students and help unblock them and get their mind going.
3. AI will disrupt the student - teacher relationship: What makes AI different than technological advances of recent years is the combined speed of innovation + speed of adoption. AI will empower the agency of the individual learner while pushing educators to create meaningful learning experiences for those students. No longer are teachers the keepers of knowledge that they impart to students. Instead, they're the facilitators to help students learn using all the native knowlege that's available immediately at their fingertips. Tools like AI will help magnify learning in this new way.

Resources

To learn more about NYU, visit: www.nyu.edu

Read: Forget Lectures, It's Time for Conversational Learning: GPT-4 and the Future of Education

Connect with Jarrod:

Twitter  |  LinkedIn

Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/barnes/

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Ed Magee has a fascinating career history - from the Marine Corps to decades of operations leadership at Harley-Davidson and Fender - and now he's instilling his lessons learned in a new role as Vice President for Strategic Operations at Belmont University.

The truth is, university education in America is facing a crossroads: either innovate and adapt, or fade away. The workplace is changing rapidly, the market for education is changing, and what students want out of their college experience has changed. If universities don't recognize these changes and pivot, they won't be around for long.

Fortunately, Ed's experience in operations leadership positions him to bring this entrepreneurial mindset to Belmont. And in this episode, we're digging into what those lessons from manufacturing are, and what higher education should be doing to adapt to the market.

Inside this episode:

• Why systems are just as important as ambitious goals
• How to view university education through a product development lens
• The value of "and, not or"
• How to get others on board with your big ideas

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

1. Universities need to adopt a "startup" mindset: Higher education is facing huge changes in the market. To remain relevant universities have to pivot their educational offering to content and modes that students today want. That means adopting a startup mindset: making ambitious goals, quickly adapting to market trends, creating an innovative product that the market wants, and delivering it in a way that's meaningful and useful to students.
2. Manufacturing operations lend themselves well to university education: From Kaizen and continuous improvement, to lean thinking, to systems and processes, the tools of manufacturing can help university leaders run a streamlined organization. By implementing these tools, universities can pivot faster, redesign an educational experience students today are looking for, and achieve bigger goals than ever before.
3. To drive organizational change, effective leaders put people first: In any organization with big goals and initiatives, change management is all about getting people on board. While it's great for leaders to embrace and inspire toward change, what's really needed is for everyone in the organization to internalize and own the effort. That happens through listening, meeting people where they're at, investing in people, and remembering that there are more similarities than differences among us.

Resources

To learn more about Belmont University, visit: www.belmont.edu

Connect with Belmont:

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  YouTube |  LinkedIn  |  Instagram

Episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/belmont/

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