This Week with EdSurge

Not too long ago, it was pretty new that students could print their own papers in the classroom, or that teachers could spontaneously print materials for their classes. But these days, printing has gotten a little bit more advanced--and we're not just talking about 3D Printing. If one startup as its way, the average science classroom might soon be printing live cells. That’s right, live cells. This week, we talked to the two co-founders of SE3D Education, who are making a table-top, affordable 'bioprinter' that they hope will change the way we teach biology and other science subjects. And the big question on our mind is this: Should students be able to print living cells?

Seattle-based Lane Merrifield is an expert when it comes to selling to consumers--but he’s also becoming an expert on selling to schools, too. He’s the Club Penguin guy--remember that big massive multiplayer online game that was basically a virtual world for kids? Well, Club Penguin was acquired by Disney for $350M in 2007, and now, Lane’s in the edtech game with an assessment platform called FreshGrade. He’s got some good insights into the similarities and differences between selling to consumers and selling to districts, so we brought him on the podcast for your listening pleasure.

On this EdSurge Extra, we chat with Dr. Gisele Huff of the Jaquelin Hume Foundation. Gisele talks with EdSurge CEO Betsy Corcoran about the differences between charity & philanthropy, technology's ability to transform education and her new project to give education its north star.

One voice has been conspicuously absent from the discussion around #IStandWithAhmed: students. This week we chat with four K-12 students to hear their reactions to the plight of Texas teenager Ahmed Mohamed.

Being a teacher superstar isn’t easy, especially when you’re driven by a vision to help out kids, but are a loner in your school in regards to the way you feel. Esther Wojcicki, an American journalist, educator, and vice chair of the Creative Commons board of directors, is a firm example of one of those superstars. From her journalism classroom at Palo Alto High School in California, she has gained a reputation for being one of the foremost thinkers on education and technology.

But even Esther knows that working alone and striving alone aren't as effective as joining together, and as such, she recently published a book entitled "Moonshots in Education". The book covers digital and online learning in the classroom and what it takes to make a "moonshot," or those superstar examples of teachers and schools. She interviews quite a number of moonshots--and so we decided to talk to Esther, the moonshot herself, to go more in-depth on what truly make a successful blended environment.

Michael Horn has been a powerful force shaping the changes in education over the past decade. In an interview with senior editor Mary Jo Madda at our California Summit, he spoke about how he defines the nebulous term "blended learning," why teacher autonomy is critical to successful learning, and how blended learning today differs from collaboration techniques teachers have used in the past.

There’s no question that the best part of hosting a podcast is speaking with the fascinating guests we have on the show. From newly minted edtech billionaires to students and teachers, podcasters get the chance to hear from people all over the country. So this week, we decided to go super meta and spoke with three of those edu-podcasters: Jeff Bradbury of "Teachercast", Jason Bodnar of "Principally Speaking", and Chris Nesi of "The House of #Edtech". We asked them what they’re hearing from their guests, and what they think will be the big trends of the upcoming school year. Check out their answers--do you agree?

We talk to companies all the time about how they test their products, fail quickly and learn. But what if schools did the same thing? That's exactly the concept behind the "Tiny Schools Project,” an initiative led by Matt Candler of the New Orleans-based nonprofit, 4.0 Schools.

A live recording of a focus panel from the EdSurge Davis Superintendents Summit.

Panelists for this event included Barbara Nemko Superintendent, Napa COE; Jason Borgen Director of Innovation & Learning, Portola Valley School District; Michael Moody CEO, Insight Education Group; and Meera Vaidyanathan Vice President Content, TenMarks. Mike Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer of CUE moderated the panel.

Last week, Forbes writer George Anders put out an article entitled, "That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket." After reading the article, we here at EdSurge thought to ourselves... gee, what should edtech companies really consider when hiring new blood? To find out that answer and more (including whether or not Anders' feelings negate the relevance of tech training programs like Dev Bootcamp), we brought Anders into the EdSurge office to get his thoughts beyond the article. Listen up, CEOs and administrators--you might just want to hire that Romance Languages major.