Get the inside scoop on SXSW EDU 2026 as Mike Palmer sits down with Kayla Meyers from SXSW EDU to preview what’s heading to Austin this March. From a reimagined city-wide footprint to the biggest podcast stage lineup yet, we’re breaking down why this year is a must-attend for anyone in the education ecosystem.

Kayla shares her journey from museum curator to the mastermind behind the conference's "impeccable vibes," offering a deep dive into the trends shaping the 2026 program.

What we covered:

🌵 The Great Austin Reset: How the Convention Center renovation forced a move to a more grassroots, decentralized footprint that puts the city of Austin front and center.

Join us live at the podcast stage in Austin on March 9th at 9:00 AM Central to start the week right!

Keep Trending with Us:

Timestamps:

00:00 🎙️ Kicking off the SXSW EDU 2026 Preview

In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer welcomes Tara Chklovski, the founder and CEO of Technovation, a global nonprofit that has been at the intersection of AI and education since 2016. Tara shares her journey from growing up in India to pursuing a PhD in aerospace engineering and eventually launching a mobile entrepreneurship program just two years after the iPhone debuted.

The conversation dives into the Technovation accelerator model, a three-month program for girls and young women ages 8 to 24. Tara explains how the program empowers students to identify real-world problems in their communities and build tech-based startups to solve them. We discuss the importance of fostering a problem-solving mindset, the critical role of human mentorship in an AI-driven world, and why the "personalized learning" trend might be too narrow a lens for the future of education.

Key Insights:

💡 Early Intervention: Why we shouldn’t underestimate children's ability to tackle complex community problems as early as age eight.

🤖 AI as a Teammate: How Technovation’s "AI in Action" curriculum uses artificial intelligence as a brainstorming partner and subject matter expert for student teams.

🌍 Global Innovation: Stories of impact from 120 countries, including an alumna whose AI startup was acquired at age 19 and a student in India tracking environmental health through bird songs.

🏗️ Resilient Skills: Shifting the focus from simple AI literacy to building durable skills like user research, business planning, and civic responsibility.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Tara Chklovski and Technovation 01:00 - Tara’s origin story: From India to aerospace engineering 03:15 - The mission to unlock human potential through STEM 04:20 - Breaking down the Technovation accelerator model 07:15 - Why educators should be early adopters of new tech 10:45 - Addressing the gender gap in technical careers 15:30 - The "AI in Action" curriculum and free resources 21:30 - How AI elevates project-based learning in classrooms 24:30 - The three functions of modern schools 31:00 - Concerns regarding "personalized learning" bandwagons 35:45 - A call to action for the current Technovation season

Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts—you don’t want to miss conversations like this one. To learn more about the program or access the free curriculum, visit technovation.org.

In a world of constant digital inundation, attention has become the new "scarce water in the desert". This episode explores how to reclaim that focus by looking at the intersection of high-stakes Hollywood storytelling and the science of optimal experience.

Host Mike Palmer is joined by Steven Puri, founder and CEO of The Sukha Company. Before building tools for deep work, Puri was a senior executive at major motion picture studios, overseeing production on blockbusters like Independence Day and Braveheart, and managing franchises like Die Hard and Wolverine. He shares how the same rigorous focus required to produce massive films can be applied to modern productivity through the concept of Flow—a state popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

The conversation delves into the "tug of war" for our attention, where trillion-dollar companies utilize behavioral psychology to keep us distracted. Puri breaks down actionable strategies to push past "human slop" and rote activity, moving instead toward meaningful "deep work" that survives the rise of generative AI.

Key Insights:

🎬 The Fellowship of Work: Why creators like Roland Emmerich and Steven Spielberg intentionally utilize specific physical environments—from luxury villas to hotel rooms—to trigger the mental states necessary for creativity.

📈 The Chronotype Hack: A simple, free technique for mapping your energy levels using a grid and a pencil to align your most difficult tasks with your brain's peak performance times.

🌊 Flow Conditions: Understanding why meaningful feedback, clear goals, and a balance of challenge and skill are essential for reaching "the zone".

🤖 AI and the Human Domain: Identifying why rote, algorithmic jobs are at risk of being replaced and how to cultivate the high-level strategy and visionary creativity that remains uniquely human.

Don't go to your grave with your best work still inside you. Join us for a deep dive into the habits of high performers and the future of human output. 🚀

Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome to Trending in Education 01:10 From Blockbusters to Startups: Steven Puri's Origin Story 05:15 The Digital Shift: When Hollywood Met Engineering 08:25 Lessons from the Studio: Managing Die Hard and Wolverine 11:00 The Sukha Company: Designing for Happiness and Focus 13:10 The War for Attention vs. Trillion-Dollar Companies 17:45 Defining the Flow State: The Legacy of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 22:50 Deep Work in the Age of Generative AI 28:45 Mental Hacks: The Relationship Between Place and Productivity 31:40 Chronotypes: Aligning Your Biological Clock with Your Career 36:00 Closing Thoughts: Getting the Greatness Out of You

Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve.

K-12 leadership is currently navigating a "perma-crisis". From the lingering disruptions of a global pandemic to the sudden integration of generative AI, the demands on school principals and superintendents have evolved far beyond the traditional focus on "books, butts, and buses". In this episode of Trending in Ed, Mike Palmer sits down with Dr. Lisa Herring, the CEO of New Leaders and a veteran superintendent who led major districts like Atlanta Public Schools and Birmingham City Schools through some of the most turbulent years in recent memory.

Dr. Herring shares her perspective on the "problem of practice" facing education today: the critical need for a leadership pipeline that can bridge the gap between traditional instruction and the rapidly shifting needs of the modern workforce. She discusses the "invisible culture" of leading remote districts, the importance of upskilling educators in the age of AI, and why she believes standardized testing is a relic of the past. This conversation is a call to action for "FIRE"—Fearless Innovation Reimagined Education—challenging leaders to stop being afraid of the future and start co-creating it alongside their students.

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to leadership transformation in K-12 01:03 - Dr. Lisa Herring’s career journey from classroom teacher to CEO 03:52 - The mission and impact of New Leaders in developing school principals 06:17 - Addressing the leadership pipeline and teacher shortage crisis 08:50 - The evolution of the principalship: Moving beyond the "old school" model 10:48 - Leading Atlanta Public Schools through the 2020 pandemic 17:11 - Education as workforce development and the role of upskilling 22:24 - How generative AI is reshaping instruction and administrative work 26:47 - Rethinking school structures and mastery-based learning 28:38 - Rapid-fire takes on standardized testing and the four-day school week 30:37 - Closing thoughts on "FIRE": Fearless Innovation Reimagined Education

Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation like this one.

On this episode of Trending in Ed with Mike Palmer, unlock the secrets of the reading brain and the future of educational technology in this deep dive with Dr. Ola Ozernov-Palchik. A researcher at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education and Human Development and MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Dr. Ola sits at the cutting edge of cognitive neuroscience and the science of reading. 🧠

We explore why 70% of students in the U.S. are not reading proficiently and how early identification of dyslexia—starting as early as kindergarten—can change the trajectory of a child’s life. We also explore the "last infinite mile" of education: the gap between groundbreaking research and actual classroom practice. The devil is in the details.

Dr. Ola shares her journey from evaluating reading curricula to using fMRI and machine learning to predict learning difficulties. We also tackle the massive shift toward AI-driven tutoring and the evidence-based AI movement. Are we rushing into a multi-billion dollar tech bandwagon without proof of what actually works? Ola makes a compelling case for why we must demand rigorous evidence before putting new tools in the hands of students. Learn more about her work launching a Research-Based Accelerator here.📚

Whether you are a parent, educator, or an EdTech founder, this conversation is a must-listen to understand how we can leverage learning science, research, and emerging technology to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss out on a conversation like this one. 🔔

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Introduction to Dr. Ola Ozernov-Palchik 1:11 - Journey from Philosophy to Reading Research 2:22 - Looking "Under the Hood": Transitioning to Neuroscience 3:33 - How the Brain Learns to Read and the Reality of Neuroplasticity 4:42 - Pivoting to Online Research and Global Scalability 6:45 - The Power of Peer Tutoring and Data-Driven Support 8:33 - The Science of Reading and the Implementation Gap 10:46 - Early Identification: Screening for Dyslexia in Kindergarten 13:59 - Breaking Down Phonological Awareness vs. Comprehension 19:11 - Explicit Instruction: Why Reading Isn't a Natural Process 22:25 - Debunking Myths: Strength-Based Approaches vs. Literacy Support 27:32 - AI as the New Frontier: Promise and Pitfalls 31:30 - Building Speech-to-Speech Avatars for Early Learners 35:34 - The Evidence Crisis in Educational Technology 39:35 - BU’s Evidence-Based AI for Learning Initiative 44:12 - The Future of Literacy and Policy Guardrails 46:31 - Final Thoughts: Advocating for Science in Education

In this episode of Trending in Education, Mike Palmer welcomes Andrew Sliwinski, Global Head of Product Experience for LEGO Education, on the day of a major product launch. Together, they explore the intersection of physical play and artificial intelligence, revealing how LEGO is redefining AI literacy for the next generation.

Andrew shares his winding career path from tutoring in Detroit to directing Scratch at MIT and serving on the board of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The conversation dives into LEGO Education’s new Computer Science and AI curriculum, a hands-on, privacy-first platform designed for students from kindergarten through eighth grade. 🧱

They discuss moving beyond screen-based learning to collaborative, physical experiences—like building a dancing robot owl to understand machine learning. Andrew explains why we should stop teaching kids to just tread water with AI tools and start helping them understand the "black box" through first principles like data, probability, and bias. 🤖

Whether you are an educator or a parent, this episode offers a unique look at how "learning through play" prepares children to be the architects of the future. 🎓

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Introduction: A Big Day for LEGO Education 1:15 - Andrew’s Journey: From Detroit Classrooms to MIT Scratch 2:55 - The Legacy of Mindstorms and the Genesis of AI at LEGO 4:45 - Launching the New K-8 Computer Science & AI Curriculum 6:10 - Learning Through Play: Only the Best is Good Enough 9:15 - Shifting AI Literacy from "Use" to "Understanding" 11:40 - Collaboration vs. "Maze Solvers": The Power of Hands-On Teams 14:30 - Children as Role Models: Learning from the Next Generation 17:30 - Vocational vs. Defensive Perspectives on AI Education 22:15 - Passing the "Substitute Teacher Test" 24:00 - Dancing Owls & Machine Learning: Cool Things You Can Build 25:50 - Screen-Free Tech: Starting AI Concepts in Kindergarten 29:20 - Solving the Privacy Puzzle: Local Data & No Accounts 36:30 - Durable Skills: Data, Statistics, and Probability 39:30 - Closing Thoughts: Handing Kids a Screwdriver for the Black Box

Stay ahead of the curve in education! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode of Trending in Ed. 🔔

Paul Fain, the founder of Work Shift and author of The Job newsletter, returns to Trending in Education for a look at the state of workforce development in 2026. He describes a challenging environment for early-career professionals where emerging technologies are driving significant shifts in hiring and job stability. While four-year degree holders often dominate the media discourse, Paul emphasizes the critical need to report on non-degree workers, particularly those in clerical and administrative roles who face high risks from automation.

The episode also explores the rise of "Generation Tool Belt", characterized by a growing interest in skilled trades as young people seek paths that feel more insulated from the knowledge-economy's disruption. This surge in interest has led to waiting lists for community college trade programs, highlighting the importance of reinvesting in this often-overlooked localized infrastructure. In healthcare, the discussion focuses on the frontline workforce, such as certified nursing assistants, and the systemic challenges involved in providing these workers with clear career pathing and opportunities for growth.

Looking forward into the 2026 midterm cycle, the conversation touches on high-stakes experiments like Bloomberg Philanthropies' healthcare high schools and the potential expansion of federal Pell Grants to cover short-term credentials. We also examine how massive federal investments in defense and infrastructure might be leveraged to expand job training across the country. Ultimately, we hit on the dignity of work as a rare point of bipartisan priority and the potential to reframe job training as essential infrastructure for economic development.

Don't miss this deep dive into shifts in workforce development with the journalist with his finger on the pulse in the transformations in the sector.

Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction to Paul Fain and the origin of Work Shift.

How do we prepare Gen Z for a workforce being reshaped by Artificial Intelligence? Recorded live from the National Youth Apprenticeship Summit in Alexandria, Virginia, this episode explores the "Wild West" of the modern innovation economy and the vital role of youth apprenticeships in building future-ready career pathways.

This special episode is made possible by our sponsors: CareerWise, a leader in high-quality modern youth apprenticeship systems, and PAYA (Partnership for the Advancement of Youth Apprenticeship), a collaborative initiative assisting partners in developing robust apprenticeship programs across the U.S..

Host Mike Palmer is joined by three experts to discuss the intersection of emerging technology, educational equity, and early career development:

Shalin Jyotishi, Managing Director of the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America, explains how technology drives long-term economic growth and why strengthening the link between tech-based growth and economic security is essential.

Gina Worthy, owner of Worthey Solutions International, provides deep insights into Gen Z—the "AI native" generation—and their unique needs for purpose-driven work and multi-generational interaction.

Steve Jurch, lead of the Center for Policy and Practice at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), highlights community colleges as an "innovation engine" that can rapidly respond to local industry needs and the AI revolution.

Key Takeaways:

AI Native vs. AI Fluent: Understanding how Gen Z's lifelong relationship with technology shifts their expectations of employers.

The Experience Gap: How AI is changing entry-level work and why work-based learning is more critical than ever to bridge the gap between education and employment.

Community Colleges as Catalysts: Why these institutions are becoming the primary choice for workforce development and short-term credentials in the innovation economy.

The Future of Youth Apprenticeships: Exploring how these programs combine high school dual enrollment with structured apprenticeship to provide early career awareness and skill development.

As we enter the AI "wild west," youth apprenticeships offer a vital bridge to purposeful, innovation-driven careers.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

4:00 Gen Z & Purpose

8:00 Innovation Economy

14:00 Community College Role

35:00 Audience Q&A

In this episode, host Mike Palmer welcomes back Dr. Eddie Watson to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of AI in higher education. Following the release of the second edition of his book, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, Eddie shares insights from working with nearly 200 campus teams on transitioning from AI-resistant assignments to AI-integrated pedagogy. Here's the link to Eddie's first appearance.

Key Takeaways:

Beyond Academic Integrity: While cheating remains a concern, the conversation is shifting toward AI literacy as an essential learning outcome to prepare students for an AI-integrated workforce.

The "Calculus" of Cheating: In high-stakes environments, students often feel a competitive disadvantage if they don't use AI.

Pedagogical Transparency: If faculty ban AI for specific assignments, they must explain the "why" (e.g., building foundational skills) to encourage student compliance

Backward Design: Eddie advocates for starting with the desired learning outcome and engineering assignments and instruction from there.

Learning to Write vs. Writing to Learn: AI’s role should differ based on whether the goal is mastering writing mechanics or using writing to process course content.

Durable Skills: While technical skills like prompt engineering may change quickly, mindsets like metacognition and critical thinking remain essential.

"Ground Truth" Bots: Using tools like NotebookLM or Small Language Models (SLMs) allows students to interrogate specific, vetted data sets like OER textbooks.

Efficiency vs Engagement: The episode concludes with a look at the "Efficiency vs. Engagement" binary. While institutions may use AI to automate grading and increase class sizes, the real opportunity lies in reinvesting saved time into "signature pedagogies"—mentoring and fostering a sense of student belonging, which are the greatest predictors of student success.

Quotes:

"The one who does the work is the one who does the learning. How do we make sure our students are doing the work, because that's where the learning occurs?" — Eddie Watson

Time Stamps:

00:00 - Introduction & Welcome Back

00:55 - The Innovation Cycle: Second Edition of "Teaching with AI"

01:41 - Eddie Watson’s Background & Role at AAC&U

03:32 - The Shift: From Academic Integrity to the World of Work

05:10 - Complexity of Academic Integrity & Student Pressures

07:42 - Evolving Assessment Strategies & Motivation to Cheat

10:55 - Backward Design: Aligning AI with Learning Outcomes

12:54 - Writing to Learn vs. Learning to Write

14:43 - Agentic AI & Modernizing Assessments

18:50 - Creating "AI-Resistant" vs. AI-Transparent Assignments

24:43 - Developing a Meta AI Literacy Model

28:00 - Durable Skills: Metacognition & Managing AI

33:50 - Custom Chatbots, SLMs, and Ground Truths

46:40 - The Future: Efficiency vs. Engagement

49:00 - The Human Element: Mentorship & Student Belonging

51:00 - Closing Remarks

Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an insight-filled conversation like this one.

In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with Sunanna Chand, Executive Director of the Reinvention Lab at Teach For America (TFA). As the leader of TFA’s future-of-learning R&D engine, Chand is tasked with a formidable challenge: bridging the gap between a 19th-century education system and the demands of the 21st-century world.

The conversation explores the Lab’s "Radical Departures" framework, a mental model designed to shift the paradigm of how we define the why, what, where, and how of learning. Chand challenges the false dichotomy between academic rigor and student engagement, arguing for a "both/and" approach that prioritizes community achievement over individualized test scores. From exploring "credit flexibility" policies that allow students to learn outside school walls to reimagining the role of the educator in an AI-driven landscape, Chand offers a hopeful vision for a profession rooted in human connection and the "care economy".

Key Takeaways

Moving Beyond the "Banking Theory": Why the traditional model of a teacher delivering information to passive students is insufficient for a world where information is ubiquitous.

Reimagining Chronic Absenteeism: How "present to learning by being absent from school" models allow students to gain graduation credit for interests pursued in their communities.

The AI-Proof Profession: Why teaching remains a "smart bet" for the next generation, as neurobiological learning depends on human belonging and relational intelligence.

The Educator as Orchestrator: A vision for the future where educators manage ecosystems of human support and AI agents rather than just delivering a curriculum.

Why You Should Listen:

If you are concerned about the current state of teacher burnout and student disengagement, this episode provides more than just a critique; it offers a roadmap for structural change. Sunanna Chand explains how the Reinvention Lab uses research and development to find the "future educator" and why the most valuable skills in an automated world—judgment, ethics, and care—are precisely those honed in the classroom. It is a deep dive into how we can use technology to reinvent rather than merely optimize an outdated system.

Subscribe to ⁠Trending in Education⁠ wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve on the future of learning.

Time Stamps

00:00 - Intro and Sunanna’s background in Cleveland and Pittsburgh

05:45 - The Mission of the Reinvention Lab at Teach For America

07:55 - Radical Departures: Redefining the "Why" and "What" of learning

12:45 - Credit Flexibility: Learning outside the four walls of the classroom 15:35 - Breaking the false dichotomy of rigor vs. relevance

19:40 - The "With Whom": Reimagining the role of the educator in the age of AI

24:30 - Why teaching is a smart career bet for Gen Z

27:45 - Combatting burnout through human connection and "Ignite" tutoring

31:45 - Closing thoughts: Building an ecosystem of reinvention