Our guest for this episode is Sarah Luchs of NGLC, Next Generation Learning Challenges. NGLC is a challenge grant strategy initiative of Educause, dedicated to accelerating educational innovation through applied technology and improving college readiness in students across the United States. Sarah provides an overview of some of the exciting work that their grant recipients are doing to advance personalized learning through the use of technology.

This episode of our podcast is the first in our series examining course choice programs across a number of states who have implemented such a practice in recent years. These programs aim to give students access to a wider variety of learning options through online course offerings. In discussing the details of these initiatives with people responsible for their oversight or implementation, we hope to learn more about the challenges and benefits that arise from them, as well as be able to identify some common or divergent themes across the state.

In this episode, we talk with Kate Loughrey, who is the statewide Texas Virtual School Network Coordinator. Kate gives us a very detailed picture of the ins and outs of the Texas course choice program, and we talk a little about the work that still lies ahead for the program to realize its full potential.

In this episode, we’re talking with Tom Driscoll, a high school social studies teacher and instructional technology consultant based in Connecticut. Tom is on a mission to better and more efficiently serve his students through the use of flipped learning and competency-based education practices. The combination of these two strategies has come to be known as “flipped mastery”, and it’s clear that Tom sees this methodology as a way for him to innovate and fundamentally change his interactions with students. Tom discusses the unique challenges that are presented when trying to implement such a bold and innovative initiative, and touches on the rewards of overcoming those challenges.

In this episode, we talk with Christine Fox, the Director of Educational Leadership and Research for SETDA. Christine and her team face a lot of challenges in a constantly changing setting, as the policy landscape is always shifting in each state where her member constituents reside. Being able to support their diverse needs is a big priority for SETDA. On the research side, she works closely with the state leader membership as well as district leaders for large data collection efforts and to find out what sorts of needs administrators and practitioners are facing in the area of technology. You can find the Guide to Implementing Digital Learning, which we talk about briefly in the interview, at http://digitallearning.setda.org/

In this episode, we chat with with Jeff Renard, Director of Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative. We gained quite a bit of insight as to how virtual learning is structured in Vermont public schools, and heard about some of the unique challenges that VTVLC faces given the small size and rural nature of many of its schools. Jeff also shares about some of the other initiatives of the VTVLC including its focus on professional development through workshops and its annual conference.

In this episode, we chat with Cathy Cavanaugh, Director of Teaching and Learning at Microsoft Worldwide Education. Dr. Cavanaugh provides us with a glimpse of some of the exciting research that’s being done at Microsoft, including the examination of leaders and leadership traits in the education world, as well as the advancements in data analysis that are empowering everyone from practitioners to policymakers when it comes to education.

Our guest is Michelle Licata, Global Curriculum Coordinator for FLVS Global. Michelle’s work is focused upon engaging educators and administrators in training and conversations about appropriate use of digital technologies to meet specific learning goals. She shares with us her touching and personal story of how she came to work in this field and how providing equal opportunity and care to all students drives her work.

In this episode, we chat with Aubrey Francisco, Director of Research at Digital Promise. Digital Promise is involved in a number of different projects aimed at improving the opportunity to learn for all Americans, children and adults, through technology and research. Their initiatives are designed to empower educators to use technology to personalize learning, inform developers with key education research findings, and help researchers produce results that are readily accessible and consumable for all along the education spectrum. Aubrey was kind enough to sit down with us to talk about a number of Digital Promise initiatives and share her vision on where educational innovation through technology can lead us. With that, let’s dive right into the interview.

We sit down with Christina Jean, Innovation and Blended Learning Specialist with the Colorado Department of Education’s Office of Blended and Online Learning. The work of the office involves supporting the responsible growth of online and blended learning throughout the state by providing pertinent information and data to various schools, programs, students, parents and other stakeholders, helping them shape policy and practice. Christina was kind enough to sit down with us and talk about some the systemic shifts that she is witnessing in her state in regard to personalized learning and competency-based education.

We sit down with Shawn Rubin, the Director of Blended Learning for the Highlander Institute, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit organization providing professional development and other educational services across a variety of areas. Shawn has a wealth of experience in integrating technology into instruction and harnessing its capabilities to do a better and smarter job of educating students.