50 Stories About the #FutureofLearning

We had a great year of conversations with passionate education leaders. We observed hundreds of schools and systems.

School, System and Network Leaders

Our first podcast of the year was a field trip to High Tech High where we talked to founder Larry Rosenstock and Kaleb Rashad, now head of the graduate school. They made an inspiring case for community-connected projects.

In October we spoke with Loudoun County superintendent Eric Williams about their remarkable mission of “Empowering all students to make meaningful contributions to the world.”

• Larry Rosenstock & Kaleb Rashad on Making the City the Text at High Tech High
• Eric Williams on Empowering Students to Make a Contribution (Loudoun County)
• Rebecca Midles on Mobilizing Change to Meet Learners Where They Are
• Michael Hinojosa on Making Dallas Schools Work
• Richard Barth on Building A National School Brand (KIPP)
• Andrew Frishman: Big Picture Learning Connects Students to Internships Through ImBlaze
• Scott Looney on Growing the Mastery Transcript Consortium
• Dan Condon on Eagle Rock School and PD Center
• Virginia Superintendent James Lane on Unleashing Innovation

Book Reviews

We published 10 book reviews and previewed our upcoming book. Ron Berger talked about his new sequel to The Leaders of Their Own Learning and why the EL character framework has “contribute to a better world” at its core. On the scary front, Greg Smith reviewed seven eye-opening climate change publications.

• Ron Berger on Helping Students Become Leaders of their Own Learning
• Greg Smith on Climate Collapse
• Diane Tavenner on What Kids Need for a Fulfilled Life
• Dr. Scott McLeod on Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning
• Esther Wojcicki on Raising Successful People
• Dr. Robert Dillon on Designing Learning Spaces
• Jal Mehta on Provoking Deeper Learning in High School
• Jared Cooney-Horvath on Cognitive Neuroscience
• Exploring Inquiry with Kimberly Mitchell
• Becoming Fearless with Jean Case
• 5 Reasons High Schools Should Help Young People Find and Make Their Unique Contribution (a preview of our upcoming book)

HigherEd Leaders

We spoke with eight higher education leaders:

• Michael Horn on Choosing College
• Connie Yowell & Paul LeBlanc on Extending Access to Higher Ed from Chicago to Rwanda (Southern New Hampshire University)
• Paul Johnson on Preparing Engineers for Impact (Colorado School of Mines)
• Kelly Conn & Cherese Childers-McKee on Rethinking Educator Preparation: Experiential, Connected, Applied (Northeastern University)
• Exposing Engineering to Underrepresented Groups with Dr. Amon Millner
• James Tracy on Reinventing Educator Preparation (Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Teaching & Learning)

On the Future

We had two stimulating conversations with education futurists and got a Tomolog on inherited problems and one on 20 trends.

• Pavel Luksha on Educating for Purpose, Potential, and the Planet
• Katherine Prince on Navigating the Future of Learning
• We Inherited a Factory but We Need a Design Studio (and 9 Other Problems)
• 20 Trends in 20 Minutes

Advocates

We spoke with 16 advocates this year. Equity and opportunity were the big themes.

• Susan Patrick on Transforming Education Systems for Equitable High-Quality Learning (Aurora Institute)
• Abby Falik on the Benefits of Global Service (Global Citizen Year)
• Pamela Cantor, M.D. on Childhood Development (Turnaround for Children)
• Don Wettrick on Teaching Entrepreneurship (StartEdUp Foundation)
• Elisa Villanueva-Beard on Teacher Leadership (Teach for America)
• Vince Bertram on Transformative Learning Experiences (PLTW)
• Francisco Guajardo on the Language of Place (UTRGV)
• Nick Donohue on Promoting Racial Equity & Fighting Personal, Institutional and Structural Racism (Nellie Mae Foundation)
• Tara Chklovski on Using Artificial Intelligence to Solve Problems in Communities
• Randy Fielding on Learning Environments for the Future (Fielding Nair)
• Hanna Skandera on Embracing the Tension Between Basic Skills and Work Readiness Skills
• Hank Stratton and Ted Kraus on the Importance of the Performing Arts (Arizona University)
• Iveta Brigis on Talent Development (former Googler now lecturing at University of Michigan)
• Learner-Centered Iowa BIG Propels Jemar Lee
• Danish Kurani on Transforming Spaces to Inspire Powerful Learning
• Tim Taylor: Let’s Make Sure America Succeeds in the Age of Agility (America Succeeds)

EdTech Leaders

We spoke with a half a dozen EdTech leaders this year:

• Jessie Woolley-Wilson on Intelligent Ed Tech
• Peter Janzow on the Digital Credential Revolution
• Christina Gardner-McCune on AI4K12 Guidelines and Getting Students Passionate about Computer Science
• Tech Tips, Podcasting and Computer Science with the Tech Squad at Covina High School
• Josh Golomb on Improving Access to Healthcare at School to Reduce Absenteeism
• Jason Lange on How the Micro-Credential Revolution is Transforming Professional Learning

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