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Category: Podcasts

BRIGHT: The Beautifully Unclear Future of Educational Technology (feat. Sarah Wood from Kent ISD)
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Nikki Herta

The beautifully unclear future of educational technology

Meet Sarah Wood, an educational technology consultant for Kent Intermediate School District, who shares her reflections on the recent history, current state, and beautifully unclear future of technology in the classroom.

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Nikki Herta

Bringing big ideas to life with design thinking

Meet David Byron, director of innovation strategy at Sundberg-Ferar, a product innovation studio in Walled Lake, who explains how the tried & true process of design thinking can help students and adults alike in solving complicated problems, such as the many and multifaceted issues facing the field of education today.

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Nikki Herta

What’s the Secret to Keeping Students Motivated in Online Learning?

Meet Dr. Chris Harrington, the director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, who shares his reflections on “pandemic teaching,” common misconceptions about online learning, and the findings of his team’s landmark research study on keeping students engaged in virtual learning environments.

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Nikki Herta

Becoming a Voice for the Voiceless

Meet Kyron Harvell, the director of the school culture and climate grant for Lansing School District, who shares his mission of serving as a voice for the voiceless in his school community. In this episode of BRIGHT, we explore how Kyron and his team are cultivating a culture of inclusivity in Lansing centered around equitable access to learning opportunities, culturally responsive practices, social emotional learning, and restorative justice.

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Nikki Herta

The Delightful Power of Music to Make Learning More Engaging

Meet Ben Ashby, a Spanish teacher at Zeeland Public Schools and an online Spanish instructor for Michigan Virtual. In this episode of BRIGHT, we talk about the role music plays in learning, how online teaching has influenced the way he runs his face-to-face classroom and vice versa, and his hopes for education as we look to the future.

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Nikki Herta

Are Grade Levels Getting In The Way of Learning?

Meet Mike Burde, assistant superintendent at Kenowa Hills Public Schools, who shares his vision for a system of schooling that goes beyond “time-based advancement” and instead revolves around personal mastery.

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Nikki Herta

A Forest Most Beautiful

Meet Kelly Tillman, an art educator at Walled Lake Consolidated Schools who teaches a choice-based art classroom and reminds us that — rather than stepping back to see the forest for the trees — it’s often the variation between the trees themselves that makes the forest most beautiful.

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Nikki Herta

It Takes a Village to Educate a Child

Meet Kerry Downs, the executive director of the Flint Community Education Initiative who provides insight into the rich history of community education in Flint, shares her belief that every school should be a community school, and reminds us that teachers alone shouldn’t bear the burden of educating the “whole child.”

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Nikki Herta

The Life-Affirming Role Of Authenticity in Learning

Meet Amos Briscoe, an art educator for the Washtenaw Alliance for Virtual Education (WAVE) who shares his journey going from feeling like an actor on a stage to bringing authenticity front and center in his classroom.

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Nikki Herta

What’s Best for Kids

Meet Tanya Leon, an English teacher at Richards Middle School with a vision for rebuilding a system of schooling that’s personalized at scale.

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Nikki Herta

Valuing vs. Acknowledging Diversity

Meet Joy Taylor, a teaching consultant from WAVE who reminds us that there’s a big difference between ACKNOWLEDGING diversity in education and VALUING it.

Podcasts
The Digital Backpack

Podcast: SEL During a Pandemic with Lauren Kazee

In this episode, we chat with Lauren Kazee about the impact COVID-19 is having on our social and emotional wellness. We discuss what social-emotional learning

Podcasts
The Digital Backpack

Podcast: Engaging with STEM and the Community

 In this episode, we’re joined by Spencer Kiper, a STEM educator and the 2019 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year. We focus our conversation

Podcast with Keith Tramper
Podcasts
The Digital Backpack

Podcast: Digital Well-being

 In this episode, we chat with Keith Tramper about digital wellbeing. We discuss what digital wellbeing is, how it relates to our lives, and

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