Context on K-12’s education’s imperatives from the most connected K12 thought leader in education. Each podcast offers interviews of executives in education or the ed-tech industry, research from the Learning Counsel and the renowned insights of LeiLani Cauthen, who has been helping define this century’s real change to teaching and learning from a deep understanding of our schools and innovations in computing and learning software for over twenty-five years.
As we prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow, math education must evolve to meet their needs. In this podcast, we’ll explore the shifting role of math in our world and discuss how innovative approaches like game-based and visual learning are shaping the future of math education. Discover how neuroscience informs these innovations and engage students, foster critical thinking, and build deep mathematical understanding. Whether you’re looking to improve math outcomes or bring fresh strategies into your district, this conversation will offer valuable insights into selecting the right tools and approaches to ensure your students are ready for tomorrow’s world.
12/5/24 • 36:47
Imagine saving teachers huge amounts of time because they no longer worry about students engaging low-quality information when researching online. Imagine empowering students’ critical thinking skills and reinvigorating their quest for knowledge in every research assignment. Sound like another hyped Gen-AI promise? On this podcast, meet Jeff Walsh of Sooth.FYI as he introduces a big new idea and product. LeiLani and Jeff have an eye-opening conversation about the alarming state of our information ecosystem and how it’s actually moving away from the needs of our classrooms. If we want students to build their critical thinking skills, they need access to the vast corpus of credible and diverse sources of insights and information out there – not AI answer engines. If we want to prepare students for the future, they need to realize there are complex sides to any given issue – not black and white facts easily summed up into two opposing sides. As our digital landscape explodes with ever more content (increasingly created by AI), it’s critical we unburden the work of finding signal within the noise so that teachers and students can get down to the edifying tasks at hand: building critical thinking and fostering the human intellect. Listen to LeiLani and Jeff dive into this critical topic of our time and hear about the novel solution that Sooth.FYI is bringing to classrooms. They discuss AI answer engines, internet search, critical thinking, information literacy, polarization, echo chambers, content paywalls, and much more. Don’t miss it.
11/19/24 • 41:32
Meet authors and educators Dr. Joseph Jones, Superintendent of New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District and Dr. T.J. Vari, Senior Director of Product Strategy at MaiaLearning. While on tour for Learning Counsel media, LeiLani met Joseph and T.J. at the regional Baltimore event and learned of their involvement in teacher retention. Between them, they have written six books and are working on another. Listen in on important points made about the state of play in recruiting and retaining teachers during the epic teacher shortage across America from two folks who have been deeply involved in that work along with another author, Salome Thomas-El. Don’t miss their books” Retention for a Change: Motivate, Inspire, and Energize your School Culture,” “Building a Winning Team,” “Passionate Leadership: Creating a Culture of Success in Every School”, “7 Mindshifts for School Leaders: Finding New Ways to Think About Old Problems”, “Candid and Compassionate Feedback: Transforming Everyday Practice in School”, and “Invest in Your Best.”
11/7/24 • 30:04
Join LeiLani and Dr. Ehsan Kattoula, Assistant Superintendent Accountability Division, Cobb County School District in Georgia for a discussion on “Appropriate Learning Scaffolding Using AI.” Dr. Kattoula makes cogent points on how AI will need to be used in schools, what it’s worth will be to learning, and what he means by “scaffolding” learning. Kattoula’s long-time work as an educator and data scientist helping direct this large district’s student management with data has been some of the most forward-thinking in America. His points are well worth the listen.
9/28/24 • 23:47
LeiLani embarks on a discussion with her friend Karl Rectanus, an edtech entrepreneur and former educator with a history of great innovations in the K12 marketspace. Together they bring up what’s at the top of trends and dynamics in K12, starting with what’s happening with AI. Karl’s perspective on what will happen, what’s new and what educators should pay attention to makes for a refreshing listen.
9/23/24 • 36:17
States like California and Georgia are working on curriculum frameworks that include incorporation of mathematical “Big Ideas.” What are they? Listen in on this podcast with LeiLani and Brandon Smith, the Lead Mathematician and Product Director at MIND Education. The discussion opens about the possibility that mathematics education has been trying to solve the wrong problem in learning, how learning is built, not transferred, and providing insight into the new direction of teaching and learning that could be the watershed moment long hoped for to drive higher achievement.
8/30/24 • 29:32
More teachers should understand that loss of engagement in the present generation of students has serious neuroscience-driven experts hot on the trail of tech solutions that curiously elevate human discourse at the same time. LeiLani interviews Senior Director of Product and Content for MIND Education, Ki Karou, who leads a team of learning and game designers, artists and mathematicians who develop ST Math’s interactive programs. They discuss the importance of talking about math and collective problem solving in classrooms, how this transforms the actual learning experience while engaging students. Listen in as LeiLani and Ki chat about how students chatting about what they notice and what they wonder about in math problems presented as puzzles prompts the learning engagement needed.
8/14/24 • 22:29
Nigel Nisbet, VP of Content Creation at MIND Education joins LeiLani to discuss creative reasoning in the process of learning math. Imagine a mind being able to internally visualize math in a similar way to any other language – such as the mental image picture one gets of a tall tree in all it’s dimension on a landscape and its color and movement in the wind. Such a mind exploring math would have achieved much more than memorizing addition and subtraction tables, for example. This evolution of math learning is particularly important for educators to understand and for learners to have facilitated to arrive at the type of learning that uses curiosity over anxiety, and imagination over arduous mechanics. Nigel and LeiLani elaborate on what’s changed about the world that makes this podcast a must view or listen.
5/31/24 • 41:38
What does it mean to school leaders and teachers to intersect students with what they need to achieve when the existing schedule already overwhelms teachers? When there is no time to catch students up or challenge ones far ahead, something must be done or the likelihood of losing those students to alternatives or dropping out is high. The dawning of change in the structure of schooling includes novel approaches to sourcing tutoring to overcome learning loss, absenteeism, behavioral issues, and expectations of full personalization for every learner. It used to be that easy scheduling was a difficult proposition – but no longer so with AI. In this discussion with Anthony Salcito, Chief Institution Business Officer with Varsity Tutors, Leilani learns about Varsity Tutors and their mission to help schools gain, without compromise, on their objectives by becoming a sourcing hub leveraging some 40,000+ tutors.
5/30/24 • 45:09
Listen in as LeiLani discusses with guest Ki Karou of MIND Education what it means to use game-based learning, visual learning, in helping learners build mental schema and problem-solve. This is a complex topic that Karou is an expert in, being the Lead Mathematician and Product Director at MIND Education. Karou’s application of game theory and rich background in cognitive sciences makes for an excellent conversation on what edtech is doing today to drive true personalization with exploratory learning.
5/6/24 • 34:29
LeiLani discusses how the future is already here – education is, irretrievably, already in an intelligent network matrix but still has much to do to fit comfortably in it. Mike Witzman, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering of Cisco’s U.S. Public Sector team talks about the trend of “form following function”: with LeiLani and the three levels of schooling being part of a new matrix of learning. Witzman includes many comments about the technical side of advancing schools up from devices in the hands of all students, through campus and classroom readiness, and up to the network mesh matrix that intelligently provides access and interchange of teaching, learning and resources across the internet.
4/26/24 • 40:02
What could happen when all the artificial intelligences converge? That’s just part of this conversation between Serena Saks-Mandel, the Global CTO for Education at Microsoft, and LeiLani Cauthen. Starting of with introducing her not-associated-with-Microsoft new book, “Empowered: Frame your Narrative, Own your Power” available now on Amazon. Like in all things from Serena, the stories have high energy and resonance for anyone – a powerful light and lesson is shown in this book to take away from its many mini-stories. In this podcast, after LeiLani brings up Serena’s new book, the conversation naturally turns to the need for educators to see the future is first and foremost going to be a balancing act of becoming more resolutely human, a time of perfecting our human-ness. Four other future-leaning predictions are made in a jumble you need to listen closely to discern – plus seven types of AI including machine learning, generative, recommendations engine, voice, vision, embedded (IOT) and spatial-temporal. Hear what Serena and LeiLani have to say happens when it all comes together.
4/10/24 • 35:08
Maybe math learning could be better if it was in sync with the current generation’s culture – that of Generation Alpha. LeiLani interviews Brandon Smith, the Lead Mathematician and Product Director at MIND Education about how learning-by-doing is a key part of a new cultural address for math learning. While Brandon gives specific examples of what can be done, the discussion also turns to equity in learning and development. Brandon also gives key specific points of what the math learning itself needs to involve – an education in math education!
4/1/24 • 45:29
Culture of security? Listen in on this unique conversation with Helen Patton, the Cyber Security Strategic Advisor from Cisco. The discussion of security in schools is not just about digital citizenship, passwords, and the like, but about leadership. Cyber security in schools is not just a “job for the IT people,” but a sense of morality in individual behavior of all parties because schools are intermingled in many ways with the digital world and not just brick and mortar buildings at every level of their operations. This podcast has lots of information about the types of threats and interesting stories relating to the human side of security.
12/18/23 • 35:33
Listen in on this rousing conversation about the Alpha Generation which is defined as people born 2010-2024 – the current crop of students in K12 schools. Research has shown they prefer the screen to humans, and although older generations find that terrible, it’s a fact that still has a profound impact on how they can be effectively taught and what they expect. Ramifications for technology and teaching are discussed between the host, LeiLani Cauthen and Mary Schlegelmilch, Education Advocate from Cisco who has been an early childhood educator, a middle school science teacher, a district curriculum facilitator, an elementary school principal, and has served as the eLearning Supervisor in charge of online, blended, and distance education for Omaha Public Schools. Multiple aspects of the Alpha Gen are enumerated with comments and observations made by both speakers.
11/2/23 • 35:13
Listen in to our interview with Nigel Nisbet, a rock musician, AP Physics and AP Computer Science teacher who did a tour of duty in an all-girls school, plus a specialist who devotes his time to reaching into the structure and beauty of mathematics and discussing the “science of learning math” from many angles. Nisbet who is currently the VP of Content Creation at MIND Education mentions how teaching modalities have changed and how learning has had to delve into facts of how people learn and the neuroscience of it all. He mentions a lot of the important mechanisms within the subject of math that are being addressed with advanced technology and what it means. LeiLani points out these important things that the software can do that human teachers find difficult such as true personalization for each point of potential student struggle, followed by Nisbet discussing how the “science of” is developed to manage this positively while still involving the teacher for certain particular human interactions to leverage expertise and emotional connection which causes better learning.
10/2/23 • 37:55
What is actionable? What is real engagement? LeiLani discusses these things, and a novel definition of equity with Dan Tracy from MIND Education. Dan’s triple threat as a teacher, coder and trainer, makes this podcast discussion an interesting reveal on how to approach instruction – especially the subject of math.
9/5/23 • 25:30
A discussion with Ki Karou about the challenges of teaching today. Karou introduces five areas that the science of learning has identified as key to students’ doing – and how those are aids to accelerating learning, including the awesome capability of helping learners potentially jump through multiple grades to catch up in little time. Listen in to learn about things the neuroscience has uncovered including “self belief,” “schema building,” and more. Ki Karou is the Senior Director of Product Content at MIND Education, where he leads a team of learning and game designers, artists and mathematicians. Ki has been designing neuroscience-driven ed tech solutions for over a decade and is widely published and a top speaker in the edtech industry.
7/29/23 • 26:29
LeiLani interviews Justin Jordan, a former educator and Senior Product Manager at Cisco about the definitions of AI, how AI has permutated into many aspects of technology and what we need to be responsible for as we humans brave the new world where AI is in everything. Also find out things about Cisco and AI you might not have known by listening and learning.
6/20/23 • 23:10
Listen in as LeiLani discusses how we should be responding to AI in education with long-time friend and esteemed colleague in the field, Roland Antoine, Innovative Projects Manager at Dallas ISD in Texas. Roland introduces the idea that the problem is the “problems definition” and that we must proceed to use AI against clearly defined problems, and that AI should be able to act like a GPS of content for students. Both agree AI will not replace teachers but that we are in an age of applying a new wave of creativity in the same way humans applied it in the transition from the farming Agrarian Age to the Industrial Age and into the Technology Age. At each turning point, more horizons opened. Hear what’s next that AI will bring to education that will also change how space and time is used.
6/20/23 • 40:41
Fear of the “fiscal cliff” and what to spend remaining ESSER funds on is a hot topic in schools. Listen in as Leilani discusses the topic with Jon Hummell, Director of State Initiatives at Lexia Learning. Productive use of the money may not be what you think.
5/29/23 • 35:21
Listen in as LeiLani chats with Maurice Draggon, Sr. Director of Digital Learning at Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida. First they discuss the implications of AI in schools and then the emerging time and space AI known as Intelligent Calendaring for its possibilities and then the combination of both new technologies for “uberizing” learning. Along the way, comments about what AI will not do and the human teacher intersecting live with students more efficiently makes for an interesting conversation you don’t want to miss.
5/10/23 • 37:17
Listen in as LeiLani discusses the problems of shrinking school IT teams and three imperatives with Mary Schlegelmilch, who as a former educator has extensive knowledge in distance learning and online learning as a member of the Cisco Education team. Discover how the three imperatives are a “team sport” of administrative, teacher and even bus driver activity.
4/10/23 • 30:58
Listen in as LeiLani learns a thing or two about the what the science of reading really is from Carey Sweet, National Senior Education Advisor Education Partnerships at Lexia Learning. While reading may be thousands of years old, the science of it has evolved over time. Good literacy instruction has elements and components – and deliberate practice. For certain the wars over reading instruction are getting an infusion of research and new approaches that are worth finding out about.
4/3/23 • 18:47
In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, your host, Learning Counsel News Media and Research CEO LeiLani Cauthen, talks with Dr. Suzanne Carreker, Principal Educational Content Lead at Lexia Learning. Today’s topic: contrasting dyslexia and developmental language disorder and understanding the differences between the two.
3/16/23 • 40:49
In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, your host, Learning Counsel News Media and Research CEO LeiLani Cauthen, talks with Nicholas Feroce, Ph.D., Research Scientist at Lexia Learning about research design in the area of emergent bilinguals, and program causality to effect notable gains among that population.
1/23/23 • 24:20
In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, your host, Learning Counsel News Media and Research CEO LeiLani Cauthen, talks with Mary Schlegelmilch, Education Advocate at Cisco. They discuss the changes in K-12 education, and how the pandemic changed culture and mindset, and brought cybersecurity in education to another dimension.
1/4/23 • 31:31
In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Twana Young, Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction for Mind Research Institute. In addition to access, Young explains that there's also agency and power and identity and belonging, and those are all part of the different dimensions of equity, especially around mathematics. As Mind Research Institute builds out content and curriculum, they are thinking about the opportunities for agency, and who has the power. It is a fascinating look at equity through a different lens.
11/28/22 • 21:15
In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Nigel Nisbet, Vice President of Content Creation at the MIND Research Institute. Nisbet shifts the question from ‘How should I teach,' to ‘How do they learn?’ It’s a profound difference which helps you to focus on optimal learning methodologies, and to gain an understanding of the Science of Math.
11/15/22 • 25:43
Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Jay Flores, Global STEM Ambassador, and founder of Invent the Change. “If our youth aren't loving math, or at least somewhat excited by it and challenged by it in positive ways, then they're going to have trouble with those problem-solving skills and navigating through ordinary life in the future,” said Flores. This is a fascinating look at the value of mathematics and STEM in the world of Emergent Bilinguals.
11/7/22 • 35:45
