EdTech Adventures

• Professional Play with Matt Barinholtz

  Why is it important to make time for play, both with students and with educators? Matt Barinholtz, Founder & CEO of FutureMakers, is passionate about creating playful hands-on learning and encourages educators to find ways to play!FutureMakers' mission is to spark playful hands-on learning focused on educators confidently integrating engineering, tinkering, making, and play in their lessons. In this conversation, Matt describes how he was inspired to found FutureMakers and recognizes that tangible creative experiences, project-based learning, and play are essential tools for learning.Throughout this conversation, Matt shares his thoughts on effective professional learning, active listening, confronting yourself when you say “I never will…”, and learning to let learners lead. He encourages educators to spend time thinking about why am I doing this in the first place? What’s the joy? And where’s the play that got me involved? When reflecting on the future of EdTech, Matt discusses the role of AI and stresses the importance of critical thinking and focusing on how we’re solving critical thinking problems and helping learners develop their own solutions that work and feel the most natural and human.“How are we applying our brilliance and our genius and our joy? Make the experience happen. Make it tangible. Make it project-based. They will always remember it. You’re going to be the person that allows them to explore and tinker and play and they’ll remember you and they’ll first and most importantly remember their joy.” - Matt BarinholtzAbout Our GuestMatt is a maker-educator who builds experiences that connect young makers, educators and youth workers to traditional skills, creative technologies, and serious play. For the past 20 years, Matt has sparked playful hands-on learning in community and educational settings, serving employment readiness initiatives and initiating groundbreaking juvenile justice work. In 2012, Matt founded FutureMakers to increase access to hands-on learning in disinvested PK-8 classrooms in greater Washington, DC. Matt is a Chicagoland native and long-time Baltimore resident and believes small hands with big ideas deserve real tools, opportunities to explore, and coaches who care - in their neighborhoods and schools.

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• Equity-Centered Design with Sheryl Cababa

  Why should we care about equity-centered design in education? What impact does it make? In today’s episode, Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial, shares her experience and advice on how we can practically and effectively design learning experiences with equity in mind.Sheryl shares how she became interested in education and design research and discusses her work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation using design thinking and equity-centered design to inform investment strategies. She discusses some of the key principles to follow when practicing equity-centered design. Her book, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers, explores these concepts with examples from her work in education. In conclusion, Sheryl shares her thoughts on how equity-centered design could impact the future of EdTech and her advice for exploring equity-centered design. She encourages involving students in the design and development process, saying“Engage your students. Empower them to help you design what they’re going to be learning.” - Sheryl CababaRecommended Resources from the InterviewClosing the Loop: Systems Thinking for DesignersAbout Our GuestSheryl Cababa is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Insights, Design + Development Studio, Substantial, and a multi-disciplinary design strategist with more than two decades of experience. Her recent work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation includes leading student voice research to inform the K-12 Balance The Equation Grand Challenge. Her book, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers, was released in early 2023.

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• Teacher Burnout with Francie Alexander

  What do educators need to battle burnout? How do they feel about AI in the classroom? Francie Alexander, SVP of Research at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, shares key takeaways from HMH’s 9th annual Educator Confidence Report.Recommended Resources from the InterviewHMH's 2023 Educator Confidence ReportWritableAbout Our GuestFrancie Alexander is the SVP of Research at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, also known as HMH, where she works closely with districts across the country to lead HMH's efficacy efforts and provide inspirational and informative leadership on topics from early and adolescent learning to brain development and its influence on childhood and teenage learning. Prior to her time at HMH, Francie served as Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic, member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees what’s widely known as "The Nation's Report Card," and in key positions in both state and federal education agencies. Francie's work is grounded in the classroom, having taught students from kindergarten to college.

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• Multifaceted Representation with Louisa Kiwana Olafuyi

  Do you see yourself in the stories you read? Are your beliefs, culture, and traditions embraced? Do you see heroes that look like you? In this episode, Louisa Kiwana Olafuyi, Co-Founder of Kunda Kids, shares how she practices multifaceted representation and her mission to inspire children around the world with inclusive stories that celebrate diverse cultures - particularly African heritage.Kunda Kids is an award-winning, Black-owned children's publishing, EdTech, and media company whose mission is to expose children to diverse and inclusive stories that make them feel represented and teach them about other people and places. In this conversation, Louisa describes how she was inspired to found Kunda Kids and recognizes that stories open windows to the world's vibrant cultures. In particular, it’s how children learn about things, places, and people outside of their everyday lives.Storytelling is at the heart of Kunda Kids, which has evolved beyond Kunda Kids Children’s Books to also include the Kunda Kids App and Kunda & Friends Animated Series. Louisa shares the learning that people want to be able to experience stories on the go and at home and at school and also recognizes how important storytelling is in terms of passing down stories about our culture and ourselves. Louisa recalls the impactful message of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the TED talk The danger of a single story | TED. Throughout this conversation, Louisa discusses strategies for expanding representation and shares her advice for increasing multifaceted representation in education and EdTech.Recommended Resources from the InterviewChimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TEDKunda KidsAbout Our GuestLouisa Kiwana Olafuyi is an award-winning storyteller and Co-Founder of Kunda Kids, a children's EdTech and Media company on a mission to inspire children around the world with inclusive stories that teach them about African culture and heritage.

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• Unstructured Play with Tanner Higgin

  What makes a successful unstructured play experience and how can unstructured play impact the future of EdTech? In today’s episode, Tanner Higgin shares how unstructured play can be integrated into education and EdTech.Play is a powerful force for learning and unstructured play is a type of play that gives players a system of tools that they can use to create their own experiences. Tanner sees play as research and describes some of the key factors that make a successful unstructured play experience including exploration, surprise, and social negotiation. The key aspects of unstructured play are freedom and choice, and more specifically non-trivial choice where the choice a player is given impacts the play in very significant ways and allows for opportunities to restructure the very play experience itself.Throughout this conversation, Tanner shares examples of unstructured play in EdTech and media platforms, his thoughts on how unstructured play could impact the future of EdTech, and his advice for incorporating unstructured play saying:“I think that's what we have to strive for when we're doing unstructured play in learning environments is giving students the feeling that they're making a play experience their own, and that it can evolve democratically, right? That there is a freedom of choice that is either determined by yourself alone or with a group of people you're playing with. That to me is really the ultimate essence of it.”Recommended Resources from the InterviewMetamorphabetLittle AlchemyTinyBopWalden, a gameAbout Our GuestTanner Higgin has nearly 20 years of experience in education, first as a teacher and researcher and later as a learning designer and editorial director. At GameDesk, he helped to create the PlayMaker School and its curriculum; at Common Sense Media, he led the editorial team that rated and reviewed over 4,000 EdTech products. He’s now the Principal Consultant at Dune Shift, where he helps EdTech startups and companies make more meaningful and effective content and learning experiences.

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