EdTech Adventures: Recent Episodes
CodeCombat
Welcome to EdTech Adventures. Join us as we explore the role of technology, STEM, and creative play in education. With expert guests, we’ll discover how learning is always an adventure.
Trigger Warning // death
Please note that about 5 minutes into this conversation, Joshua describes his childhood experiences which includes mention of a friend’s death.
Whether you're 12 years old or a high school student, it’s never too early to start preparing for college. In this episode, Joshua Samuel, CEO & Founder of Coins For College, shares how he’s found a way to convert a student’s day-to-day school activities into scholarship incentives.
Coins For College empowers education through community, helping prepare students for college academically, financially, and most importantly, mentally. Joshua was inspired to found Coins For College (CFC) because of his childhood experiences seeking a pathway to college and the barriers he faced. The CFC platform is a new way for K-12 parents to access college funding by partnering with local businesses that purchase sponsorships on the platform. One of the core aspects of the platform is the student financial dashboard, which tells a story of a student’s achievements from kindergarten to 12th grade, helping colleges award scholarships more effectively. Students using the CFC platform earn rewards by maintaining daily attendance and completing assessments for example. The platform was created with four key pillars in mind: attendance, assessments, educational resources, and extracurricular activities. Joshua believes that by adhering to these four activities consistently and diligently, a student can get into any college of their choice, saying:
“That's what the Coins For College platform does. We expose you beyond the limitations of your demographics and give you a trajectory to get into any college of your choice.” - Joshua Samuel
About Our Guest
Joshua Samuel is the innovative CEO and Founder of Coins For College and Intuition Exchange. Leveraging his expertise in blockchain technology and his passion for education, Joshua has crafted unique platforms that reward academic achievement and foster community engagement. His vision and commitment to driving educational growth and accessibility continue to shape his journey, establishing him as a transformative figure in the realm of EdTech.
Online learning is becoming increasingly popular and offers many benefits to learners. With online learning, the sky’s the limit - students can learn anytime, anywhere. In this episode, Ami Dave-Patel, discusses online learning and combining the power of gameplay and personalized instruction for long-term student success.
As a seasoned Online Instruction Manager for CodeCombat Live Online Classes, Ami is driven by a passion for inspiring young minds to explore the world of programming through a gamified approach. She leads a dedicated team of instructors from around the globe, fostering a collaborative environment to deliver best-in-class learning experiences. As part of training teachers to teach online, Ami encourages instructors to build a connection and establish trust with their students. She discusses the importance of empathy and the 5 C's: connection, critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, and collaboration. She recognizes that her team of global instructors bring a wealth of culture to online classes and their diverse perspectives empower students to think differently and expand their horizons. Furthermore, Ami shares her thoughts on how online learning can be integrated into formal school programs and how it could transform EdTech and the field of education. Ami firmly believes in the power of imagination, education, and the transformative impact of technology. With a genuine enthusiasm for teaching and an unwavering commitment to student success, Ami strives to create a dynamic and engaging learning environment where young learners can flourish and unleash their full potential.
“To inspire children/students around the globe to be more than they thought they could be.” - Ami Dave-Patel
Recommended Resources from the Interview
Schedule a Free Live Online Class: https://codecombat.com/parents
About Our Guest
Ami Dave-Patel is a mom, wife, and entrepreneur. She is originally from India and has called America her home for the past 22 years. Ami is also a south asian community leader who is connecting youth with ancient cultures and encourages learning through human connection and various languages, arts, and yoga. She holds Masters in business administration along with sustainability and computer science. Ami has worked in various industries including: Health Care, Advertising and Marketing, Information Technology, and EdTech over the course of the past two decades. Ami is a founding educator for online classes at CodeCombat. Currently she serves as an Online Instruction Manager at CodeCombat and oversees online classes, which includes hiring and training instructors.
Career Technical Education (CTE) prepares students to become lifelong learners and provides them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their future careers. In this episode, Pat Keeney, CTE Champion at McGraw Hill, shares his experience in the world of Career Technical Education and how this field can help students transform their interests into viable careers.
In this conversation, Pat discusses his definition of CTE and its significance in preparing students for their future careers. Through a hands-on approach to education, CTE programs provide hands-on learning for real-world success, enabling students to gain valuable experience that goes beyond the classroom. For example, career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) like SkillsUSA and Future Farmers of America (FFA) provide experiences that allow students to practice what they're learning in the classroom. Beyond technical skills, CTE emphasizes the development of soft skills like communication and collaboration, which are essential to success in professional environments. Furthermore, there are CTE programs to support a variety of interests, preparing students to be lifelong learners. By tailoring programs to passions, students are more likely to find success in their chosen careers. Pat also discusses some of the common misconceptions about CTE and how CTE could impact the future of EdTech.
“Career education is, it's really the sum of all of the experiences that contribute to you being of value in the workplace and to you creating a workplace that's of value to you.” - Pat Keeney
Recommended Resources from the Interview
McGraw Hill’s CTE Curriculum
SkillsUSA
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
How can we make education affordable for more students? Can we transform the admissions process to increase enrollment? What are some ways that we can unlock financial support for students? Alyse Maslonik, CEO & Founder of RedefinED Advisors LLC, is on a mission to improve the educational system for children in need by leveraging technology to help underserved students find the education they deserve.
Alyse understands first-hand the impact that private education can have on a child’s life and the barriers that can prevent students from seeking these opportunities. She created RedefinED Advisors as a way to give back to schools by helping them unlock financial support for students and have an impact in their communities. In this conversation, Alyse shares her thoughts on the importance of equity in education and recommends this report by the NCEA. She discusses how technology can support equity in education and how educational experiences can have a life-changing impact, saying
“We always say that's what my company was founded on…the belief that a simple act of kindness from a stranger can really transcend generations, changing the course for entire families across multiple decades. And that's what that teacher did for me.” - Alyse Maslonik
Recommended Resources from the Interview
The Catholic School Choice: Understanding the Perspectives of Parents and Opportunities for More Engagement
About Our Guest
Alyse’s underprivileged childhood inspired her path to improve the educational system for children in need. She understands the significance education has in the ability to stop cycles of generational poverty – and has eliminated the gap between less fortunate children and accessible education. RedefinED Advisors offers strategic development for non-public and private schools to help schools grow funding for financial aid, scholarships, and enrollments. RedefinED Advisors is in the top 3% of women-owned businesses in revenue and has gone from $1,500 in monthly revenue to more than $1 million in less than 1 year.
In today’s technology landscape, how can we build tools that help students master their literacy skills? Literacy is more than just reading and writing. It is using reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in understanding and communicating with the world around us. In this episode, Matthew Mugo Fields, President of Heinemann, explains how he has used innovative EdTech techniques to support literacy and learning.
As an educator, entrepreneur, and executive, Matthew Mugo Fields is committed to improving learning through technology and innovation and has devoted his career to transforming education to ensure that academic success is attainable for students of all backgrounds. In this conversation, Matthew addresses some of the key friction points for students when they’re learning how to read and the benefits of technology in a students’ reading journey and in the classroom. He discusses the current landscape of literacy and how it’s impacted initiatives at Heinemann, like the Heinemann Flight platform and the release of the new Units of Study. Additionally, he shares his thoughts on the future of literacy and technology and his advice for someone interested in exploring literacy and technology.
Recommended Resources from the Interview
Heinemann
Heinemann Flight
Units of Study
Jump Rope Readers
Innovation For Equity (IFE)
About Our Guest
Matthew Mugo Fields is President of Heinemann. Prior to Heinemann, Matthew founded education startups – Redbird Advanced Learning, a personalized learning company (later acquired by McGraw-Hill) that developed AI-driven curriculum and professional learning programs; and Rocket Learning, a national provider of in-school tutoring services. He holds dual master’s degrees in business and education from Harvard University and is an honors graduate of Morehouse College. Matthew is the founder and board chair of Innovation For Equity, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving outcomes for Black learners of all ages.
Special Olympics is a global movement to create a better world by fostering the acceptance and inclusion of all people. By leveraging the power of sports, Special Olympics helps people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills, and success. Through its Young Athletes program, Special Olympics has been delivering life-changing impact with intervention through developmental play for children with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), ages 2 to 7 years old.
In this episode, Rebecca Ralston, Senior Director of Early Childhood and Preventive Health at Special Olympics International, discusses her role and how Special Olympics is supporting individuals with IDD and their families. One initiative is the creation of the Young Athletes Mobile app, a digital developmental tool to support the needs of children with IDD and their families through home-based developmental play. In this conversation, Ms. Ralston describes some of the features of the app and its benefits for children with IDD and their families. In conclusion, Ms. Ralston shares her advice for supporting the IDD community and Special Olympics, saying:
“I'd really encourage everyone to think about the ways that you can be more inclusive in your own life and that you can connect with people who are different and learn from them.” - Rebecca Ralston
Recommended Resources from the Interview
Find your Local Special Olympics Program: https://www.specialolympics.org/programs?locale=en
Special Olympics Young Athletes: https://www.specialolympics.org/what-we-do/inclusive-health/young-athletes?locale=en
Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools: https://www.specialolympics.org/what-we-do/youth-and-schools/unified-champion-schools?locale=en
In this episode, Julie Molnar, CodeCombat’s former Director of Education and current Director for Efficacy and Learning Research at LEGO Education, discusses the importance of efficacy in education and how the outcomes of efficacy studies can impact decision-making in the world of education.
The key to positive efficacy reports is to first identify the learner outcomes that matter most to the student before developing educational materials. The three key stakeholders when determining learner outcomes include teachers, students, and industry leaders. The efficacy process is an opportunity to learn and to identify ways to improve products. Molnar discusses the semester-long Ozaria efficacy study, which showed Ozaria to have a positive impact on the student learning outcomes that matter most to both students and educators. Before concluding the conversation, Molnar shares her advice for a career in EdTech and education, saying “question everything,” “take ownership,” and “listen to yourself.”
Recommended Resources from the Interview:
Ozaria Efficacy Study
For several years now, Esports has been gaining popularity and momentum across the globe. Imagine the impact Esports could make when it’s brought into the classroom and beyond! In this episode, Marcus Howard shares how he’s enabled students, parents, teachers, and business owners to make a positive impact with Esports education.
Esports or “electronic sports,” is gaming on a competitive level. With Esports, there is competition, risk, and reward, and an official tournament has a financial prize available to be won. Playing an Esports experience promotes many of the same values as in traditional sports, such as communication, patience, strategy, and collaboration and also encourages group activity where a player depends on another player's success. Marcus Howard describes how he first became interested in Esports and the process of writing his most recent book INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports, which celebrates innovation in gaming and Esports through a collection of innovation stories.
During the course of the conversation, Howard also talks about Esports when it comes to brand engagement and the opportunity to leverage mobile devices when developing new games. Howard shares his advice for those interested in developing Esports and gaming experiences for education, emphasizing that there is opportunity for Esports to impact the future of EdTech so that a student playing a video game can be fully immersed in that educational experience. He says:
“97% of kids 12 to 17 are playing video games. So why not meet them where they are and leverage something they have an innate interest in, and then that way they stay more engaged, and it's more meaningful and hopefully more memorable to them.”
Recommended Resources from the Interview:
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
MetArena
Vessel
Flipping the classroom empowers students to take control of their learning process. It gives students a voice and choice in what they're learning and how they're learning it. Our guest, Tim Selgrat, is an educator who has used his background in basketball coaching to embrace the strategies of flipping the classroom and has seen how it pays off with students. Selgrat has been a technology teacher for almost two decades and has spent the last six years dedicated to STEAM and growth mindset. He views his classroom as a team, saying:
“Good coaching is good teaching and good teaching is good coaching. So you want to put your players in a position to win. So really for me, I would try to position my players where their strengths are, and we build on those strengths.”
In this conversation, Selgrat explains that with flipping the classroom, students have on-demand resources and information at their fingertips. Students have the freedom to work at their own pace, taking ownership and their learning into their own hands. Selgrat describes how with this approach, he is able to let students work towards their strengths, and in doing so, students are able to be more engaged in learning. Some of the strategies for flipping the classroom include leveraging videos for instruction and also screen recording for student reflection. Selgrat discusses some of the tools and technologies that made it easier for him to make the transformation into a flipped classroom and his advice for educators hoping to do the same. Selgrat discusses some of the challenging parts of flipping the classroom and encourages teachers to be authentic, be yourself, and to trust your students. It can be intimidating for some, and he encourages teachers to jump in feet first rather than waiting for perfection. This approach is about giving up some control, opening up your classroom, and becoming a different kind of teacher.
Recommended Resources from the Interview:
Flipgrid
Schoology
Story Maker
G Suite/Google Workspace
Surveys and case studies are useful tools in understanding the mindset of teachers. This year, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s 8th Annual Educator Confidence Report asked teachers about issues that impact them daily, with a focus on technology and their current needs. The purpose of this report is to give voice to educators and for those who didn't participate to learn from their colleagues. The key takeaways from this year's report include topics like educator retention and well-being and the role technology is playing for teachers and students. In this episode, our guest, Francie Alexander, discusses this report and shares her advice for making a positive impact in EdTech. This report revealed that EdTech is a bright spot in education, with teachers saying that tech is essential. Alexander elaborates:
“It is an integrated part, just like it is in your work and mine. And you won't find anyone who will say technology is not an important part of every child's future in how they're going to learn and how they're going to live. So if they're learning using these tools, they're more future ready, and that becomes another important part of what teachers do.”
Technology is an important tool that teachers have and it’s going to make teachers more effective in their work. The survey points to three significant ways that teachers are using technology - to be connected, tobuild community, and to customize. Furthermore, Alexander mentions that there were four major ways that teachers use technology: for productivity tools, data insights, social networking, and instructionally.
In conclusion, Alexander shares her advice for making a positive impact in EdTech. She encourages asking experts and examining the evidence. A guiding acronym that she uses is TOO - Think Of Others. Alexander adds that she wants to encourage people to keep learning.
“You're gonna make mistakes because we all do. But if you are doing it from the perspective of thinking of others, then you're gonna fix it.” - Francie Alexander
Recommended Resources from the Interview:
HMH's 2022 Educator Confidence Report
Whether it’s robotics, virtual reality, or artificial intelligence, how do we help students prepare for future careers in technology? In this podcast episode, our guest Tatenda Mapesa, shares how his work has been impacting the future readiness of kids in South Africa. In this conversation, Tatenda explains how an interest in aeronautical engineering and a growing passion for education led him to embrace the role of CEO of Brighter Futures and to devote his life to bridging the education gap between the haves and the have nots and cultivating a new generation of talent equipped with the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to thrive in the future workplace.
A Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway, characterized by a fusion of technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. Tatenda discusses what the Fourth Industrial Revolution means to him and how it impacts the work of Brighter Futures. He emphasizes the importance of adapting. The world is changing and it’s important to be able to learn different technologies and to adapt to new software programs and programming languages, for example. Tatenda describes the approach of Brighter Futures as teaching students to have an understanding of strategies, like the design thinking process, and to apply these concepts to different kinds of problems. Furthermore, Tatenda discusses replicating work experiences in the learning experiences for kids. For example, utilizing hands-on projects, encouraging students to learn how to collaborate in teams, and exposing students to different careers.
Tatenda shares a favorite fable of his - the story of the Chicken and the Eagle. This tale emphasizes the importance of exposing kids to different experiences, so that their understanding of their own potential is expanded. Part of future readiness is knowing what’s out there in the world. When asked about how he envisions the future of EdTech for students in South Africa, Tatenda believes we should focus more on the integration of technology into classrooms and training personnel how to adapt with different technologies. Tatenda shares his advice for parents who want to make sure their children are future ready and emphasizes the importance of exposing kids to different kinds of technologies.
In conclusion, Tatenda shares a favorite quote of his:
“We can't build the future for our children, but what we can do is build our children for the future."
And the way to do that is to make learning experiences interactive and engaging. Furthermore, we need to make sure kids are exposed to different technologies, so that they can adapt to the necessities of future careers.
Computational action is an approach that provides students with opportunities to impact their lives and their communities while learning programming and computational thinking. A computational action approach provides students with real world problems and real world contexts to apply their computer science knowledge. This approach can make computing education more inclusive, motivating, and empowering for young learners.
In this episode, Natalie Lao, Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, shares how she's fostered computational action with kids from around the world and integrated this mindset into schools and classrooms. The App Inventor Foundation is a nonprofit established by the creators of App Inventor, a free and open-source web platform that empowers learners, hobbyists, and inventors across the globe to create mobile apps for real, effective change in their communities.
Through the course of the conversation, Lao shares her advice for students and teachers wanting to integrate computational action into their own lives. She emphasizes the importance of engaging with a problem in your community that you really care about and addressing that problem using computer science.
Game-based learning is an effort to redirect the learning that naturally occurs very organically in games and to channel that towards subjects and skills that are useful outside of the game itself. In this episode, Bobby Lockhart and Valentin Bryukhanov, two game developers who were key to creating our text-based coding adventure game, Ozaria, discuss game-based learning and how to use the principles and strategies of game design to create engaging learning experiences.
In this conversation, our guests discuss the distinction between game-based learning and educational games and the importance of various perspectives when designing. “Every game is educational, but we can put more intention in that goal” Briukhanov says.
What does chocolate covered broccoli have to do with game design?! Lockhart explains that when the game mechanics and the learning concept don't match up, you have chocolate covered broccoli. Broccoli is nice on its own and chocolate is nice on its own, and if you combine them, it's no good at all. An engaging learning experience thoughtfully integrates the game mechanics and learning concepts.
Concluding the conversation, Lockhart and Briukhanov discuss how game design can make an impact on the future of education and share their advice for those interested in game design for the EdTech space.
Recommended Resources from the Interview:
Books:
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Gee
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Level Up! The Guide to Great Video GameDesign by Scott Rogers
The Children's Machine by Seymour Papert
Some of our guests' personal favorite games:
Codemancer
while True: learn()
Assassin's Creed
Civilization
League of Legends
Dota
Professional engineer and founder of homeschool kit Tinker the Robot, Kay Yang, shares how the gender gap in engineering inspired her company and tells the “aha moment” that led her to widen the scope of Tinker the Robot’s impact on families. She reveals how being intentional about giving kids some ownership over the content and fast small wins are key ingredients to the kits’ success. “The goal is to build confidence so that you know you can do this. And so if there’s a point in the project where you feel uncomfortable or intimidated, you can draw upon that moment and remember that I’ve done this before. I can do this,” Yang says.
In this episode, the incredibly inspirational high school graduate Mohamed Haggag discusses how using “learner agency” has been a cornerstone of his education in Egypt. From tutoring peers at a really young age to implementing a foreign language program that is now used nationwide, Haggag has taken on different leadership roles throughout his academic career.
Today, he balances many roles. Haggag served as an ambassador for the World Literacy Foundation, an intern at CodeCombat, and founder of Next Coders' Society, a program teaching tech literacy to young people as it aims to create equity and inclusion in technology throughout his country.
Through the course of the conversation, Haggag shares the strategies he is using in Next Coders’ Society to engage young people to learn about technology and become community tech leaders. He emphasizes the importance of individuals learning information and then engaging and teaching that information to others, noting that the scope of information that one can pass on to someone else is inconsequential.
In this episode, Brian Freyermuth reveals how he’s used storytelling and game design to engage players throughout his career.
Starting at the beginning — Freyermuth’s entry into the gaming world would begin as one would imagine: as a child. He explains how a simulation game set in the Caribbean sparked his interest in programming. By senior year, Freyermuth had decided to make games for a living. On a college campus, his quest to create games would begin with learning to program objects because game design courses didn’t exist.
Throughout the conversation, Freyermuth shares how a handful of fortuitous events ushered him into the world of game design. From a serendipitous conversation with a teacher and a few buddies after class to a casual chat with a gentleman at a party to failing an interview with a guy named Alan, it’s clear that Freyermuth’s lucky breaks stemmed from infectious passion.
Now much further along in his career, Freyermuth talks about navigating the game design process by using pillars to establish “the why” of a project and explains how storytelling is integral to building a world.
At CodeCombat, Freyermuth expresses how he used his background in the entertainment industry, creating games like Fallout, Star Trek, Starfleet Academy, and so on, to make engaging learning games for kids.
Studies show a strong social and emotional learning (SEL) foundation has positive outcomes, from increased academic achievement and graduation rates to improved prosocial skills that support a child’s success in school and beyond.
In this episode, Darri Stephens discusses how she has used and built SEL measures in the classroom, in subsequent roles at Common Sense and Wonder Workshop, and now as a consultant.
At Common Sense, she describes how SEL was woven into the company’s digital literacy and digital citizenship curriculum. At Wonder Workshop, Stephens reflects on how SEL was infused in the company’s worldwide robotics competition, where students spent months in teams, problem-solving, embracing challenges, and “failing forward”.
Today, Stephens serves as a consultant for organizations like Classroom Champions. Stephens tells how Olympians and other elite world-class athletes are teaching kids SEL skills through the Classroom Champions’ curriculum. She shares how the organization gives kids an incredible VIP access to the athletes so that they can form a mentor-mentee relationship through live chats, video updates, and monthly challenges.
Kevin Carrington discusses how his scenario-based The C3 Initiative takes kids on secret STEM-based missions to teach the practicality of STEM concepts taught in classrooms. The elaborate sets and characters create a learning theme park experience where kids feel free to unlock their STEM potential. In this episode, Carrington shares how a message left in a public bathroom led to the development of this cool initiative. He also expresses the importance of having scenario-based learning experiences embedded in the k-12 education system to empower kids to take risks to solve problems in safe environments. It’s one of the best ways to bring STEM to life!
For more information, transcripts, and resources, check out our website at: https://codecombat.com/podcast
Educator, Author, and Director of Education at Microsoft’s Makecode Kiki Prottsman describes how her college experiences of being the only female in the room propelled her into her work.
Prottsman expresses how a single question drove her into her career. She wondered, “why don’t people realize how expressive computer science is?” She became convinced that if people knew how fun and creative coding is then there would be wider interest in it. This revelation led her to build a groundbreaking curriculum to teach kids how to code at Code.org. Yet, the road to bringing a CS curriculum to kids was not easy. She talks about the challenges and the pushback she received when telling others about her initiative to bring the curriculum to young kids.
As part of the process, Kiki used the four pillars of computational thinking to showcase how the skills we learn from coding can be used to solve everyday problems.
Be prepared to be inspired as Prottsman shares how she persisted through naysayers, explains computational thinking, and expresses her initial fear of becoming an author of CS books.
Knowing how to code gives a person a remarkable advantage in life and access to high-paying careers. CodeCombat’s CEO and cofounder Nick Winter has helped millions of students learn to code through his game-based platforms CodeCombat and Ozaria. In this conversation, Nick explains how an awful introduction to coding in college, a burning inclination to create a startup, and a volunteer trip to China led to the manifestation of his first company Skitter. Learn how the experience of Skitter led to the framework of CodeCombat. Hear the origin story of CodeCombat’s game elements. Discover how the company builds fluency in coding and promotes a growth mindset in young people.