The Maker Culture - Consequences of Powerful Tools

In this week's podcast, the Kids in the Back of the Class look at the rise of the makerspace culture and have a rousing discussion on the promises and dilemmas this new culture creates. Are there moral questions that need to be re-prioritized as the maker culture stretches not just into our classrooms but into our larger society as a whole.

Makerspace Culture - Promises and Dilemmas 

We hope you will take a listen as the Kids explore these questions and engage in the banter that our "constant listeners" have become accustomed to. Look forward to your comments and questions.

And as always...Simon please phone home!

The Kids are Back!!!

After a long winter hibernation, the Kids in the Back of the Class are back! Well two of us are back -  the quest to find Simon continues! I hope you, our faithful listeners, will get back in the saddle and join us on our journey to explore all things education. Honestly who knows where the journey will take us, but we would love to have you along for the ride.

In this week's episode, the Kids get the new year off to a roaring start by examining the 2017 Horizons Report and discuss the technologies that will be driving education over the next five years from both higher education and K-12 perspectives. Below you will find hyperlinks to both reports and we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Disagree with us - no problem. We would love to hear your opinions.

Enjoy the journey and thanks for your patience as we dust of the cobwebs (and recording difficulties) and return to the same great programming you all have come to love cherish.

The 2017 Horizon Report Podcast

Horizon Report 2017 - K-12

Horizon Report 2017 - Higher Education

Danny's Proposal

It's Danny's turn to provide a concrete solution to the problems of education. In this episode, he lays out his thoughts about how the High School experience can be re-envisioned. It's surprisingly lucid and well thought out.

Patrick's Proposal

Following up on Simon's proposal last week, this week it was Patrick's turn to give a concrete plan for something he would do in education. This show focuses on a year-long immersive educational game that would leverage all kinds of technologies.

Simon's Proposal

After a couple week's absence, we're back with a new show. We take a slightly different approach to this show in that we're going to spend a bit more time discussing the solutions that we'd actually propose to the problems of education rather than discussing what other people are doing.

First up is Simon, who spends some time in this week's episode discussing his overarching philosophy to technology usage in schools.

Is Homeschooling the Answer?

In this week's podcast, Daniel, Mark and Patrick explored the idea that homeschooling may be able to solve education's problems. This was based on an article entitled, Homeschooling is More Beneficial to Children: Why Homeschooling is Better for Your Child. Take a listen.

Grading Parents?

The kids at the back of the class have recorded a new show on the topic of Teachers Grading Parents. This is based on a legislative proposal put forth by a Florida state representative named Kelli Stargel.

I can't wait to see what people think about this one.

On Practical Wisdom

We have a new show up about the importance of Practical Wisdom. As Simon was "in the field", we're joined by Mark Salata (of Mining Gems). The discussion stems from Barry Schwartz TED Talk, titled "Using Our Practical Wisdom".

The Thiel Conundrum

We have a new show up. It's called The Thiel Conundrum, and it's a lively discussion of the merits of the Thiel Foundation's 20 Under 20 Fellowship Program (In which 20 people under 20 years of age are given $100,000 to "stop out of school" and focus on developing scientific or technical projects).

By the way - during this show, there are two mentions of literature with which Danny takes issue. The first deals with the possible negative effects of traditional education on high-achieving students, and the second deals with how teachers say they want creative students by don't actually want them in their classrooms. I said that I would find that literature and post it here...here it is (read it yourself to judge its quality):

1. A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students
2. Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom

Schools that CARE

We're back in the new year and have a new show called CAREing Schools in which we discuss the article Louisville's CARE for Kids Starts with the Heart.

Be prepared to read the article first, because Danny refuses to describe it in any detail until near the end of the podcast. Also, Patrick is GRUMPY (and, yes, in ALL CAPS), and Simon is still Canadian.

LATE EDIT: Just wanted to include a link to Mining Gems as it is where Mark (of Mark's Minute) puts his thoughts.

Education with SOLE

Our new show is up and running. In it, we discuss Sugata Mitra's TED talk, which focuses on self organized teaching situations. The episode, which is called Education with SOLE, also includes a new segment at the very end called "Mark's Minute"...make sure to stick around for that.

The Pandora Classroom

Our next episode is up and available to download. In this episode, we discuss the Freakonomics podcast episode entitled, How Is A Bad Radio Station Like Our Public-School System. Take a listen to the podcast on their website (and become a regular listener, I'm a big fan), and then take a listen to our own episode entitled The Pandora Classroom. It sparked some interesting discussion - anything that causes Simon to rant as much as he does in this episode is worth the time.

Can Schools Save the World?

Our new podcast is up and running. Check out the topic of our discussion HERE. And then check out the new episode HERE.

Introduction

This is the first of what should become many posts associated with The Back of the Class podcast. If you haven't checked it out, find us on iTunes at The Back of the Class. We'll be posting here about what we do, why we do it, and where we'd like education to go.