The Learnit Podcast

The Learnit Podcast

Hosted by Jenny Anderson, the Learnit podcast showcases global learning leaders re-imagining what students need to know, how they will learn it and the technology they are using to get there. We look at school leaders, tech entrepreneurs, and learning engineers who are closing equity gaps, accelerating academic learning and instilling in every learner the drive and skills to learn and thrive. Jenny is a former financial journalist who loves to tell a story, interrogate the numbers and uncover the impact learning innovations have on children and adults. This is a podcast for edtech geeks, teachers and educators as well as parents who want to know the secrets to unlocking rich, deep learning.

Episodes

#54 Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire University: Power of love to transform lives at scale

December 22, 2022 • 38 mins
With 4,000 students on campus and 180,000 online, President of Southern New Hampshire University, Paul LeBlanc aims to transform lives at scale by putting students at the centre of the education experience.In this episode, we talk a lot about the power of love, the difference between belonging and mattering, and why competency based education is finally taking off.

Show notes:
  • More about Southern New Hampshire University, https:/...
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#53 Sam Chaudhary & Liam Don, Co-founders, Class Dojo: A mission to give every kid an education they love

December 1, 2022 • 41 mins
As Co-founders of Class Dojo, Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don have built a community of 51 million teachers, parents and students, to share kids’ learning moments. They’re now building a virtual sandbox for kids who already know each other, to hang out, create and play. We discuss their recent funding, privacy and data and how they continue to make progress on the mission they defined in 2011: to give every kid on the planet an educatio...
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#52 Brett Wigdortz, Co-Founder & CEO, tiney: Providing care for the carers

November 17, 2022 • 39 mins
As co-founder and CEO of tiney, a venture capital backed social enterprise, Brett Wigdortz is looking to fix the very broken child care market. We discuss the exodus from the profession, the needed changes to government policy and how his tech platform provides support and a community for those caring for society’s smallest and most vulnerable.

Show notes:
- tiney’s website: https://www.tiney.co/
- Early years framework: https://www.g...
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#51 Nirmit Parikh, Founder & CEO, Apna: An Indian unicorn with a job-market solution

September 22, 2022 • 38 mins
As Founder and CEO of Apna, an Indian jobs and networking platform, Nirmit Parikh believes employment is the tool to addressing poverty and accelerating education. In this episode we discuss how Apna matches their 25 million job seekers with employers, how they raised $190 million, and how Nirmit balances being both a pirate and a navy captain.

Show notes:
More about Apna: https://apna.co/
Favourite book about learning: 'High Output M...
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#50 Rt Hon Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth, Suklaa Ltd: Models for greater climate education

July 6, 2022 • 29 mins
With a career spanning education minister and employment minister, to digital technology executive, the Rt Hon Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth is advocating for greater climate education. We discuss a number of models of sustainable citizenship, changes to national funding formulas, the new British natural history GCSE and the role of legislation to make sustainable citizenship more equitable.

Show notes:
- Suklaa Education: https://www....
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#49 Sbusisiwe Myeni, Imbeleko Foundation: Bringing online education to vulnerable children in rural communities

June 23, 2022 • 34 mins
Building on our last episode, this week we talk to Sbusisiwe Myeni, Co-founder and CEO of Imbeleko Foundation, a South African charity based in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, running after-school programmes for children with academic promise but who face challenges getting an education. We discuss creative ways non-profits like hers can partner with platforms like UCT Online (a digital high school in partnership with the University...
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#48 Robert Paddock, Valenture Institute: Addressing the massive shortage of schools across South Africa

June 9, 2022 • 38 mins
With the need for new schools far outstripping the available budget to build them, how can South Africa meet the needs of its growing student population? As Founder and CEO of Valenture Institute, Rob Paddock is working to address this imbalance by scaling quality education through online learning. We discuss how the rise in online schooling during Covid resulted in a pivot in their business model, how their solution addresses the ...
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#47 Sarah Fletcher, St Paul’s Girls’ School & Peter Hyman, Big Education: No more high stakes exams?

May 6, 2022 • 42 mins
Does the UK education system help learners develop a love of learning, acquire life skills and develop knowledge? As High Mistress of St Paul’s Girls’ School, a high achieving independent school in London, and Co-Director of Big Education, a multi-academy trust and social enterprise, Sarah Fletcher and Peter Hyman are convinced we need to change the way we assess students in the UK. We examine the condemning data which backs the ca...
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#46 Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera: diversifying the future workforce

April 21, 2022 • 44 mins
As CEO of Coursera, Jeff Maggioncalda has witnessed the open online course provider grow from 42 million learners pre pandemic to over 80 million. We discuss the future of learning and work, the ways the two intersect and the impact increased remote working has had on diversifying workforces. We also examine the edtech market, current valuations and Coursera’s own stock price.

Show notes:
- More about Coursera: https://www.coursera.o...
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#45 Dr. Valerie Bridges, Superintendent, Edgecombe County Public Schools: giving students a voice in their education

March 17, 2022 • 38 mins
Awarded North Carolina’s 2022 Superintendent of the Year, Dr. Valerie Bridges’ is dedicated to innovation and providing students with the rich experiences to inspire their learning and give them a voice in their education. As Superintendent of Edgecombe County, a rural, high needs district serving 14 schools and 6,000 students, Valerie discusses how their micro school has allowed them to test some of their ideas - a different kind ...
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#44 Pablo Jaramillo Quintero, Director General, Alianza Educativa: fixing school culture, eroded by pandemic

March 4, 2022 • 40 mins
As Director General of Alianza Educativa, a non-profit organization which runs 11 charter schools across Colombia, Pablo Jaramillo Quintero provides examples of what's been lost during the pandemic and ideas on how to regain it. Serving 12,000 children in some of the most challenging neighbourhoods, Pablo discusses rebuilding trust, supporting teachers and finding the balance of assisting students in need whilst re-establishing hig...
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#43 Graeme Lawrie, Partnerships Director, ACS International Schools: Neurodiverse ways to support neurodiverse children

February 17, 2022 • 40 mins
As Partnerships Director at ACS International Schools, Graeme Lawrie is transforming what partnership in schools can be. Having established the UK’s largest school-based festival of science, he’s now organising a STEAM day for 10,000 children at the amusement park Thorpe Park. We talk about how his autism is a superpower which enables him to focus and prepare for the scale of these projects, his video series documenting neurodivers...
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#42 Maria Adelaida Lopez, Executive Director, aeioTU: Advocating for early childhood education

February 3, 2022 • 40 mins
aeioTU, a social enterprise in Colombia, provides high-quality early childhood education and care, trains educators, creates resources and advocates for early learning to local regional and national governments.As Executive Director, Maria Adelaida Lopez talks about how they’ve scaled to reach over half a million children, how they work outside the formal system to drive change within and how their vision of learning that is anchor...
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#41 Sir Anthony Seldon, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Buckingham: Why we need a fourth education revolution

January 20, 2022 • 35 mins
As former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and former Head of Wellington College, Sir Anthony Seldon is one of Britain’s leading voices calling for radical change in education. He wants to move from what he calls the third education revolution – which was marked by homogenisation, heavy administrative burdens and little social mobility – to a fourth education revolution, one that embraces AI to personalise learning a...
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#40 Lauren Herckis, Carnegie Mellon University: Understanding Why Some Educators Adopt New Technologies & Others Don't

December 16, 2021 • 36 mins
Why do university faculty at Carnegie Mellon University - an institution renowned for its learning sciences and advances in technology enhanced learning - so often fail to adopt them? As anthropologist at CMU, specialising in faculty culture and use of technology, Lauren Herckis offers key insights, and useful advice on how leaders might navigate reluctance from their own teams to embrace new technologies. We talk about her many su...
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#39 Jeff Wetzler & Jenee Henry Wood, Transcend: Providing Schools with an R&D Department

December 6, 2021 • 42 mins
Transcend is a non-profit addressing the lack of R&D departments for education, by working with schools to figure out what they want to change and then helping them do it. Jeff Wetzler, Co-Founder and Jenee Henry Wood, Partner, discuss how their guiding principles will shift schools from an industrial model of mass production which sorts and ranks, to one whose purpose and design point toward equity and positive student experience.

...
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#38 Caitlin Baron & Alemayehu Hailu Gebre, Luminos Fund: Packing 3 Years of Learning into 10 Months

November 19, 2021 • 42 mins
The Luminos Fund is an education non-profit that aims to get the most marginalized students into mainstream schools in Ethiopia, Liberia, Lebanon, and Ghana. Caitlin Baron and Alemayehu Hailu Gebre shed light on how the accelerated learning program packs 3 years of learning into 10 months by building a learning mindset and involving the community in a successful, joyful learning process.Show Notes:More about Luminos: https://lumino...
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#37, Boris Walbaum, Founder, Forward College: Preparing Students to Have an Impact...Now

November 11, 2021 • 41 mins
Launched in September 2021, Boris Walbaum founded Forward College, a pan-European university designed to develop all forms of human intelligences and skills. Students learn in small groups with full-time teachers, a high dose of formative assessment, and one-to-one tutoring. Boris believes that education should be the most meaningful experience for students but also for the world at large. With students demanding an opportunity to ...
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#36, Rangina Hamidi, Former Acting Minister of Education: Affecting Change From Outside the System

October 21, 2021 • 44 mins
As former acting education minister of Afghanistan, Rangina Hamidi committed to reforming teacher training, modernizing the massive education department, and implementing a national education policy. We discuss her decision to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover, and how to effect change from outside the system, when she had so clearly decided the best way to reform Afghanistan was internally.

Show notes:
Hamidi’s considera...
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#35, Erika Carlson, Director of Digital Learning, Leadership Development International: Building an Online School in China

October 14, 2021 • 38 mins
As former head of Wuhan Yangtze International School, Erika Carlson now heads up iSC Academy, an all online school, primarily for Chinese nationals abroad, which has since attracted many Chinese families too. Erika and I talk about how to better integrate digital learning, how to achieve community and relationships online, and what's driving the most recent crackdown in the education sector in China.

Show notes:
More about iSC Academ...
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