RPP #213: Cameron Stoker of SpeechCloud

• Interview with Cameron Stoker, Founder & CEO of SpeechCloud. "SpeechCloud is an all-in-one customizable teaching tool that ends the classroom tech struggle." We discuss:
  
  

• 

  Cameron Stoker, CEO

  Cameron's background and involvement with SpeechCloud
• Overview of what SpeechCloud does for instructors
• Features that distinguish SpeechCloud from other products
• Importance of behavior in teaching and learning
• Technical aspects of SpeechCloud
• Compatibility with learning management systems (LMS)
• Addressing challenges with traditional teaching methods
• Upcoming features and benefits of SpeechCloud for teachers and students
• Future development plans and affordability of SpeechCloud
• Value of a free plan and the importance of user feedback.
  
  
• Interview Transcript
  
  
• Podsafe music selection
• Concerto No. 2 in G Minor (Summer) from the CD entitled "The Four Seasons by Vivaldi" by the American Baroque Orchestra. 

Duration 36:50

RPP #208 Guillermo Elizondo of Territorium

• Interview with Guillermo Elizondo, CEO of Territorium. "AI-powered competency records for 21st-century learners and employers with over 10 million users worldwide." We discuss:
• Guillermo's background and history of Territorium

  

  Guillermo Elizondo, CEO
  

  
  
• Received college credit for building the first App 
• Define and track competencies currently required by employers
• Measure employability, retention, and engagement
• Capture learning inside and outside of the classroom
• 1EdTech(formerly IMS)-certified comprehensive learner record
• Portable digital Skills wallet powered by blockchain
• Blockchain validated credentials
• LMS integration 
• AI for mapping outcomes to job market requirements
• AI career recommendation engine 
• Coaching institutions to improve curricula
• CareerBit mobile app, like FitBit for careers

• Podsafe music selection
• Vivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in G Minor “Winter” (Allegro movement) from The Four Seasons by the American Baroque Orchestra.

Duration: 36:01

RPP #207 William Ryan on Flipped Learning

• Interview with William J. Ryan, Founder & CEO of Ryan Consulting, LLC. We discuss his process that allows learners to interact with instructors and peers to practice, apply and synthesize content in the context of their mutual experience. We discuss:
• Dr. Ryan's background

  

  William Ryan, CEO

  
  
• Evolution of web conferencing tools
• Impact of the pandemic on remote teaching and learning
• Importance of core instructional design models 
• Creating time for online social interaction
• Assimilate, practice, and time for reflection
• Integrating Zoom with the LMS
• Simplifying and reducing PPT presentations   
• Don't use polls; just ask questions or use a chat
• Upper limits of online class size, and more

• Podsafe music selection
• "As The Wind Blows" by Kitaro

Duration: 41:02

RPP #206 Jeffrey Katzman of Core Learning Exchange

• Interview with Jeffrey Katzman, Founder and CEO of Core Learning Exchange. "Core Learning Exchange (Core-LX) prepares students for postsecondary success, including attaining industry-recognized certifications and credentials." We discuss:
• Jeffrey's background

  

  Jeffrey Katzman, CEO

  
  
• History of Core-LX
• Mastery-based instructional model using badges
• Micro-learning playlists using video, simulations, readings, assessments 
• Career and technical education (CTE)
• Over 300 courses for grade 6 through community college
• Industry recognized certifications
• Impact of Covid on lack of skilled workers and qualified teachers
• Life-long learning and building portfolio of skills
• Awarded National Catalyzed Challenge Grant
• Motto: "Natively Digital for Digital Natives"
• Using AI to extract assessment items from text
• Core-LX LMS ties into school Student Information System 
• Hot topics: AI, robotics, logistics
  
  
• AI Tools
• writer.com
• width.ai

• Podsafe music selection
• Vivaldi: Concerto No. 3 in F Major “Autumn” (Allegro movement) by the American Baroque Orchestra. 

Duration: 35:30

RPP #204 Phill Miller of Open LMS

• Interview with Phill Miller, Managing Director of Open LMS. Open LMS is "a Moodle™-based LMS platform designed for learners, empowering administrators.' We discuss:
• Phill's background

  

  Phill Miller

• History of Open LMS
• Usage boost during Covid
• Open LMS acquisitions
• Lower cost of ownership
• SaaS approach
• Partnerships: Safe Assign, Ally, Intelliboard, Class Technologies  
• Class acquisition of Bb Collaborate
• New directions in educational technology 
• Moodle is the largest LMS worldwide, one of the "Big 4"
• First face-to-face Users Conference in Phoenix in October 2022 

• Links
• Class Technologies and Open LMS Partnership
• Learning Technologies Group (LTG) Open LMS parent 
• Accredible digital credential and badge platform

• Podsafe music selection
• "Summertime" by Brother Love

Duration: 41:11

RPP #200 Podcasting and eLearning Milestones

• This special episode marks a milestone for Rod’s Pulse Podcast. Dr. Murray remarks on some of the progress seen since he started his podcast in 2006. Most never heard of podcasting back then but podcasting has seen tremendous growth and education has changed forever because of the Covid pandemic. Rod discusses:
  

  

  Rodney Murray, PhD

  
  
• Podcasting milestones
• Podcasting 101 excerpt 
• Steve Jobs introduces podcasting and "Pod Father" Adam Curry 
• Rod's Pulse Podcast was a podcast on podcasting
• eLearning milestones and trends
• Impact of the Pandemic on elearning
• Shoutout to education futurists
• Clever new edtech startups
• Promise for the future
  
  
• Podcasts on the Future of Higher Education
• RPP #189: Covid as a Catalyst for Positive Change by JT Kostman
• RPP #183: Academia Next with Bryan Alexander
• RPP #153: eLearning after 20 Years - Interview with Ken Hartman
  
• RPP #149: Teaching in a Digital Age - Interview with Tony Bates
• RPP #142: 10th Anniversary Edition - Podcasting 101
• RPP #135: Disruptive Innovation in Education: Interview with Michelle Weise
  
  
• Podsafe music selection
• On a Podcast by Cruisebox

Duration: 25:17

RPP #199: Narine Hall of InSpace

• Interview with Narine Hall, Founder & CEO of Inspace. "InSpace is a socially intuitive online learning platform. By mimicking the natural flow of a classroom through proximity-based audio, we feel it's the closest you can come to teaching face-to-face in the virtual space." We discuss:
• Narine's background

  

  Narine Hall, CEO

  
  
• History of InSpace
• Replaces Zoom for classrooms
• Proximity-based audio using machine learning
• Improved student participation
• Faces in "video circles" to reduce background distraction
• Chat feature inside or outside of the classroom
• InSpace mobile app
• Synchronous and Asynchronous use
• Analytics measures quality of conversations, not quantity
• Feature set: Discussions, Rooms, Broadcast, Screen Share
• Engagement: Gesture, Tether, Invite
• LMS Integration
  
  
• Podsafe music selection
• Laura Sullivan plays "Pachelbel For The Potomac" from "Pianoscapes For The Trails Of North America"

Duration: 43:24

Covid-Converted Edition #7: Reshaping Curriculum Design and Attitudes about Online Learning

Interview with Amanda Smith, Chief Academic Officer, Academic Partnerships, and Maria Andersen, General Manager of Coursetune.

This special COVID-Converted Edition audio and video podcast series responds to the impact of COVID-19 on the way we live, learn, and work. Teachers all over the world have been thrown into teaching their "COVID-Converted" courses online. This series will focus on moving from this emergency remote teaching and learning to more thoughtfully prepared learning experiences. COVID is reshaping curriculum design and attitudes about online learning.

Academic Partners is "an online facilitator that assists public institutions of higher education in taking their academic programs online and recruits and retains qualified students through program completion. Coursetune helps institutions improve course and program design by focusing on mapping and assessment alignment." We discuss:

Watch on Youtube

• Amanda and Maria's background
• Overview of Coursetune, an elegant visual course planning tool
• Academic Partnerships' role
• Growth of online programs
• Need for change in curriculum design
• Release of Courseplan ("Coursetune light")
• AP Off Campus toolkit to move instruction from classroom to online
• Critical outcomes alignment and support
• Faculty training
• Role of instructional designers
• Challenge of short term vs. long term thinking
• Integration with the LMS
• New features on the way: "variation layers" 

Podsafe music selection

• Wonderful Day by Debbie Poryes Trio - Jazz Pianist, Composer, Teacher & Vocalist

Duration: 51:59

RPP #196: Dan Avida of Engageli

Interview with Dan Avida, CEO, and Co-Founder of Engageli. "Engageli's digital learning platform
enables higher-ed institutions to provide educators and learners with an active, social, collaborative, inclusive and engaging learning experience."  We discuss: 

Dan Avida, CEO

• Background of founders including Dan's wife Daphne Koller,
  co-founder of Coursera
• Works in class or online (synchronous or asynchronous) and hybrid
• No need for breakout rooms
• Student "table" with the group of peers: "Learn with Friends"
• Students can talk at the same time as the instructor
• In-class students log in so they can take notes and capture instructors screen
• In-class student presses button to ask questions - other mics are muted 
• Polls and quizzes embedded into presentations
• Recordings, notetaking, captioning built into the platform
• Integrated with the LMS using LTI
• Works with Chromebooks - no app to download
• Video is not re-streamed  
• Supports thousands of students in a class using TAs  
• Extensive analytics to detect students at risk 
• AI and ML coming in a future release
  

• Podsafe music selection
• Hachiko by The Kyoto Connection
  
  

Duration: 40:15

RPP #195: Thomas Waite & Steve Mildner of K16 Solutions

Interview with Dr. Thomas Waite, CEO, and Steve Mildner, CRO of K16 Solutions. K16's Scaffold Designer is the industry’s first cloud-hosted, fully integrated LMS migration and course development tool that automates manual processes and improves efficiency. "Migrate Course Content. Archive Student Data. Build Better Courses. LMS Solutions for Educators by Educators." We discuss: 

• Thomas and Steve's backgrounds

  

  Thomas Waite, CEO & Steve Mildner, CRO

• Mission: course design, LMS migration, and archiving
• Partners: Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, and Open LMS
• Reduced cost of migration between LMSs
• Global text replacement during migration (LMS name, phone numbers, etc)
• Migration duration shortened from months to hours
• No need to run both LMSs during the migration
• Historical data from legacy LMS archived on the K16 platform for easy retrieval
• Scaffold solutions for efficient course design  


• Podsafe music selection
• A Passage Of Life by Kitaro

Duration: 50:53

RPP #191: Marcus Popetz on Harmonize by 42 Lines

Interview with Marcus Popetz, CEO and co-founder of 42 Lines. Harmonize is a discussion tool that allows students to communicate, interact, and engage more easily with one another. It supports richer discussion and collaboration. Faculty and students upload multiple files directly within posts and easily record audio and video comments. We discuss:

• Why 42 lines?

  

  Marcus Popetz, CEO

  
  
• What's wrong with discussion boards
• Discussion board, group chat, instant messaging,
• Requires LMS LTI integration
• Analytics to lower instructor workload
• Creating a hybrid cadence between synchronous and asynchronous
• Integration with Zoom and other video conferencing systems
• Accessibility accommodation including auto-captioning
• Compatible with smartphones  
• Visual layout with 'cards' instead of a long list of text
• Faculty can mark up videos! 
• Peer to peer interaction is coming
• Future direction to use data science to build "formative drop-out detector" to improve student retention

• Podsafe music selection
• Kiss This! (Hey IRS)" by Robert Lund of the Funny Music Project, a parody of Faith Hill's "This Kiss"

Duration: 37:59

RPP #184: Bongo - Interview with Josh Kamrath

• Interview with Josh Kamrath, CEO of Bongo. Bongo offers Video Assignments and a Virtual Classroom that power experiential learning, assessment, and feedback. We discuss:
• Josh's background and evolution of Bongo

  

  Josh Kamrath, CEO
• How did Bongo get started
• Not just web conferencing
• Putting knowledge into action
• Structured video assignment workflows 
• Peer review and assessment  
• Auto-analysis using AI and machine learning  
• Integration with the LMS
• How they are different from competitors
• Sentiment analysis in the development pipeline
  
• Podsafe music selection
• Aurora Borealis Expedition by Asher Fulero

Duration: 37:17

RPP #182: Yellowdig - Interview with Shaunak Roy

• Interview with Shaunak Roy, CEO, and Founder of Yellowdig. More than a discussion board, Yellowdig meets students where they are, making engagement effortless and natural throughout the entire student lifecycle. We discuss:

  

  Shaunak Roy, CEO

• Mr. Roy's background and company story
• The reinvention of the discussion board
• OER-based Peer-driven discussions
• Gamified discussions
• Immediate automated engagement scoring
• LMS agnostic LTI integration
• 300,000 Yellowdig daily users
• Why 'Yellowdig' name
  
• Podsafe music selection 
• Ipanema Daydream by Bird Creek

Duration: 29:43

RPP #181: Strut Learning - Interview with Lee Johnston

• Interview with Lee Johnston, CEO of Strut Learning - the "next-generation LMS for innovators." Strut integrates personalized learning, assessments, student success, authoring, automation, workflows, and analytics. Listen as we discuss:
• The history of Strut (formerly Sagence Learning)

  

  Lee Johnston, CEO

• Cognify / Compose / Certify and Connect
• Competency-based and non-term direct assessment
• Strut as a replacement or add-on to the LMS
• Strut's market focus
• Gamified personalized learning
• Active social learning
• Skills mapping creating active feedback loops
• Next-Gen analytics, active workflows, and automation
• High-fidelity dashboards
• and more

• Podsafe music selection
• Pirouette by Asher Fulero

Duration: 36:42

RPP #179: Yoda AI Bot - Interview with Anjli Jain

• Interview with Anjli Jain, founder of Unifyed. We discuss Yoda, their AI-powered Bot with SIS and LMS integration that automates responses to student and faculty frequently asked questions such as: How much do I owe? I forgot my password, can you reset it? How do I enter grades? We discuss:

  

  Anjli Jain / Unifyed

• The genesis of Yoda
• The digital campus, a GUI-less experience
• Yoda for whole student lifecycle FAQ help 
• Voice accounts for 60% of help interactions
• Multiple communication modes
• How Yoda authenticates users and hands-off to human helpers
• How AI is used in Yoda
  
• Links
• Unifyed
• BlackBeltHelp

• Podsafe music selection
• "New Soul" by Yael Naim

Duration: 37:14

RPP #178: K16 Solutions - Interview with Thomas Waite

• Interview with Dr. Thomas Waite, CEO of K16 Solutions. K16's Scaffold Designer is the industry’s first cloud-hosted, fully-integrated course development tool that automates manual processes and improves efficiency for instructional designers and faculty. Scaffold products are integrated with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, and Sakai. We discuss: 
  
• Background of Dr. Waite and history of K16 Solutions
• Scaffold Designer and Scaffold Migration
• Migrate or rebuild courses
• Migration tool for most LMSs
• Customers including K12 and OPMs (Online Program Management Companies)
• Working in elearning ecosystems as opposed to LMSs
• AI, machine learning and algorithms
• New Scaffold Faculties, a faculty management system
• Links
• K16 Solutions Overview Video
• Scaffold Migration Demo Video
• Scaffold Product Specs
  
• Podsafe music selection
• Concerto No. 2 in G Minor (Summer) from the CD entitled "The Four Seasons by Vivaldi" by the American Baroque Orchestra. 

Duration: 35:08

RPP #177: The Future of Learning Platforms: Perspectives from LMS Vendors

• This special audio podcast is a recording of a Panel Discussion at the USciences eLearning 3.0 Conference on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Our Keynote speaker, Phil Hill, was the moderator. The Panel consists of Kenneth Chapman (D2L), Ryan McDonald (Blackboard), and Ben Moriarty (Strut Learning). You will hear reference to Glisser, the tool we use to solicit audience questions. 

• These questions were asked:
• What will be the most different about the LMS in 5 years?
• What will not change in the LMS after 5 years?
• Will the instructional designer be more important than the instructor?
• What hasn't worked regarding the effort to have data inform the LMS experience?
• What about the "dark underbelly" of data, privacy, and misuse of data?
• What hasn't worked with student personalization, and what will the future bring?
• Do the needs of accreditation conflict with student personalization?
• What will be the impact of blockchain, voice control, and machine learning?
• What are the biggest hurdles to adopting a new LMS?
• How do you deal with shortened student attention span?
  
• Links
• Phil Hill, Moderator
• Biographies of Panelists
• Glisser Audience Engagement System
  
• Podsafe Music Selection
• "Stress" (song and flash animation) by highly caffeinated Jim Infantino of the band, Jim's Big Ego.

Duration: 53:12

RPP #176: The Future of Learning Platforms by Phil Hill

• This is a special audio and video podcast of Phil Hill's Keynote, entitled The Future of Learning Platforms. Phil Hill is Publisher of the PhilOnEdTech Blog and Partner at MindWires, LLC. As a market analyst, Phil has analyzed the growth of technology-enabled change for educational institutions. Phil gave this Keynote at the USciences eLearning 3.0 Conference on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Phil discusses:
• LMS market share

  

  Watch on Youtube

• LMS as a walled garden 
• The chasm between visionaries and pragmatists
• Transformation of MOOCs
• New platform designs
• Moving beyond the digitization of traditional classrooms
• Personalized learning
• Machine learning and student data
• Links
• PhilOnEdTech Blog
• MindWires, LLC
• Presentation Slides
• Podsafe Music Selection
• There's nothing impossible by Deus, a techno-classical musician from the Ivory Coast.

Duration: 50:52

RPP #174: Aula Education - Interview with Anders Krohn

• Interview with Anders Krohn, CEO and Co-founder of Aula Education. Aula brings students, staff, and educators together in a digital environment that encourages interaction and collaboration. 

Anders Krohn, CEO

• We discuss:
• The meaning of the name "Aula"
• How Aula got started
• Social and conversational pedagogy
• Integrations with the SIS, Google, Microsoft
• Experience with traditional LMSs
• How faculty respond to AULA
• How AULA replaces an LMS
• Institutions that dumped their LMS
• Links
• Aula Education
• Putting $4.2M to work — building ‘digital campuses’

• Podsafe music selection
• "Woods of Chaos" by Rob Costlow - New Age Piano

Duration: 44:23

RPP #170: The Horizon Report - Interview with Audrey Watters

• Interview with Audrey Watters, a self-described “education writer, an independent scholar, a serial dropout, a rabble-rouser, and ed-tech’s Cassandra.” We discuss the Horizon Report and The History of the Future of Education Technology, the special focus of her Hack Education Project. 

• Like previous Horizon reports, the 2018 edition identifies key trends, challenges and developments in ed tech that are likely to impact teaching and learning in the next five years.
• Since we don't delve into the details of the latest Horizon Report in this interview, here is a snapshot of the "important developments in technology." You can judge for yourself the real value of this report after listening to this interview. 

Ref:The 2018 Horizon Report Higher Education Edition

• Educause stepped in to continue the work of the Horizon project after the NMC unexpectedly declared bankruptcy and ceased operations at the end of 2017.

• Links
• Educause: 2018 NMC Horizon Report
• Watters: A Horizon Report History
• Watters: The Horizon Never Moves
• Watters: Historical Data from the Horizon Report (Higher Education)
• Inside Higher Ed: Educause Publishes Report on Tech Trends
• Inside Higher Ed: Educause Steps In to Save New Media Consortium
• RPP #140: Future Trends: Interview with Bryan Alexander (2016)
• RPP #138: Higher Education Horizon Report by Alex Freeman (2015)
• RPP #123: eLearning Tech: What's on the Horizon? (2014)
• Podsafe music selection 
• Don't Be Long: The Beatles v Elken, a mashup of George Harrison's Blue Jay Way by Elken, a 60's influenced band from Dublin, Ireland. 

Duration: 38:04