The EdTech Lab

Ep. 15 - How Figma Built A Community Of Teacher Advocates with Lauren McCann Ryan

Episode 15: In this episode, I chat with Lauren, Head of Education at Figma. With a background that includes teaching in India, and work at Google on products like Google Classroom, Lauren is passionate about making education accessible through technology. At Figma, she leads efforts to bring design into classrooms, fostering creativity and collaboration among students. We discuss what “making design accessible” means in the context of education, how she has build such an engaged community of educators around the Figma products, and how Figma is embracing AI. Enjoy the episode! Topics covered: 01:12 - Lauren's journey from Fulbright scholar to leading education at Figma 10:15 - what does "making design accessible" mean and why is it important? 14:00 - software vs. hardware and the need for both for equitable education 15:50 - the unexpected ways that learners and teachers are using Figma 25:30 - how Figma involves educators in what they are building 31:20 - all things AI Learn more: Check out Figma for Education here [https://www.figma.com/education/] Check out The EdTech Lab here [https://theedtechlab.com/]

Ep. 14 - AI, Instant Feedback Loops, and the end of "Content Is King", with Peter Paccone

In this episode, I chat with Peter. Peter is a recently retired teacher of over 30 years, a consultant to Class Companion - an EdTech startup that has received funding from OpenAI - and he’s on the AP teacher advisory committee of College Board. He was so generous in sharing all that he’s seen and learned from his years of experience in and out of the classroom. We cover a lot in this episode. This of course includes AI, but also things like - why the schooling system right now is so broken, the importance of reps and instant feedback loops in learning, and how education must shift from a content-focus, to an engagement-focus. Enjoy the episode!

Ep. 13 - Helping High School Students Own Their Journey To College w/ Madhu Vohra and Sirisha Kaipa

Episode 13: In this episode, I chat with Madhu and Siri, co-founders of dabbL. dabbL is a platform that is empowering students by providing them with a personalized roadmap, a network of mentors, and hands on learning experiences for their journey to college. Madhu and Siri both have extensive backgrounds as software engineers and found the problem they wanted to solve for through their own experiences as mothers to high school kids. We talk about the state of the college admissions process, the type of support that high schools students currently have access to, and why nurturing students from the onset of their secondary school experience is a critical part of this process. Enjoy the episode! ----------- Topics covered: the state of college admissions and applications today the support that students have when it comes to college applications why support should be given even before junior year how network, peers, and a personalized roadmap is needed for appropriate guidance ---------- Learn more about dabbl here Learn more about The EdTech Lab here

Ep. 12 - Making Student Trips Less Stressful with Ali Iberraken

Episode #12 - In this episode I’m chatting with Ali, founder of Chapperone. Chapperone is an all-in-one platform that makes student trips outside of the classroom safer and easier. Ali is one of those founders who knows exactly the pain points of the customers she is serving having been a teacher herself for over 14 years... and throughout that time, she led over 100 student trips! It was so fascinating to hear about all the challenges that go on behind the scenes of planning a field trip, and Chapperone solves for this. One other topic we talked about, which is of value for any teacher or edtech founder, is how to get school admin to say “yes” to a particular edtech product. Listen on for what she encourages any teacher to do when it comes to getting buy in approval. Enjoy the episode! Topics covered: 03:00 - how Chapperone makes student trips less stressful for teachers 04:45 - the exact moment that led Ali to solve for this problem 07:05 - all of the "behind the scenes" work that goes into planning a field trip 12:30 - feedback from teachers and how this has informed Chapperone's new product features 15:15 - how to get admin to say "yes" 20:10 - the role of experiential learning in education Learn more: Check out Chapperone here [https://www.gochapperone.com/] Check out The EdTech Lab here [https://theedtechlab.com/]

Ep. 11 - Acting To Education: How Stories Promote Reading Proficiency with Tanya Wright

Ep #11: In this episode I chat with Tanya, founder of Hairiette of Harlem. Tanya has such an interesting background. Before entering the world of education, she was actively pursuing her career as an actor, and appeared in prominent shows such as Orange Is The New Black. She is now building a reading literacy program through her beloved character, Hairiette. Her reading program involves a book series, a puppet show musical, and a teaching curriculum  - and she talks through how she came up with this model and why it is effective. Unfortunately we did run into audio quality issues in the recording of this so the episode may sound glitchy in parts but it was a joy to record and, as usual, I hope you enjoy the episode.  Topics: 02:30 - The seamless match between creativity and education 03:50 - Hairiette of Harlem, the reading program... 04:50 - ... and the puppet musical! 07:00 - How watching a movie can motivate reading 10:20 - Education is a sacred space and learning should be shared Links: Check out Hairiette of Harlem here [https://bighairhairiette.com/] Follow The EdTech Lab ⁠⁠here [https://www.linkedin.com/company/theedtechlab]