The LearningMate Podcast

Ep 29 - From Access to Impact: Transforming Online Education

MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Andrew Shean, Chief Academic Officer | Los Angeles Pacific University Dr. Andrew Shean is a higher education leader and innovator, currently serving as Chief Academic OfficerLos Angeles Pacific University. With a career spanning K–12 and online higher education, he has led large-scale academic transformation initiatives focused on improving student outcomes, expanding access, and advancing innovative delivery models. A former District Teacher of the Year, Dr. Shean brings a practitioner’s perspective to his work, combining deep experience in teaching, leadership, and system-wide change. He remains actively engaged in research, doctoral education, and advisory work across the education landscape.

Ep 28 - Designing AI for Humans: A Social Scientist’s Approach to the Future of Learning

MEET OUR GUEST Robert MacAuslan, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence | Southern New Hampshire University Dr. Robert MacAuslan is Vice President of Artificial Intelligence at Southern New Hampshire University, where he works on institutional strategy for AI adoption, governance, and implementation. His work focuses on responsible deployment of AI across higher education, including policy, ethics, literacy, and emerging applications that support teaching, learning, and operations. He holds a PhD in Sociology, an MA in Economics, and undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Mandarin Chinese, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to questions of technology, culture, and organizational change.

Ep 27 - The Cradle-to-Career Data Shift

MEET OUR GUESTS Claus von Zastrow, Senior Policy Director | Education Commission of the States As senior policy director, Claus oversees Education Commission of the States’ Policy Team and works with his colleagues to promote timely and relevant education policy and research. He has held senior positions in education organizations for 25 years and has spent much of that time helping diverse stakeholders find consensus on important education issues. Claus is dedicated to ensuring that state leaders have the information and guidance they need to make the best possible decisions affecting young people. Travis Hurst, Senior Project Manager | LearningMate Double Line Travis Hurst is a Senior Project Manager for Double Line and is leading the company's development of the E-W Framework Analysis Tool. Over the last 15 years, he has helped clients tackle tough problems related to managing their Education data.

Ep 26 - The Revolution in Assessment Design: How LearningMate’s Assessment Item Generator is Leading Change

MEET OUR GUESTS Sagarika Prabhakar, AI and Learning Solution Architect | LearningMate Sagarika Prabhakar, an EDSAFE AI Alliance’s Women in AI Fellow (2025), brings 10+ years of experience in education curriculum development and AI-enabled learning design solutions to the EdTech industry. She has held diverse roles as an English Language Trainer, AI-Conversation Designer, and Instructional Designer, specializing in blended e-learning and instructor-led training (ILT). By authoring and presenting at prestigious international conferences showcasing solutions focusing on AI’s impact in education, she has honed her expertise in AI technologies and led AI-driven projects and workflows in educational content platforms, assessment generation, and AI-based tutoring Chatbots, and much more. Ninad Kochkar, Technology Solution Architect | LearningMate With over 20 years of IT expertise, Ninad Kochkar specializes in architecting scalable, enterprise-grade AI solutions and large-scale microservices systems. As a leader in AI Solutions at LearningMate, he spearheads cutting-edge initiatives in Generative and Agentic AI, orchestrating multimodal content generation specifically for the EdTech domain. His deep technical proficiency spans cloud-native architectures and DevOps, enabling him to drive digital transformation by modernizing legacy systems and implementing intelligent automation for educational content quality and delivery.

Ep 25 - Redefining Value in Higher Education: Transparency, ROI, and Student Outcomes

MEET OUR GUEST Geordie Hyland, President and Chief Executive Officer | American College of Education (ACE) Geordie Hyland is the President and Chief Executive Officer of American College of Education. Geordie brings extensive industry experience and leads ACE as an accredited, fully online institution focused on delivering high-quality, flexible, and affordable programs in education, business, leadership, healthcare, and nursing.