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Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

By: Palmer Media
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At the intersection of learning, media, and the future of work, join us each week as we sense and discover where the future of education is heading. Join host Mike Palmer, the Founder of Palmer Media, as he engages with thought leaders, pioneers, and entrepreneurs exploring the cutting edge of learning in these tumultuous times.Copyright Palmer Media 2025. All Rights Reserved. Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Episode 750: Live from the HGSE Next Level Lab Spring Summit

    Episode 750: Live from the HGSE Next Level Lab Spring Summit
    Jun 9 2026
    In this milestone 750th episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer takes the podcast on the road to the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) for the Next Level Lab Spring Learning Summit. Centered on the future of work, workforce learning, and instructional design, this episode features a dynamic series of conversations with emerging researchers and educational innovators who are reimagining how humans learn, lead, and thrive alongside advancing technology. Mike kicks off the celebration by reflecting on the podcast’s 750-episode journey, giving a nod to the community, and sharing updates on his latest media projects before diving into a packed poster session at the summit. The episode features five insightful interviews that bridge the gap between human capability and technological innovation. Ruiz Clark from Digital Promise shares his research on the Digital Leadership Convergence Model. He outlines a strategic project working with a large California school district to establish a vision for AI literacy, explaining why educational systems must look past basic technical literacy to completely rethink the purpose of education in an automated world. Palak Chandak and Archana Chaudhary discuss their framework for Humanics Integrated Business Studies (HIBS). They detail an innovative curriculum designed to cultivate durable skills, like communication and critical thinking, highlighting a real-world pilot project that embedded business students within coastal surf schools in India to solve community-driven challenges. Chilean entrepreneur Felipe Vergara Iduya introduces Hestia, an AI-supported framework designed to capture unstructured community evidence—such as peer relationships, behavior patterns, and school climate data—to foster system-level wellbeing within school ecosystems. Beth Sapire examines the intersection of learning and healing. Drawing on adult development theories and constructive developmental psychology, she outlines the systemic conditions necessary for expansive, collective learning within complex organizations. Finally, Sean Snyder and Bill Wisser from the HGSE Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL) break down their design and development process. They discuss the creation of a university-wide data fluency initiative for Harvard staff and explain how they utilized AI voice generation and animation tools to optimize course assets for the Data-Wise Learning Institute. Show References: Running It Back Podcast: Mike's Lessons Learned From Sports podcast with Tarlin Ray. ⁠Palm Court Pod:⁠ Mike's New College of Florida podcast with Grant Balfour and Megan Citron. Here's the John Oliver piece chronicling the challenges faced by Mike's alma mater. New College Film Project: Learn more about the documentary First They Came For My College directed by Harry Hanbury at newcollegefilm.com. The Convergence Model: Download the paper and view the poster framework developed by Ruiz Clark at theconvergencemodel.com. HGSE Teaching and Learning Lab: Explore the resources, course design support, and institutional projects mentioned by Sean and Bill at tll.gse.harvard.edu. Innovation-ish: Read up on the book by summit host Tessa Forshaw and co-author Rich Braden, a frequent touchstone on the podcast regarding creative confidence. ElevenLabs: Explore the AI voice generation platform utilized by the TLL team to streamline production logistics for simulated learning environments. Adobe Character Animator: Discover the performance-based animation software used to bring the TLL team's simulated teaching avatars to life. Timestamps: 00:00 Milestone 750th Episode Celebration and Welcome 01:54 Introduction to the Next Level Lab Spring Summit at HGSE 05:53 Ruiz Clark on AI Literacy and the Digital Leadership Convergence Model 10:30 Palak Chandak and Archana Chaudhary on Humanics Integrated Business Studies 17:30 Felipe Vergara Iduya on the Hestia Wellbeing Framework 23:30 Beth Sapire on Expansive Learning, Adult Development, and Healing 29:00 Sean Snyder and Bill Wisser on Data Fluency and AI Workflow at the HGSE TLL 35:30 Post-Summit Reflections and Summer Preview Like, Share, and Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to stay updated on the latest trends in education. Bonus points for writing a review to help us run through the tape all the way to 1,000 episodes!
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    37 mins
  • Summer 2026 Preview Trailer: Reinventing the Future of Learning

    Summer 2026 Preview Trailer: Reinventing the Future of Learning
    Jun 5 2026
    Big changes are coming to Trending in Ed. Next Tuesday, June 9th, we are hitting a historic milestone: Episode 750. To celebrate our upcoming 10th-anniversary season, we are completely reinventing the show's structure for a massive Summer 2026 Sprint. We are officially launching four dedicated summer tracks to follow the changing talent and learning landscape: K-12 Classroom Design AI & EdTech The Future of Work The Future of Higher Ed We have a powerhouse lineage of global experts, McKinsey-level operators, and national bestselling authors dropping all summer long—including folks like Arun Gupta, Beth Rudden, Jim Gaona Ellis, and Dr. Özgür Bolat. The sprint officially starts next Tuesday, June 9th, with an immersive, roving-report field documentary straight from the floor of the Harvard Next Level Lab Learning Summit in Cambridge. Core interviews drop every single Tuesday morning. Make sure you are subscribed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss a single drop. Trending in Ed dropping like its HOT all Summer long!
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    2 mins
  • Scaling a Commencement Platform with Chase Rigby, CEO of Tassel

    Scaling a Commencement Platform with Chase Rigby, CEO of Tassel
    May 27 2026
    Commencement season is here, and while we all love the tradition, let’s be honest: a lot of graduation ceremonies are still operationally stuck in the 18th century. This week, Chase Rigby, CEO of Tassel, joins Mike Palmer to talk about what it actually takes to modernize the final milestone of the student lifecycle. Chase shares his path from teaching seventh-grade math and science with Teach For America to working as a product manager at Google, before ultimately using a search fund model to acquire Marching Order and evolve it into Tassel. We dig into why forward-thinking colleges are moving away from treating graduation as just a logistical headache and starting to view it as a strategic marketing and recruitment engine. Chase explains how Tassel is trying to upend the traditional business model by moving away from nickel-and-diming students with steep fees for their own achievement, and instead leveraging community gifting platforms that put money back in their pockets for rent or student debt. We also get into the tech side of things, discussing how they train AI models on a 20-year phonetic database to get broadcast-quality name pronunciations on stage, all while navigating the strict landscape of biometric privacy and user consent. It turns out getting that final touchpoint right pays massive dividends for lifelong alumni relations. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 - Chase's journey from Teach For America to product management at Google. 03:00 - Running a search fund and finding the graduation space with Marching Order. 05:30 - Shifting mindsets: Treating commencement as a strategic marketing and alumni recruitment tool. 09:00 - Turning graduation into a net-positive financial event for students via gifting. 12:30 - Blending digital software with real life to provide free graduation photos. 18:30 - How Tassel uses a 20-year phonetic database and AI to nail name pronunciation on stage. 21:30 - Tackling biometric privacy, user consent, and BIPA compliance. 28:30 - Scaling campus software point solutions and trends in the lower middle market. 32:30 - Final takeaways, looking out for Tassel at upcoming ceremonies, and closing shots. Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you listen to podcasts to stay ahead of the curve on what's emerging across the changing landscape of education!
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    35 mins
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