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

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