This Week with EdSurge

EdSurge Podcast

This Week with EdSurge is the essential weekly podcast that takes you past the headlines and deep into the fascinating, fast-evolving world of education. Hosted by Ira Apfel alongside our talented team of EdSurge contributors, each episode cuts through the hype to explore the human stories shaping our schools—from the rise of artificial intelligence in the classroom to student well-being, shifting policies, and the future of teaching. Whether you are a classroom educator, a district leader, an edtech innovator, or simply a curious mind, this show delivers the rigorous, empathetic, and trusted journalism you need to understand where education is headed.

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494 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes494

Newest first

Aug 24, 2021 · 33 min
How the Pandemic Has Disrupted Global K-16 Online Education
Online high schools were growing even before the pandemic struck, and some online schools were beginning to have a global reach. Now that the whole world has been forced to experiment more with online delivery, where does that leave the international market for online education at the K-12 level? And what about undergrad?
Aug 18, 2021 · 26 min
What the ‘Educational Underground’ Says About the Future of Learning and Work
This week we're hearing stories from the “educational underground"—the experimental programs and “hidden credentials” people get that aren’t on the traditional straight line of college. It's a conversation with Peter Smith, who has advocated for new models of adult learning for more than 50 years, as a college president and later a U.S. Congressman.
Aug 10, 2021 · 25 min
Could NFTs Play a Role in Education?
There’s all this buzz about NFTs these days, with artists using the blockchain-based format to sell digital works that are getting snapped up by collectors for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some students and educators are experimenting with the tech too, and some say they could make a big splash.
Aug 3, 2021 · 42 min
The Strange Past and Messy Future of 'Gifted and Talented.' Bootstraps Ep. 3
Sometime early in elementary school, kids are put on one of two paths: regular or gifted. Where did this idea come from? The answer goes back more than a 100 years, to a once-famous scholar named Lewis Terman. And it turns out his legacy, and the future of gifted programs, are still very much under debate.
Jul 27, 2021 · 35 min
We Know How to Diversify STEM Fields. The Challenge is Spreading What Works.
Freeman Hrabowski is a college president who has long fought for civil rights and racial justice. When he was 12 years old he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama—and got arrested. His program to help students major and persist in STEM fields hsa been shown to work, and several colleges are trying to replicate it.
Jul 20, 2021 · 40 min
How to Continuously Improve Teaching
Learning science is always advancing, yielding new insights about how people gain and retain knowledge and skills. How can classroom teachers keep up—and even conduct their very own research to improve their instruction, day-by-day and week-by-week?
Jul 13, 2021 · 32 min
How Antiracism Work is Changing Early Childhood Education
Little kids are curious about race and difference. So how are teachers preparing to help children develop positive social identities, encourage their self-expression and help them feel comfortable and safe? We talk with Dr. Calvin Moore, Jr., CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition, which administers the Child Development Associate National Credentialing Program, the most widely-used credential in early childhood education.
Jul 6, 2021 · 36 min
Encore: How YouTube Star John Green Thinks About His Educational Videos
Just after the pandemic began, we reached out to one of the masters of making educational videos, John Green, for his advice and thoughts on education during this unprecedented time. And he talks about his podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed, now a bestselling book by the same name.
Jun 29, 2021 · 27 min
That Assignment Where Students Give Someone In Need $1,000
Teachers around the country have been giving an unusual assignment to their students that goes like this: Think of someone who is in a bit of a financial pinch, make a video about why the person deserves a boost, and then hand-deliver the person a check for $1,000. The money comes from a philanthropic effort called VING, and on this week’s podcast we talk to its founder and hear one of these surprise student gifts in action.
Jun 22, 2021 · 30 min
Why Curiosity Is Key to Detecting Misinformation
We’re living in a world of big data, but also one where misinformation spreads like never before. On this week's podcast we talk with Tim Harford, author of The Data Detective, about his advice for how to better understand the numbers in our world.
Jun 15, 2021 · 35 min
The Long and Surprising History of ‘Teaching Machines’
People don’t talk much today about early teaching machines, some of which were made out of wood and brass. And that’s no accident, according to Audrey Watters, a longtime critical observer of edtech who is out with a new book called Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning. On this episode, we’re dusting off these old teaching machines from all the way back to the 1920s, to see what these low-tech devices can teach us about education today.
Jun 8, 2021 · 35 min
Recruiting Black Men to Lead in the Classroom
Only two percent of teachers in the U.S. are black men. Markus Flynn, executive director of the nonprofit Black Men Teach, is leading creative efforts to diversify the teaching workforce, and change the culture of schools.
Jun 1, 2021 · 30 min
The Lessons Teen Moms Can Teach Colleges
Today, one in five college students is a parent. Yet few higher ed institutions track parenting status or have programs designed to serve students who have children. For this week’s EdSurge Podcast, we spoke with author Nicole Lynn Lewis about what teen parents need to thrive at college.
May 25, 2021 · 33 min
Who Deserves a Seat at the Nation’s 'Best' High School? Bootstraps, Ep. 2
What a debate about the admissions process at one of the best public high schools in the country says about who should get what in education.
May 18, 2021 · 30 min
Encore: Should Instructors Rethink Final Exams?
When the pandemic hit, the traditional final exam just didn't seem to fit the moment for one physics professor. So she decided on a community-service project instead, and says it has made a more lasting impact on students than any blue book would have. She's one of several educators replacing final exams with "epic finales." This is an encore of an episode that originally ran in July 2020.
May 11, 2021 · 30 min
Who Really Benefits From College Student Diversity?
On this week's episode, we look at how colleges talk about diversity—and about why they embrace it—and how that language ends up affecting students.
May 4, 2021 · 28 min
What Can Teachers Learn From Students' Brainwaves?
What is going on inside the brain as students sit in classrooms? That has always been something of a mystery. So what if you could strap on an EEG machine on students in a classroom setting and analyze brain waves during learning. Researchers are increasingly doing just that, and doing other research at the intersection of Mind, Brain and Education.
Apr 27, 2021 · 27 min
Google Isn’t Making Us Stupid, But Tech Does Have Implications for Teaching
There's plenty of anxiety these days about what the internet and smartphones are doing to our brains, memories and attention spans. But what does learning science say about how technology is impacting the human memory, and about that plays out in teaching? EdSurge talked with Michelle M. Miller a psychology professor at Northern Arizona University and author of a forthcoming book, "Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology."
Apr 20, 2021 · 26 min
How a Professor of Hip-Hop Is Breaking Boundaries With First Peer-Reviewed Rap Album
As a high school student, A.D. Carson dreamed of becoming a rapper. And he has, in a way he hopes will inspire others. After being a K-12 English teacher and now a professor, he created the first rap album to be published by a university press.
Apr 13, 2021 · 14 min
The Surprising History of a Very American Idea. Bootstraps, Ep. 1
What the odd and surprising history of 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps' says about educational equity. Introduction to our new Bootstraps podcast series on merit, myths and education.