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

Apr 6, 2021 · 19 min
Applying to College Has Changed During the Pandemic. This High School Senior’s Podcast Shows How.
Many colleges aren’t asking for SAT and ACT scores this year, and students often can't tour colleges to see what campus is like. A new podcast by a high school senior in New Jersey gives candid reflections on what the college application process is like during the pandemic.
Mar 30, 2021 · 26 min
What Today’s Kids Need for Tomorrow’s World
So what do today’s students, whether in K12 or in college, need to know to be prepared for the world they’ll graduate into? That's the topic of a new book by Stephanie Krauss, called Making It: What Today’s Kids Need for Tomorrow’s World. EdSurge connected with Krauss to ask her about her book, and how it was shaped by her own educational journey.
Mar 23, 2021 · 21 min
Worried About Student Mental Health, a College President Moved Into the Dorms
When Norwich University started the spring semester with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, the campus went on strict lockdown. The university's president, Mark Anarumo, decided to take the unusual step of moving into a dorm on campus, to get a better sense of the mental health effects of social isolation—and it led him to rethink the approach to future pandemic response.
Mar 16, 2021 · 25 min
Encore: What a Forgotten Instructional Fad From the ‘70s Reveals About Teaching
In the 1960s and '70s, an experimental form of teaching made a big splash at colleges. It was called PSI, or the Personalized System of Instruction. And it's largely forgotten, says Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, author of a new book on the history of college teaching in America. Here's what today's colleges can learn from the fad.
Mar 9, 2021 · 24 min
There Is No Average Student. So How Should Educators Measure Learning?
What if the way we think about testing and how we measure students is broken? That’s the argument made by our guest today, Todd Rose, author of the bestselling "The End of Average," who has researched the history of grades and standardized tests, and argues for a new way to think about them.
Mar 2, 2021 · 43 min
How Shakespeare Can Help Us Rethink Education
What is the purpose of education? It's a question that William Shakespeare raises in his comedy "Love's Labour's Lost. And the playwright's own training—in rhetoric, craftsmanship and conversation—reveals the answer. That's the premise of a new book by Scott Newstok, an English professor at Rhodes College.
Feb 24, 2021 · 24 min
More Students Are Using Chegg to Cheat During the Pandemic. Is the Company Doing Enough to Stop It?
Over the past year the pandemic has dramatically altered college teaching, and one side-effect seems to be a rise in exam cheating. In some cases, students are using homework help sites, including Chegg, to get answers during exams. The company has taken steps to respond, but critics say more change is needed. And some say it’s professors who need to change their testing strategies.
Feb 16, 2021 · 25 min
A Social-Emotional Learning Expert Explains Why ‘Unity’ Is So Elusive
In his Inaugural Address, Joe Biden spoke at length about unity, calling on Americans to “listen to one another, see one another, hear one another and show respect to one another.” But what would it really take to do that? Mylien Duong, a clinical psychologist and social-emotional learning research scientist, explains why listening and empathy are so complex and elusive.
Feb 9, 2021 · 14 min
Is It Still Teaching When the Professor Is Dead?
An online course at Concordia University is being taught by a legend of Canadian art -- well, by video lectures he recorded years ago. But a student in the course said he was surprised to find that even though the professor died in 2019, he's still listed as the teacher on the syllabus. What can we learn from this unusual moment in online teaching?
Feb 2, 2021 · 30 min
How the Race Between Vaccinations and COVID Variants Affects School Reopening
With COVID-19 vaccinations rolling out across the country, there's hope that more schools in the U.S. will soon go back to in-person learning. But there is also a sense of added urgency. But new strains of the coronavirus are emerging, bring a new sense of concern. Asaf Bitton, a physician, public health researcher, and executive director of Ariadne Labs, talks about how soon he sees a chance for kids to have "just a regular boring school day" again.
Jan 26, 2021 · 25 min
Teachers Are Going Viral on TikTok. Is That a Good Thing?
Teachers are becoming stars these days on TikTok, that social media platform for sharing short videos. Some of them say the platform serves as a kind of virtual teaching lounge during COVID. But is it a good thing for the teaching profession that classroom instructors are part of a site known for dance crazes, jokes and other irreverent content?
Jan 19, 2021 · 41 min
Lessons from Students and Professors Who Podcasted Their Campus Lives During the Fall Semester
Last semester was historic: the first full term under the shadow of COVID-19, and nobody really knew what to expect or how well various teaching adaptations would work. So what are some lessons from the fall semester? We talked with the professors and students who participated in our Pandemic Campus Diaries podcast series in the fall for their takeaways.
Jan 13, 2021 · 26 min
Are Colleges Partly to Blame for the Riot at the Capitol?
This week we talk with a history professor who thinks that not only can colleges do more to encourage civic education that could prevent future crises like the mob storming the U.S. Capitol last week, but that higher education is partly to blame for last week’s events.
Jan 6, 2021 · 33 min
EdSurge Podcast’s Top Moments of 2020
On this episode we’re going to revisit some of the most memorable moments from our podcast in 2020 -- and some bonus material that we wanted to get on but just didn’t quite fit.
Dec 30, 2020 · 31 min
How to Redesign Our Educational System for Lifelong Learning
The disruptions in the job market caused by COVID-19 mean colleges and employers will need to rethink the relationship between the workplace and the classroom. That’s according to Michelle Weise, who makes the case in her new book, Long Life Learning.
Dec 22, 2020 · 24 min
How the Brain ‘Grasps’ New Concepts
Forgetting is a feature, not a bug. That's one of the surprising truths about how the brain works in the new book "Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn." We talk with the book's co-author, Sanjay Sarma, a professor and the vice president for open learning at MIT.
Dec 16, 2020 · 46 min
Online or In Person: Which Choice Aced the Pandemic Semester? Campus Diaries Ep. 8
Some colleges were committed to doing as much in-person teaching and activities as possible this semester, even during this health crisis. While other colleges decided early on to focus attention online and pretty much shutter campus for now. For our series finale of the Pandemic Campus Diaries series, we ask: which decision was the right one for students and professors?
Dec 8, 2020 · 42 min
A Conversation With #EduColor's José Vilson About Inclusive Teaching
How can educators make their teaching more inclusive? For perspective and advice, we recently talked with José Vilson, co-founder and executive director of #EduColor, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to issues of race and social justice in education and author of “This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education."
Dec 1, 2020 · 35 min
How to Save Public Higher Ed. New Book Makes Case For Rethinking the Value of Colleges
This week's guest, John Warner, has just released a timely book with fresh arguments on how to frame this larger question of who should pay for higher education -- and even how we should think about college’s place in American life. The book is called “Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Public Higher Education.”
Nov 24, 2020 · 29 min
‘No-Excuses’ and ‘Progressive’ Schools Are Training New Teachers Very Differently About Race
Residencies are the new trend in teacher education. What are they teaching about race? Victoria Thiesen-Homer, a postdoctoral research fellow at Arizona State University’s School of Social Transformation, embedded herself in a no-excuses and a progressive residency school for her new book, “Learning to Connect: Relationships, Race, and Teacher Education."