[iframe style=”border:none” src=”//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/26342508/height/100/width//thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/custom/tdest_id/3295136/custom-color/87A93A” height=”100″ width=”100%” scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]   Social constructivism had its origins in the thought of Karl Marx. However, it became a strong influence on educationalists in the capitalist West during the latter half of the 20th Century, and thinkers such as Piaget and Vygotsky are popular on teacher training…

    People use podcasts to gain information and knowledge, about a huge variety of things, in their downtime. Organisations and institutions have been slow to leverage this powerful source of potential to date, but things are changing fast. John talks to Adam Lacey, co-founder of Assemble You, an ‘audio-first’ provider of learning content. How…

    At the Learning Technologies France show in Paris this February, John talked to two of the industry’s leading commentators, who both released significant pieces of research at the show. The L&D Global Sentiment Survey, run by Donald H Taylor, takes the pulse of the L&D community world-wide. The one-minute online poll asks L&D…

    A passion for learning brought Dinye Hernada, she says, from a muddy school field in Indonesia to the boardrooms of Germany’s top companies. With a double masters in international management, she began her working life supporting digital transformation. Realizing, however, that investing in people often had a bigger and more sustainable impact, she…

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/26048754/height/100/width//thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/custom/tdest_id/3295136/custom-color/87A93A” height=”100″ width=”100%” scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]       This episode focuses on happiness. Utilitarianism is a strand in philosophy that says the greatest happiness of the greatest number should guide our judgment in all things – including education. But does its modern antecedent, positive psychology, place too much trust…

  Ethical Angel is a company that brings together learners in need of development opportunities with charities and good causes in need of the practical skills they are developing. John talks to the company’s founder and CEO, Alexander Fahie, a young entrepreneur with a background in investment management. Alexander explains how he had the idea…

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/25902189/height/100/width//thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/custom/tdest_id/3295136/custom-color/87A93A” height=”100″ width=”100%” scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]       This episode covers a sizeable sweep of history, from the perhaps misnamed Dark Ages and the Islamic Golden Age, on through the Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment. As the Christian and Islamic faiths spread, learning became a powerful tool of religion –…

  Leadership learning is perhaps the most prestitigious and well-funded of training staples. In a changing world, it has become democratized in recent years, and now embraces a more progressive (some would say liberal) agenda. Nevertheless it faces criticism from academics in highly respected institutions, who question its value.   In this wide-ranging discussion about…

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/25763334/height/100/width//thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/custom/tdest_id/3295136/custom-color/87A93A” height=”100″ width=”100%” scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]   Once the stuff of science fiction, Artificial Intelligence is now a part of everyday life. But the story of how it came into being is not often told. This episode reveals its roots in neuropsychology and observations of the physical processes in the…

  Stephen Downes is a prominent speaker and writer in the field of educational technology and learning, known for his work on open educational resources, digital learning, and the development of the MOOC (massive open online course). He’s currently a researcher at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Downes…