In this episode, Jentre is joined by guest co-host Dr. Kathy Curry for a conversation with Keith Sinor, superintendent of Yukon Public Schools in Yukon, Oklahoma. Keith reflects on traveling with Jentre and Kathy to Finland to study the country’s education system and shares lessons about trust, teacher autonomy, student well-being, and innovative school design.

Keith also discusses the vision behind Yukon’s Central Academy for Learning and Innovation (CALI), a new tuition-free K–5 public school of choice. He explores the community’s strong interest in the academy, the importance of starting small and growing intentionally, and the opportunities and challenges of bringing meaningful innovation to public education.

Links:

https://www.yukonschools.org/page/cali

https://brockinstitute.org/

To learn more about the Innovating Education Podcast and work of the Brock Institute, click here.

In this episode, Ed and Jentre visit with Kathy Curry and Daniel Hamlin of the Oklahoma Education Impact Initiative (OKEII). The Oklahoma Education Impact Initiative is a non-profit initiative dedicated to rapidly transforming Oklahoma's public education system. The initiative is undertaking a comprehensive research effort conducted by an independent team of leading scholars from Oklahoma.

This research team is surveying representative samples of Oklahomans, including: school principals and superintendents, school board members, teachers, staff, parents and family of students, and the general public. OKEII’s primary research objective is to understand what the groups above consider to be the main problems – and solutions – affecting the K-12 public education in the state. The secondary objective is to elicit information on potential solutions (i.e., resources, practices, and policies) to these problems. These data will result in the creation and formulation of OKEII’s comprehensive education initiative.

To learn more about the Oklahoma Education Impact Initiative, please check out the links below.

Links:

https://www.okeii.org/

To learn more about the Innovating Education Podcast and work of the Brock Institute, click here.

In this episode, Ed and Jentre visit with Evan Rahman and Renee Venagas from Khan Academy. We discuss Khan Academy’s latest project, Khanmigo–an AI-powered personal tutor and teaching assistant. As a globally trusted education nonprofit, Khan Academy has reached hundreds of millions of users with their mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Note our December episode featuring Sal Khan.

In the past year, AI has taken the world by storm. Together we consider the role of AI in the future of education, addressing the compelling possibilities for educators to integrate AI into their practice as well as the reservations commonly held in the educational community.

More than a plug and play tool, Khanmigo offers engaging, on-topic, and effective learning for students, and is ethically designed with safety and learning as a top priority. Unlike other AI tools such as ChatGPT, Khanmigo doesn’t just give answers. Instead, with limitless patience, it guides learners to find the answer themselves. Khanmigo helps teachers with lesson planning, assigning content, and (if needed) refreshing teachers' own knowledge. Khanmigo can also integrate state standards in the teaching and learning process. These features are helpful to all educators and can be particularly helpful for emergency certified teachers and those who sometimes must teach classes outside their subject area expertise.

To learn more about Khanmigo, please check out the links below.

Links:

https://www.ted.com/Sal Khan/How AI Could Save Not Destroy Education?

https://blog.khanacademy.org/how-we-built-ai-tutoring-tools/

To learn more about the Innovating Education Podcast and work of the Brock Institute, click here.