BE Podcast Network: Podcasts that help you go Beyond Education. 

Latest Episodes

How Do We Catch Higher Ed Up For Age of AI? - Tina Austin

In this episode, Priten speaks with Tina Austin, an AI educator and professor of biomedical ethics who helps institutions rethink assessment and teaching in the age of generative AI. As ChatGPT disrupted the assumption that polished output reflects student thinking, Tina moved beyond academic integrity concerns to ask a deeper question: what if we redesigned learning around when and how thinking happens, rather than what gets produced at the end?Key Takeaways:Bloom's Taxonomy breaks down because AI collapses the distinction between output and thinking. The old model assumed a polished answer proved learning; AI now makes that assumption untenable, forcing educators to make thinking visible through process rather than relying on products as evidence.UnBlooms treats learning as recursive, not hierarchical—and starts with intentional friction. Rather than inverting Bloom's or banning AI, Tina's model requires students to show their initial thinking, engage critically with AI output, and revise with judgment; the shape shifts from a ladder to a spiral where learners don't return to the same place twice.Different disciplines protect different kinds of thinking, and AI policy should honor that variation. STEM faculty worry about problem-solving integrity; humanities faculty about voice and nuance; effective AI policy emerges from asking each discipline what thinking they need to safeguard, not from imposing one rule across all fields.The most productive AI use in classrooms builds critical skepticism, not efficiency. Having students critique AI-generated lecture summaries or debate where AI diverges from expert knowledge creates genuine engagement; offloading listening itself (via AI note-takers) removes a central learning function and trades visibility into thinking for marginal convenience.Higher education's crisis is not new, but AI has made it visible and urgent. Tenure and research incentives protect teaching practices that no longer serve; the opportunity now is to ask honestly whether courses are helping students develop judgment and prepare them for genuine uncertainty—not to add AI on top of unchanged structures.Tina Austin is an AI educator, researcher, and policy advisor working at the intersection of education, healthcare, science, and emerging technology. Recognized as one of ASU+GSV's Leading Women in AI (2025), featured by OpenAI Academy, and interviewed by CNN, she is one of the most prominent voices guiding institutions toward responsible, human-centered AI adoption. She has led courses at UCLA, USC, CSU, and Caltech spanning critical thinking with AI, biomedical research, regenerative medicine, and ethics.

From Reactive to Intentional: The Leadership Shift Every Elementary Principal Needs

In this episode of The Principal’s Handbook, we explore the idea of The Elementary Edge — the difference between reactive leadership and intentional leadership in elementary schools. Elementary principals face unique emotional demands, constant decision-making, and the pressure of leading through overwhelm while still supporting staff, students, and families. This episode breaks down four practical shifts that help leaders stay grounded, focused, and proactive instead of constantly reacting to the loudest problem in the building. If you want to finish the school year strong and step into next year with more clarity and confidence, this episode will help you start making that shift now.Join The Elementary Edge Group Coaching Program

The Telling of History through Story

David Jones III is a historical fiction author and storyteller with a deep passion for early American history and the American Revolution. Through immersive narrative and careful research, he brings colonial America and the Revolutionary War to life, exploring the human experiences behind the founding of the United States. As the author of The Unlikely Life of Oliver Atkinson, David combines documented historical events with compelling storytelling to make the birth of America vivid, accessible, and meaningful for modern audiences.   Access his website here:  https://www.davidjones3.com/

#80 Parents: the Co-Teachers No One Trained with Bobbie Sandberg

In this episode of Why Distance Learning, Seth and Allyson speak with Bobbie Sandberg — an educational researcher who recently completed her PhD in instructional psychology and technology at BYU — about what's actually happening in the household when a K-12 student learns online, and why most programs aren't designed for the answer. Bobbie's research, grounded in Jered Borup's Academic Communities of Engagement framework, reframes engagement as a three-dimensional challenge — cognitive, behavioral, and affective — that K-12 students can't sustain alone. When the school is online, the support system shifts to whoever is home. And most programs haven't reckoned with what that means.Together, Seth, Allyson, and Bobbie explore how parents naturally divide the labor of support, why more involvement isn't the same as better involvement, and what happens when families arrive at virtual school not by choice but because nothing else worked. Bobbie also shares what she's learned about the critical first weeks of enrollment, why explicit role invitations from programs make a surprisingly big difference, and the underrated power of affective engagement — including a story about refugee mothers whose aspirational storytelling did what tutoring couldn't.Key topics discussed: - the three dimensions of student engagement and who owns each one- why cognitive support from parents can actually backfire- mooring factors and why families don't always "choose" online school- the fire hose problem in onboarding; designing for autonomy instead of dependence- why affective engagement might be the most underestimated variable in online learning.Links & Resources:Bobbie's parent guide website: https://www.supportonlinelearning.com/parentguide.htmlBobbie's parent assessment - HOPE survey: https://byu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7WdzYJPDpXve16K "Behind the Screen: Exploring Parental Roles in K-12 Online Education" (Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 2024) - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15391523.2024.2447729"Parental Support Challenges for K-12 Student Online Engagement" (Distance Education, 2024) - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01587919.2024.2397481 "Choosing Virtual: Understanding the Forces that Drive Parents Toward Online K-12 Education" (Journal of School Choice, 2025) - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15582159.2025.2534005Guest Bio: Bobbie Sandberg is an educational researcher who recently completed her PhD in instructional psychology and technology at Brigham Young University. Her work focuses on parental roles in K-12 online education, with published research on how families navigate school choice, how parents construct their support roles, and where programs most commonly fail to design for the home environment. She holds a BA in linguistics and a TESOL master's certification from BYU.About the Hosts: Seth Fleischauer is the founder of Banyan Global Learning and host of Why Distance Learning. Through Banyan, he designs live virtual programs that connect K-12 classrooms to global peers and expert facilitators — building the kind of structured, human-centered distance learning the podcast explores. See https://banyangloballearning.com/global-learning-live/Tami Moehring and Allyson Mitchell work with CILC, the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, to help educators implement high-quality live virtual learning experiences across grade levels. Discover more at CILC.org.

Hosts

Jethro Jones

Jethro Jones

Host of The Authority Podcast — Expert Insights and Fresh Ideas for Education Leaders
Ross Romano

Ross Romano

Host of The Authority Podcast — Expert Insights and Fresh Ideas for Education Leaders
A Jethro Jones

A Jethro Jones

Host of Transformative Principal
Mike Caldwell

Mike Caldwell

Host of Transformative Principal