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What's your dream project? In this episode of the UX of EdTech podcast, hosts Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin explore their dream EdTech projects and the values behind them.  Join us as we talk about products that inspire us, people who motivate us, and boy band posters we grew up with. We talk about the intersection of traditional and non-traditional edtech products, children's books, kids building things, and the importance of accessibility when creating products. Also, what is our favorite edtech tool? EdTech Product Inspo (Article) Follow us UX of EdTech is a design studio that cultivates learning, creativity, and play.LinkedIn ↗︎ Substack Newsletter ↗︎

This is a must-listen for those who want to get into the mind of a teacher.  Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview Missy Testerman, the 2024 National Teacher of the Year. Missy shares her journey from aspiring to be a teacher from a young age to becoming a specialist in teaching English as a second language in Rogersville, Tennessee.  Reflecting on her career, Missy discusses the importance of face-to-face teaching, the integration of technology in education, and the challenges and rewards of being an educator.  The conversation also explores the role of AI in classrooms, the importance of reducing non-instructional tasks for teachers, and the balance of motherhood and a teaching career. Missy emphasizes the value of interacting directly with students and shares her experiences with mentors, technology, and personal anecdotes about balancing work and family life. Follow Missy on LinkedIn, Instagram, and her website.  Chapters 00:15 - Missy's Early Inspiration 01:22 - Missy's Teaching Journey 06:49 - Early Tech in Education 12:32 - First Year Teaching Challenges 15:19 - Tech Tools in Modern Teaching 24:49 - Digital Natives and Tech Integration 25:42 - AI in Education 27:09 - Face-to-Face Teaching vs. Tech 30:15 - The Role of Language in Child Development 31:47 - EdTech Trends and Teacher Workload 35:44 - AI's Impact on Education 43:33 - Balancing Work and Motherhood Follow us UX of EdTech is a design studio that cultivates learning, creativity, and play.LinkedIn ↗︎ Substack Newsletter ↗︎

Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview Alex Darrow, Principal Designer at Microsoft Education.  Alex discusses his journey from a childhood love for gaming to leading the design of innovative reading tools at Microsoft. He shares his experiences working on reading products, including the development of the Reading Coach and Reading Progress tools that have become essential in classrooms, especially during the COVID pandemic. Alex highlights the importance of observing children's learning processes and emphasizes creating engaging, gamified educational experiences.  The episode also features a special guest, Alex's daughter Zoe, who provides her perspective on her dad's work and shares valuable advice for designers creating educational tools for kids. Chapters 01:13 - Early Gaming Influences 03:04 - Career Journey and Academic Background 05:07 - Transition to Microsoft and EdTech 10:02 - Voice User Interface Design 12:11 - Hackathons and Product Development 19:17 - Reading Progress and COVID-19 27:01 - Future of Reading Coach and Gamification 31:34 - AI Hype vs. Panic: Where Do You Stand? 32:21 - The Role of AI in Education 33:57 - Advice for EdTech Designers 34:14 - Personal Literacy Journeys 38:01 - The Impact of Reading Progress and Flipgrid 42:02 - Lightning Round: Quickfire Questions 49:03 - Special Guest: Zoe's Perspective 👋 Follow us UX of EdTech is a design studio that cultivates learning, creativity, and play.LinkedIn ↗︎ Substack Newsletter ↗︎

This might be our most giggly conversation yet. Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview Annabel Blake (they/them), Principal AI Design Researcher at Canva. The three discuss connections throughout Annabel’s career and life, touching on various topics like research, kids, play, AI, ethics, toys, authorship, and advice for designers and researchers working the spaces of education and AI.  So much gold in this one! About Annabel Annabel works on conversational interfaces, generative experiences for education and on early R&D. Annabel’s work lives at the intersection of research, design, and play and includes studying how young people experiment with AI recreationally and how they use it for fun, comfort, and creativity. Annabel also writes “strange little books for children, like a book you wear on your head or a story about a robot goat… that comes with a chatbot goat (called Sardine!).” Annabel’s Links ⁠Playful Futures⁠ ⁠annabelblake.com⁠ ⁠bookandbot.com⁠  ⁠Center for Humane Technology⁠  Chapters 00:00 - Annabel's Squiggly Career Path 03:14 - Olympic Journey and Injury 04:42 - Reflections on Career Squiggles 06:07 - Intersection of Research, Design, and Play 08:38 - Kids and AI: Restoration and Exploration 12:46 - Children's Books and Technology 17:39 - Young People and AI: Surprising Uses 21:39 - Designing for AI vs. Traditional UX 28:17 - Co-Design and Early Access Testing 32:48 - Educators and AI Tools 36:22 - Innovative Teachers and Their Challenges 39:24 - The Importance of Playfulness in Education 46:11 - AI in Education: Balancing Innovation and Ethics Follow us 👋The UX of EdTech Studio teams up to support companies with product design, UX research, and UX writing. UX of EdTech is an engine for broader impact through its growing community, podcast, and newsletter dedicated to advancing design in education. Follow to find talent and opportunities. LinkedIn Community Publication Newsletter

Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin hang out with Michelle Lee, Partner and Managing Director of IDEO’s Play Lab. This convo is so delightful and fun! So much inspiration to go around. Listeners will be enriched. Michelle discusses her unconventional career journey from mechanical engineering to toy design, and eventually to leading kid-focused projects. She emphasizes the importance of play in learning and its application beyond childhood, highlighting her work with companies like VTech, IDEO, and Sesame Workshop. Michelle shares insights into designing engaging and meaningful digital experiences, such as Elmo Calls and the Space Explorer Bus project. She also explores the application of playful design in unexpected areas like smoking cessation and robo-investing.  Michelle provides valuable advice for designers and researchers in the EdTech space, encouraging them to observe, learn, and engage with the target audience, particularly children. The conversation also touches on balancing digital and real-life learning experiences and includes personal stories of learning new skills and bonding through play. Chapters 00:00 Introduction; from Aerospace to Toy Design 06:25 Balancing Digital and Real-Life Learning 14:21 Designing for Preschoolers 21:11 Incorporating Play in Unexpected Places 24:49 The Role of Play in Learning 27:26 Balancing Seriousness and Play 29:41 Advice for Designers and Researchers 34:36 Curiosity and Inspo Follow us 👋The UX of EdTech Studio teams up to support companies with product design, UX research, and UX writing. UX of EdTech is an engine for broader impact through its growing community, podcast, and newsletter dedicated to advancing design in education. Follow to find talent and opportunities. LinkedIn Podcast Community Publication Newsletter

Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview two key figures in the development of Google's Learn LM.  Julia Wilkowski is the Pedagogy and Learning Sciences Team Lead, ensuring Google products adhere to learning science principles and best practices and have a demonstrable effect on learning. Hayes Raffle is a Principal Designer on Google's LearnX team, where he makes Google Search, YouTube and Gemini more helpful for learning. Both guests share insights on their paths in learning design, the challenges of integrating rigorous learning science into fast-paced tech development, and the role of user research and testing in creating effective educational tools.  They highlight recent advancements announced at the Google I/O conference, emphasizing the importance of multimodal learning and the potential of AI in personalizing education and making learning more interactive and engaging. Chapters 04:42 - Formative Moments in Learning Design 09:14 - Designing for Diverse Audiences: Sixth Graders to Astronauts 12:53 - Impact of Tangible Media on Digital Learning 15:40 - Challenges in Measuring Learning Outcomes 20:01 - Integrating Learning Science into Product Development 26:05 - Recent Google I/O Developments and Announcements 29:26 - The Unique Approach of Learn LM 31:02 - Exciting Developments in Google Glass 32:10 - Real-Life Applications of AI in Education 37:23 - The Role of Designers in AI-Driven Learning 44:12 - Future Trends in Learning and UX 48:33 - Lightning Round and Closing Thoughts LearnLM Prompt Guide Follow us 👋The UX of EdTech Studio teams up to support companies with product design, UX research, and UX writing. Beyond client work, UX of EdTech is an engine for broader impact through its growing community, podcast, and newsletter dedicated to advancing design in education. Follow to find talent and opportunities. LinkedIn Podcast Community Publication Newsletter

This is the story of a print-first EdTech product and it's packed with nuggets about UX Research with teachers. — Ethan Pierce, founder of Adaptive Reader, shares his personal journey from struggling with literacy in his early school years to founding a company dedicated to enhancing reading accessibility for students of varying developmental and linguistic backgrounds.  He discusses the iterative process behind Adaptive Reader, focusing on extensive user research that led to a print-first approach due to educator preference and practical in-classroom usage.  Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin also explore Ethan’s thoughts on the role of technology in education, the importance of user research, and his vision for making literature accessible worldwide through adaptive texts. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Personal Story 01:20 - Founding Adaptive Reader 02:01 - Journey into Startups 03:30 - Creativity and Career Paths 06:00 - Challenges in Literacy and Education 07:10 - Designing Adaptive Reader 11:56 - User Research and Insights 18:42 - Balancing Print and Digital in Education 29:27 - Future of Adaptive Reader 35:45 - Closing Thoughts and Contact Information Follow us 👋 UX of EdTech is a design studio helping EdTech and education companies with their product design and UX research. We also facilitate a community of product designers, UX researchers, UX writers, learning designers, and educators. Find talent and opportunities in design and research through our job postings, Podcast, Community Publication, and Newsletter.

Designing for K12 EdTech? Take a moment to linger in the world of this teacher. Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin listen to second-grade teacher Danielle Rivera, as she shares her perspective on growing through EdTech’s various iterations. She also gives her personal perspective on this question: What do veteran teachers want from AI? Chapters 00:00 - The Joys and Challenges of Teaching 06:08 - Transitioning Back to Teaching 08:42 - Leveraging EdTech and AI 22:04 - Future Aspirations and Reflections Follow us Dannielle on Instagram Find or share job openings Publication Newsletter UX of EdTech is a design studio and talent finder—tailored for EdTech.

Alicia Quan introduces our new podcast co-host, Sarah Mondestin!  Ever wondered how to collaborate with UX of EdTech? This episode should point you in the right direction.  The hosts discuss Sarah's diverse career journey from educator to UX content designer and her involvement in various UX of EdTech initiatives. The conversation covers the structure and goals of the UX of EdTech Community and Studio, highlighting their focus on networking, showcasing work, and supporting EdTech companies with specialized UX teams. Don’t miss the end where they highlight what is inspiring them lately.  Chapters 01:26 - Sarah's career journey 06:50 - The Community 15:54 - The Studio 20:53 - This week’s curiosity and inspirations Worth Noting Sarah Mondestin is a former educator and principal. She’s a UX Content Designer and Strategist who helps companies consider their overall UX content strategies. Sarah has served as the Editorial Lead and Content Design and Research Advisor to support UX practitioners in our industry. She’s now the Director of Design Operations and Partnerships for UX of EdTech. Follow Sarah on LinkedIn or visit her website for more ways you can collaborate.  Sarah’s previous podcast episode: EdTech UX Writing and Content Design: A Journey Sarah’s article series: UX Writing in EdTech Follow us Find or share job openings Publication Newsletter (Respond to this episode here) The Community application is available on our website. UX of EdTech is a design studio that cultivates learning, creativity, and play.

How can UX practitioners upskill in game design for a learning context? And why is this important in EdTech? ⁠Alicia Quan⁠ chats The Sims, cheat codes, and moving past the “Big 5” of gamification (points, badges, leader boards, levels, progress bars) towards something more with: ⁠Chris Bennett, Game designer, Stanford invited lecturer, and EdTech advisor Worth Noting:⁠ Chris’ Stanford Game Design Thinking Blog  Nine Dimensions of Deep Flow  Browning’s MDAO framework  Core Engagement Loop Follow UX of EdTech The Latest in UX of EdTech ⁠UX Job Openings⁠ in EdTech

What is the current state of inclusive EdTech products and what are some resources to grow in this area? Alicia Quan chats with: Louisa Rosenheck, Director Learning Design at Kahoot! Sean Oakes, Creative Director at Backpack Interactive Worth Noting: The Kahoot! For All project, funded by the LEGO Foundation Follow for more goodies The Latest at UX of EdTech UX Job Openings in EdTech

Alicia Quan chats with two members from the Khanmigo team at Khan Academy: Karen Shapiro, Sr. UX Researcher, former teacher of 16 years Jonah Goldsaito, Principal Product Designer They discuss: The story of how Khanmigo was developed and their early partnership with OpenAI on its GPT4 LLM launch The most challenging parts of the journey so far Balancing excitement and optimism with caution and foresight when it comes to AI developments What’s next for Khanmigo ——  🔸 Resources: UX of EdTech Newsletter UX Job Openings in EdTech ——  🔸 Show Mentions: Khanmigo ——  Music by Sleep Still

Alicia Quan chats with several members from the team at ETS AI Labs: Lisa Ferrara, Sr. Director, Product Development  Narmeen Makhani, Executive Director of Technology  Erin Scully, Sr. Director of Learning Science and Design  They discuss: 1. Cross-functional approaches to product development  2. The role of LX Design 3. Educational contexts and use cases for AI 4. Designing with explainable AI in mind ——  🔸 Resources: UX of EdTech Newsletter UX Job Openings in EdTech ——  🔸 Show Mentions: ETS AI Labs ——  Music by Sleep Still

Alicia Quan chats with Dr. Rachel Schechter, who founded Learning Experience Design (LXD) Research at Charles River Media Group, acting as Principal Investigator and Chief Research Advisor to companies large and small. Rachel helps guide the use of data and evaluation to support product improvements, build evidence of efficacy, and strengthen customer implementations. They discuss: Ensuring educator-leaders choose literacy programs that work LXD Research Research certifications of products and why is it important The relationship between UX research and these certifications Advice for education/EdTech researchers of all kinds ——  🔸 Connect:  Dr. Rachel Schechter Alicia Quan 🔸 Resources: UX of EdTech Newsletter LinkedIn & UX Job Opportunities 🔸 Show Mentions: LXD Research ——  Music by Sleep Still

Alicia Quan chats with two members from Duolingo about their work as an early launch partner with OpenAI’s GPT-4 model: Edwin Bodge, Principal Product Manager Megan Bednarczyk, Senior Product Designer  They discuss how they launched Duolingo Max, including: The story of how Duolingo Max came to be Biggest challenges of that journey and process Balancing optimism with caution when it comes to recent developments in AI Advice for teams currently exploring and building with GPT4 and generative AI ——  🔸 Connect:  Edwin Bodge Megan Bednarczyk Alicia Quan ——  🔸 Resources: UX of EdTech Newsletter Job postings and resources in UX and EdTech ——  🔸 Show Mentions: Duolingo Max ——  Music by Sleep Still