https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-058-rachel-fisher-hello-plato/

My guest for today is Rachel Fisher, co-founder of the AI learning app, Hello PLATO. If you have an LMS or eLearning platform, and have always wondered how to integrate it to your students favorite messaging app in a way that makes sense, this is the conversation for you. After all, wouldn’t you rather meet your students right where they love to hang out the most? 

In this exciting conversation we talk about:

 Hello PLATO, and why the best answer Rachel and her team found to simplify the content creation process was by leveraging text messaging interfaces.

Why text-based learning can be a powerful learning medium, capable of creating high levels of engagement and data, often better than popular authoring tools.

We discuss the affordability angle of text-based learning, or why for many students around the world text-based learning is not just the best eLearning platform, but the only one available.

Why Hello PLATO seeks to integrate rather than substitute the LMS, and why learners favor decentralized learning ecosystems in growing numbers.

We also touch on issues of entrepreneurship in eLearning, bridging digital gaps and tech divides, and what it is like to be a woman founder in the super hot universe of EdTech.

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-058-rachel-fisher-hello-plato/

Hi! In light with the interview with Luke Hohmann on the eLearning Podcast, we thought we'd look into examples around the world on Participatory Budgeting.

In a very simple sense, Participatory Budgeting is a process in which participants, citizens or students in our case, have access to a given budget they can use by proposing projects, debating and voting on it. As they participate and eventually see the results of their actions, they can increase their understanding and skills on topics like financial budgeting and planning or civic engagement. Many schools in fact couple Participatory Budgeting initiatives with a relevant curriculum.

Some examples we found around the world. Do you know of any other?

Lots of Participatory Budgeting experiences are listed here, on the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) database.

Lithuania Schools
Vilnius 

Students discussed their school communities and decided to have a school budget of between $1000 and $1500 (approximately $1100 and $1800 USD to date). Students suggested having drones, musical instruments, coffee machines and more objects and materials that would improve their environment and their quality of learning.

Purdue Polytechnic High School
Indianapolis

With a budget of $2500 USD, the students made the decision to invest in a mini library, a new pergola, name their sportswear, play music between classes and create a new dance group. 

Academy for American Studies
New York

The students invest $2000 USD to invest in incredible things like equipment for the science lab and a 3D printer. Also the majority of votes were in favor of having feminine hygiene dispensers in women's restrooms. 

Phoenix Union High Schools
Phoenix-US

The students decide to renovate their school cafeteria with approximately budget of $4000 - $7000 USD

Overfelt High School
California-US

After a selection and decision-making process, the students, with a budget of $50,000 USD, decided to invest in a scholarship program for driving lessons for the students themselves. 

In Belo Horizonte, Brazil

With a budget of approximately R$ 320,000, R$ 20,000 per school (~$60,000 and ~$3,600 respectively), 16 schools are implementing this initiative. This money was invested in excursions, games, sports equipment, improvement of collective spaces and teaching aids,  and clear suggestions and proposals from the students.

South Korea, Seoul 

The participation budget project invests around KRW 50 billion (approximately $50 million) in initiatives proposed by students to create and nurture a local sports center, projects to stop bullying and violence in schools, and projects to improve the quality of life of students.

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-057-luke-hohmann-firstroot-participatory-budgeting/

For many, the term “Participatory Budgeting” likely conveys boring or dreary images of town halls, committee meetings and bureaucracy. 

So would you believe me if I told you my guest for today uses Participatory Budgeting to actually increase engagement with students on issues of financial literacy and civic engagement around the world?

Silicon Valley insider Luke Hohmann is the founder of FirstRoot, which is an exciting approach to involve students in the improvement of their schools, while increasing financial literacy skills.

In this very accountable conversation we talk about:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Why participatory budgeting is not just a great way to teach financial skills, but why it’s such a valuable tool for empowerment, accountability and improvement of schools, institutions or even family projects at home!

🏦 Luke’s background in Silicon Valley working on enterprise IT, and why his lessthan-positive experience with educational software led to the development of FirstRoot

🤹 How to ensure that a participatory budgeting process involving students succeeds, both in terms of skill acquisition but also in helping them see how the process leads to visible results

⛔ We also touch on technical issues around process, security and privacy considerations, and we discuss the question: How much money is it okay to put in students’ hands? (spoiler: The number might be higher than you think)
 

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-057-luke-hohmann-firstroot-participatory-budgeting/

Lee nuestro artículo sobre la conversación de Moisés Wasserman y sus 5 temas claves para la educación post pandemia.

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/pulso-latino/

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Este mes tenemos historias relacionadas con el impacto, la generación de evidencia y el uso innovador de las tecnologías educativas, desde la "'Élite" hasta la "Última milla"

• Colaboración entre Edu Labs y Universidad San Francisco de Quito sobre Gamificación
• Hablé con Héctor Martínez sobre STEM y Robótica, tanto en el Gimnasio Moderno de Bogotá como en prisiones adolescentes y barrios de escasos recursos.
• También hablé con Diana Suárez de GLOT, iniciativa que busca promover alfabetización y aprendizaje de idiomas a jóvenes de escasos recursos en Bogotá implementando metodologías de evidencia. ¿Te gustaría voluntariar y fortalecer tu segunda lengua?
• Y en nuestro Pulso Latino encuentras noticias breves sobre el elearning en nuestro continente.

Lee nuestro último newsletter aquí. ¡Suscríbete!

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-056-kate-udalova-7taps/

My guest this week is Kate Udalova, who is the founder, creator and driving force behind 7taps, which seeks to bring everyone into microlearning easily.

Within their first year, 7taps has amassed over 3,000 clients across a variety of use cases who love the beautiful interface and straightforward approach.

In this no-nonsense conversation we talk about:

⚒ Kate’s leap into creating 7taps and why she (and her partner) are “all in” on the microlearning platform

 7️⃣ Why 7taps embraces the social media format, specifically the “instagram stories” looks to deliver effective learning in, well, seven taps more or less

♿ The value of accessibility and why microlearning is such a great way to approach conversations about accessibility

 💽 We also touch on the more technical benefits of microlearning: Easier to update, manage and gather more data points

 📔 Finally, why this microlearning “point solution” is gaining traction beyond the standard classroom, but why that also means you should not expect 7taps to become a fully fledged LMS anytime soon.

https://www.lmspulse.com/2021/elp-056-kate-udalova-7taps/