Silver Lining for Learning

Punya Mishra | Chris Dede | Curt Bonk | Yong Zhao
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Silver Lining for Learning (https://silverliningforlearning.org) is an ongoing conversation on the future of learning with educators and education leaders from across the globe. Hosted by Chris Dede, Curt Bonk, Punya Mishra & Yong Zhao, these conversations began under the “dark cloud” of the COVID19 crisis and continue today. We see these conversations as space to discuss the creation of equitable, humanistic and sustainable learning ecosystems that meet the needs of all learners. These conversations are hosted live on YouTube every Saturday (typically 5:30 PM Eastern US time).

  1. 3d ago

    It's Time to SkillUP with AI Tools: Exploring a Coalition Fostering Innovative Non-Degree Career Pathways

    Nondegree pathways are often the only option for tens of millions of people looking to advance in their careers or start a career. But can advances in learning technology, including AI, provide the timely and robust help that they need? As explained in this Video,  Evaluating AI Tools to Better Support Clients (4-5 minutes), this episode of Silver Lining for Learning (SLL) will explore an innovative partnership between between SkillUp and the MRDC. In particular, in Episode #285 of SLL, we will have Steve Lee, chief executive officer of the SkillUp Coalition, and Richard Hendra, director of MDRC’s Center for Data Insights, reflect on their partnership to evaluate the research that they have conducted on a career navigation chatbot. As Steve and Richard will note, artificial intelligence is not a universal remedy for every educational or work-related situation. Notably, traditional solutions like human assistance or spreadsheets often prove more effective depending on the specific challenge.  The collaboration between SkillUp and MDRC, mentioned above, demonstrated this dynamic when evaluating a career navigation platform designed to help low-wage workers navigate complex education and employment options. Interestingly, initial performance metrics revealed that the original AI chatbot performed poorly, actually leaving users worse off than standard methods. This critical feedback empowered the organization to redesign the AI product, resulting in an upgraded experience that significantly outperformed traditional approaches. Ultimately, this collaboration highlights the importance of rigorous testing, robust data infrastructure, and direct partnerships to ensure that **emerging technology** genuinely serves people rather than acting as a mere novelty. The missions of SkillUp and MRDC are below along with the relevant Web resources. SkillUp Mission: “SkillUp Coalition is a nonprofit that helps individuals secure high-opportunity employment. We focus on non-degree career pathways that provide livable wages and support the job-seeker from start to finish!” MDRC Mission: “MDRC develops evidence about solutions to some of the nation’s most difficult problems. Explore our projects and variety of products, including publications, videos, podcast episodes, and resources for researchers and practitioners…." More on MRDC: "Drawing on 50 years of on-the-ground experience and a deep understanding of what works, we help organizations build new evidence, use existing evidence, and harness data to advance their goals. Through collaborative partnerships, MDRC is helping nonprofit organizations, state and local government agencies, and foundations build new evidence, use existing evidence, and harness data to advance their goals." Resources: SkillUp: https://skillup.org/MRDC: https://www.mdrc.org/MRDC: https://www.mdrc.org/services/evidence-to-practiceYouTube Video: Evaluating AI Tools to Better Support Clients: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud2Q0A1Hw1MSteve Lee serves as the CEO of the SkillUp Coalition, a non-profit technology platform whose vision is to end income inequality and intergenerational poverty by connecting vulnerable workers to in-demand careers through comprehensive re-skilling pathways. Since launching in July 2020, SkillUp has connected over 5 million workers without a college degree to career, training, and job support nationwide. In Steve’s earlier career, he was a corporate lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers LLP prior to founding and leading an Internet-based educational software company - ThreeToEight - to a successful exit. He subsequently worked at Bain & Company as an Associate Partner, before shifting to the social sector as Managing Director, Economic Security at the Robin Hood Foundation, and later the SkillUp Coalition. Steve is a Mentor at Techstars; a Senior Advisor at MIT Solve, the Jain Family Institute, Making Space, Sparc, Leap Fund, and United Way of Philadelphia; and a Board Member at Upsolve, FinTech4Good, and NYN Media. Steve achieved both his BA and JD from Duke University, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Steve lives in New York City with his amazing wife and family, and is an avid sports fan (sadly, of New York teams). Steve also loves Calvin & Hobbes, The Wire, grunge music (and yes, BTS). Dr. Richard Hendra is a national leader in applying advanced data analytics, program evaluation, and artificial intelligence to transform social programs and improve economic mobility outcomes. As founding director of the Center for Data Insights at MDRC, he helps develop innovative approaches to help government agencies and organizations use data more effectively to serve communities in need. His work spans the full spectrum of economic opportunity - from early education and workforce development to housing stability and emergency preparedness. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  2. Oct 24

    The Worthy Educator Initiative: Educators Working for School Transformation in the Digital Age

    The Worthy Educator Initiative with Walter McKenzie, Heather Lageman, and Leigh Reagan Alley The Worthy Educator launched in July 2024 to serve mid-to-late career educators doing the work in schools and classrooms around the world. A community with no costs to participate and no limits to its potential to influence and inform education, it is approaching 1,300 education professionals sharing questions, answers, resources and opportunities to advance our profession to fuel its transformation to meet the needs of society in the digital age. Its most recent initiative is Roadmap 2031, nailing down everything we know and believe about public education, beginning with a committed core of veterans serving on our panels, following the energy of everyone attending, moving from an honest assessment of the state of the profession to a call for action, and having practitioners lead and inform this work because the map in hand has to match the terrain on the ground. Real educators doing the real work are in position to chart this course. The Worthy Educator is also known for xSELeratED, a monthly feature on putting social-emotional learning (SEL) into practice, now a three-book series: School Seasons xSELeratED is a calling to a collective pause, a purposeful inhale, and an invitation to return to ourselves, to each other, and to the legacy we build individually and together. It is our refocusing on the work of education not as knowledge, outcomes, and achievement, but as connection, belonging and healing. This is intentional, purposeful work: the integration of head and heart, skills and relationships, academic rigor and human well-being. The book is developed as a monthly guide of reflexive practices that span the entire school year, serving not as something extra, but as an essential companion for well-being, growth and fulfillment. xSELeratED Students is the companion to School Seasons xSELeratED: A Year of Community and Collective Growth for Educators, and whether at the hopeful beginning of a school year, in the weary middle, or at the edge of a goodbye, we want everyone to know that no one enters this work alone! xSELeratED Students is our attempt to make learning more intentional. It is not another program to complete or a script to perform. It is a seasonal path, a way to notice what the year is asking of the people in the room and to meet that moment with language, reflection, relationship, and action. And the xSELeratED Schools Framework provides big-picture architecture and shared language for this work, supporting educators, leaders, and teams to move from isolated strategies to an integrated, schoolwide approach centering relationships, repairing harm, and providing everyday opportunities for everyone to be seen, valued, and understood. Designed for PK–12 teachers, leaders, counselors, teacher-educators, and others, this framework helps school communities speak one SEL language, notice growth, and respond with care—together. Use a page tomorrow or plan a yearlong arc. Start small and build. The work is big, the steps are clear, and we walk them together. Reading & Resources The Worthy Educator – the official online home of our caring community.Roadmap 2031 – the web presence for this initiative, including downloads, supports and resources.xSELeratED – the official monthly feature offering practical applications of social-emotional learning in the lives of educators and the students they serve.The Worthy Educator Press – offering many resources related to the xSELeratED initiative centering on the practical implementation of social-emotional learning in schools.Episode Guests   Walter McKenzie Walter McKenzie is the founder of The Worthy Educator, a thriving community of leaders in education supporting each other to have impact and build lasting legacies in their work. Before leading community programs at ASCD, he served 25 years in Massachusetts and Virginia public schools: 14 years as a classroom teacher and 11 years as a district director and assistant superintendent. He also served as a senior training specialist for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., and its field offices around the nation. In addition to his work in public education, Walter is an internationally known presenter and author. He has been instrumental in launching and leading online professional development programs and postgraduate professional education courses, and he has actively facilitated online educator communities and web-based interdisciplinary instructional projects over the past forty years.   Heather Lageman Heather Lageman is a Maryland-based author, educator, coach and advocate for well-being and professional growth. With over two decades of K-12 experience spanning classroom, school, district, and state levels, she brings a human-centered lens to systems leadership. Heather writes about education, leadership, personal growth and creating healthier, more supportive communities for educators and students. Dedicated to empowering students, educators, and leaders with the skills they need to thrive, she has co-authored the School Seasons xSELeratED series with Walter and Leigh, and The Hope-Centered Educator: A Guide to Professional Renewal and Personal Empowerment with Janice Bradley (May 2026).   Leigh Reagan Alley Dr. Leigh Alley is an internationally recognized teacher-educator, scholar, author, and advocate for wholeness-centered education. She serves as a Coordinator of Graduate Programs at the University of Maine at Augusta, where she created the world's first dedicated Master of Arts in Teaching Whole Child Education. Her 25-year career spans classroom teaching, organizational leadership, school improvement, and higher education, united by a commitment to creating the conditions in which children and educators can thrive. Dr. Alley's work advances whole-child and whole-educator approaches through social-emotional learning, trauma-sensitive practice, resilience, and relational school cultures. She champions mattering, belonging, and psychological safety as essential to learning and well-being. Her scholarship and advocacy seek to transform educational systems through compassionate rigor, human connection, and an unwavering commitment to the dignity and potential of every learner and every educator. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  3. Oct 19

    Al, Policy, and the Possibility of School Transformation Stories from the Field

    AI is entering schools rapidly, but the real challenge is not simply how educators can use it. The deeper question is: What do existing policies, institutional structures, and expectations allow schools to do differently? In this episode of Silver Lining for Learning, we talk with four Australian educators and school leaders who are members of the Courageous Minority, an international community exploring how meaningful educational transformation can happen from within existing systems. Together, they bring perspectives from classroom teaching, school leadership, digital learning, curriculum, and policy. We discuss the tensions between innovation and regulation, teacher judgement and system requirements, experimentation and accountability, and the possibilities that still exist within schools for doing something genuinely different. Can AI help schools move beyond simply making traditional education more efficient? Can it support greater student agency, authentic problem finding and solving, creativity, collaboration, and more personalized learning? And where can educators find the space to experiment when institutional structures seem designed to preserve existing practices? This conversation is about both the constraints schools face and the possibilities that courageous educators can create within them. GuestsBrett Dascombe is a Geography teacher at Wavell State High School in Brisbane with more than 25 years of experience in Queensland education. He connects classroom learning with industry, universities, and communities through student-led geospatial projects and contributes to curriculum, assessment, and teacher learning around emerging technologies. Peter Howes is Principal of Ballina Coast High School in northern New South Wales and a member of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council Executive. With more than 30 years in public education, he is a strong advocate for student agency, community-connected learning, and the principle that education should be done with students, not to them. Marnie McCormick is Deputy Principal (Learning) at Wavell State High School in Brisbane and a member of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders Queensland Executive. She has worked in public education for 20 years and is particularly interested in how schools can respond thoughtfully to AI while sustaining human relationships, critical thinking, creativity, and educational purpose. Nick Pattison is Digital Learning Leader–Junior School at Haileybury in Melbourne, where he leads digital learning and innovation across four campuses. A STEAM educator and doctoral researcher at the University of Adelaide, his work explores how emerging technologies, including AI, can foster creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in young learners. Readings: Fast AI, Slow Learning: Reflections from September Courageous Minority MeetingWhat Is Worth Teaching When AI Can Already Do It?The Courageous Minority Report 2: A Few Courageous Conversations in July Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  4. Oct 11

    Beyond AI Literacy: Teaching Kids How AI Works

    Some middle school students today can explain how self-driving cars see the world and how ChatGPT knows the meanings of words. We’ll talk with the people behind AI4K12.org and the AI4MiddleSchools.org  curriculum that teaches students how AI works. David Touretzky and Christina Gardner-McCune are among the researchers first formalizing K-12 AI Education as a field of research and practice. What began in 2018 as a question about what K-12 students should know about AI led to organizing the AI4K12 Working Group, composed of K-12 computing teachers, university researchers, industry representatives, and tool developers. AI4K12.org is shaping the fabric of AI Education nationally and internationally. Dave and Christina are now leading a mutli-institutional partnership, AI4MiddleSchools.org,  spanning 8 states and counting, to teach middle school teachers and students how AI works. They are joined by Christi Scarborough, a middle school CTAE (Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education) teacher from Georgia, who began her AI journey as a science teacher in the AI4GA.org research practitioner partnership project, the forerunner of AI4MiddleSchools, funded by NSF. Christi is now leading her school district’s effort to infuse AI across the curriculum, developing AI curriculum, and coaching and teaching new middle school teacher leaders and teachers in the AI4MiddleSchools.org project.  Why should middle school kids learn about AI? AI is the new electricity. It powers much of modern technology, so educated adults need to understand how it works. In 2018, the AI4K12 Working Group formulated the Five Big Ideas in AI to make AI understandable to K-12 teachers and students. The Five Big Ideas and their grade band progression charts help people understand where AI shows up in their everyday lives, and the concepts that underlie it.  Take for example a robo-taxi. Through exploring Big Idea 1, Perception, students learn about the devices a self-driving car uses to sense the world around it, and grapple with the difference between sensing and perception.  (Perception is the extraction of meaning from raw sensory data, and requires AI.) Big idea 2, Representation and Reasoning, explores how computers represent knowledge as data, and how they use algorithms to operate on that data to solve reasoning problems. A self-driving car, for example, represents the world using a map, and employs search algorithms to reason about the route it will take. Another Big Idea 2 example is how the meanings of words are represented using large lists of numbers called “embeddings” which are created by machine learning algorithms. Neural networks such as ChatGPT use these embeddings for reasoning. How do we teach K-12 students about concepts that until eight years ago were discussed mainly in graduate-level university courses? We find ways to simplify the concepts and connect them to students’ everyday encounters with AI.  Reading & Resources AI4K12.org - Artificial Intelligence for K-12 (AI4K12) Initiative. Introduces the Five Big Ideas in AI, and national guidelines for teaching AI across four K-12 grade bands. Includes a curated a AI resource directory. AI4GA.org - Artificial Intelligence for Georgia Project - NSF-funded Middle School AI Curriculum and Teacher Professional Development Project. AI4MiddleSchools.org - A multi-state AI teacher capacity building project focused on equipping teachers, schools, and district leaders to teach AI in every middle school and support teachers in a multi-year professional learning community.  The project is building infrastructure to scale through state, regional, and non-profit partnerships.      Dr. David S. Touretzky is a Research Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His current research focus is K-12 AI and robotics education. After founding  AI4K12.org in 2018, Touretzky and his colleagues introduced the Five Big Ideas in AI and developed national guidelines for what children should know about AI and what they should be able to do with it. He and his students have created numerous online learning resources such as Neuron Sandbox, Diffusion Demo, and Word Embedding Demo that promote hands-on experimentation and learning about AI. Touretzky was named a Distinguished Scientist by the Association for Computing Machinery, a Senior Member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2022 he shared the AAAI/EAAI Outstanding Educator of the Year award with the three other members of the AI4K12.org Steering Committee. Contact: dst@cs.cmu.edu Social media: #CMUCSD @CSDatCMU Web: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst     Dr. Christina Gardner-McCune, University of Florida, Associate Professor Computer Science Dr. Christina Gardner‑McCune is a trailblazer in K–12 AI education and an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. She is a co‑founder and co‑chair of the AI for K–12 Initiative (AI4K12.org), where she co‑led the development of the Five Big Ideas in AI and the national AI guidelines that help students understand, evaluate, and create artificial intelligence technologies. These resources are now shaping AI curricula, standards, and learning pathways around the world. Christina is deeply committed to building AI teacher and student capacity through her AI for Georgia (AI4GA) and AI for Middle Schools scale‑up projects. Working alongside educators, she and her team have co‑developed a middle school AI curriculum and equipped more than 200 teachers and 9,300 students with the foundational skills needed to become AI‑enabled professionals. Dr. Gardner-McCune was recognized as a 2023 CSTA Hero and 2022 AAAI/EAAI Outstanding Educator (shared with the AI4K12 Steering Committee) — honors that celebrate her relentless commitment to inspiring the next generation of AI and computing professionals. Christina isn’t just preparing students and teachers for the future—she’s helping them shape it. Dr. Gardner‑McCune holds a PhD and MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and a BS in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University. Contact: gmccune@ufl.edu Social Media:  Instagram - UF CISE Department - @uf_cise LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-gardner-mccune/https://www.linkedin.com/school/uf-herbert-wertheim-college-of-engineering/posts/X -  https://x.com/Dr_GMcCune   Christi Scarborough, Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education Teacher & Robotics Coach, Veterans Memorial Middle School Christi is a veteran educator with 24 years of classroom experience and currently teaches Computer Science—with a focus on artificial intelligence—to middle school students in the Muscogee County School District in Georgia. Before moving into computer science, she taught science, math, English language arts, and social studies, giving her a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective on how AI can enrich learning across subjects. Although this is her first year formally teaching computer science, Christi has spent the past three years integrating AI concepts into her science curriculum, helping students learn how AI works. Beyond her classroom, Christi coaches teachers and plays an active role in building AI teacher capacity across the country through the AI4MiddleSchools project. She supports educators as they learn to integrate AI into their instruction. She is helping her districts prepare for emerging AI‑focused coursework. Christi is deeply committed to expanding AI education in Georgia and is working toward the adoption of statewide middle school AI standards. She was teacher of a 2025 Teacher of the Year for Muscogee County and a coach of multiple award‑winning FLL and FTC Robotics teams. In 2026, Veterans Memorial had the highest rated FTC Robotics Team for middle schools. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  5. Oct 3

    How will they decide: A game-based approach to ethical thinking in the age of AI

    As AI becomes increasingly powerful, concerns are growing about how best to prepare students to think for themselves in an AI-mediated world. How do we help them become thinking, feeling, flourishing, and responsible citizens? How do we equip them for life’s quandaries without telling them what to think or do? This episode will feature Quandary team members who have been thinking about, working on and researching these questions for more than a decade. Quandary, an award-winning, free online game and app played more than 2.5 million times, has been proven through independent research to cultivate important ethical decision-making skills, such as fact vs. opinion discernment, perspective-taking, reflection, and concern for others. The game, set on the fictional planet Braxos, is built around ethical dilemmas with no one right answer.  Recently, thanks to a Tools Competition EdTech prize, the team built and researched three game innovations designed for the AI age: a new episode focused on AI ethics; an Episode Builder to create your own dilemmas, characters and setting; and an in-game AI chatbot, designed to deepen reflection and learning. The Silver Lining for Learning conversation will focus on the team’s learnings and questions about preparing students for an even more complex world. Readings and Resources:  Quandary websiteQuandary overviewEpisode Guests Lacey J. Hilliard, PhD Lacey Hilliard is a developmental scientist and an associate professor in the Psychology Department at Suffolk University in Boston, MA. She studies how children learn about identity, fairness, and social issues. Her research focuses on how families, schools, and media shape children’s understanding of social groups, and how adults can better support children’s positive development. She also collaborates with educators, schools, and community organizations to create and evaluate educational media and tools to help children and adolescents navigate social challenges and ethical questions. She has worked as a researcher with the Quandary team on multiple projects, evaluating student learning and growth alongside game experience in middle schoolers, creating and evaluating supplemental materials for educators, and, recently, learning how newly developed Quandary innovations can foster ethical decision-making in high schoolers. Her work has been published in Child Development, Research in Human Development, Applied Developmental Science, and Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Shelly J. London Shelly London, Quandary founder, is a retired senior corporate executive and foundation president emeritus, as well as an adjunct professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business since 2008, teaching ethics-related courses. She conceived of the idea for Quandary while a fellow in the 2009 inaugural cohort of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative.  She has spearheaded the creation of award-winning social impact initiatives that have been proven effective and supported millions, including The Family Dinner Project.org and the Webby-winning Understood.org, a comprehensive digital resource for parents of children with learning and thinking differences. In 2019, she received the Senator Robert Dole Humanitarian Award for service to people with disabilities. She serves on the advisory board of Making Caring Common at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and on the board of trustees of the American Ballet Theatre, America’s National Ballet Company®. Scot Osterweil Scot Osterweil is a research scientist in the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, and a Creative Consultant to the MIT Education Arcade and the MIT Game Lab. He has designed games in both academic and commercial environments.  Designs include the acclaimed Zoombinis series (math and logic), Vanished: The MIT/Smithsonian Game (environmental science), Labyrinth (math), Kids Survey Network (data and statistics), Caduceus (medicine), and iCue (history).  He is a founder, President, and Creative Director of Learning Games Network (www.learninggamesnetwork.org) where he led the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Language Learning Initiative (ESL), and where he designed Quandary, named Game of the Year at the 2013 Games for Change festival. He co-authored the book Resonant Games (MIT Press) and served as the play consultant on the Emmy Award winning Amazon TV series Tumbleleaf.     Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  6. Sep 27

    What is Worth Learning in the Age of Al? Bringing Values Back into Education

    What Is Worth Learning in the Age of AI? Bringing Values Back into Education, with Beth Zemble and Ariadna Trapote As AI becomes increasingly capable of providing knowledge, solving problems, and even making decisions, education faces a more fundamental question: What do children need to learn to remain thoughtful, responsible human beings in an AI-driven world? While schools have understandably prioritized academic skills such as reading and math, less attention has been given to the values, virtues, civic dispositions, and ethical judgment that shape how students use what they know. At the same time, interest in character, flourishing, and human formation is growing in higher education. What if we began much earlier? This episode will explore why values education matters more, not less, in the age of AI, and how it might become part of everyday learning without prescribing one culture's answer to "whose values?" We will discuss the role of stories and dilemmas in helping children practice moral reasoning; what we can learn from values that appear across cultures; why character develops through repeated practice rather than one-time lessons; and how technology can make these experiences accessible at scale. We will share what we are learning through ValuesLab, where curriculum, stories, and an interactive app create a spiral learning experience in which children repeatedly encounter values, apply them to new situations, and reflect on the decisions they make. Ultimately, the conversation asks whether preparing children for an AI world requires us to think beyond what they know and can do to how they decide what they should do. Readings and Resources: OECD & European Commission — Empowering Learners for the Age of AI: An AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education (2026). A framework that positions responsible and ethical decision-making as part of AI literacy for young people.Human Flourishing Program at Harvard — Education for Flourishing. Explores education as not only cognitive development, but also formation, character development, and human flourishing.UNESCO — Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research. Useful background for the broader argument that AI education needs to remain human-centered and protect human agency.Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues & Oxford Character Project —A new generation of wise thinkers & good leaders. A framework for thinking about character formation as part of the mission of universities.Episode Guests Beth Zemble is the co-founder and Chief Learning Officer of ValuesLab, where she leads the development of its character education framework and curriculum. An experienced educator and curriculum designer, Beth has developed award-winning international education programs and learning experiences. Her work at ValuesLab focuses on how children learn, practice, and internalize values through stories, discussion, reflection, and real-world decision-making, and how those experiences can be designed to work across cultures and at scale. Ariadna Trapote is the co-founder and CEO of ValuesLab, an education technology company focused on making character development universally accessible. An actuary by training and an EdTech entrepreneur, she previously founded Little Bookmates and later built a global reading initiative that has reached children across dozens of countries. Today, she leads ValuesLab’s work at the intersection of character education, technology, and AI, exploring how children learn and apply human values when making decisions.   Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  7. Sep 20

    Tech-Enabled Alternative Education for Out-of-School Children and Youth

    When conflict, displacement, economic challenges, and climate shocks disrupt schooling, maintaining opportunities to learn becomes both urgent and extraordinarily difficult. Technology can help connect learners with teachers, resources, and one another. But what does it take for these approaches to work when electricity is unreliable, connectivity is limited, and communities face ongoing insecurity? Who gains access, and who risks being left further behind? In this episode of Silver Lining for Learning, we discuss the recent report Tech-Enabled Alternative Education for Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY): Evidence from Southeast Asia, alongside our guest's ongoing work on educational technology (EdTech) for Education in Emergencies (EiE). The conversation explores how technology can support alternative pathways to learning, what teachers and learners need to use it meaningfully, and how approaches must adapt across diverse crisis contexts. We’ll consider practical challenges involving infrastructure, language, safety, and teacher support alongside deeper questions about equity and sustainability. How can governments and their partners connect immediate responses with stronger education systems? And how can evidence guide investments that expand access to quality, inclusive learning for those hardest to reach? Watch or listen to this episode and find out. Resources: Tech-Enabled Alternative Education for Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY): Evidence from Southeast Asia. Andrew Swindell and Kate Radford. 2026.EdTech for Education in Emergencies: A Guidance Document for Education Specialists. Kate Radford, Andrea Jetten, Sharanya Ramesh Vasudevan, Amal Hayat, Aime Parfait Emerusenge, Asma Rabi, Laila Friese, and Haani Mazari. 2026.Curated Resource List: Using EdTech in Crisis-Affected Settings . Jennie Taylor and Andrew Swindell. 2026.Citations: ***Swindell, A., & Radford, K. (2026). Tech-Enabled Alternative Education for Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY): Evidence from Southeast Asia. EdTech Hub. https://doi.org/10.53832/edtechhub.1191. Available at https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/63QAD5XV. Radford, K., Jetten, A., Ramesh Vasudevan, S., Hayat, A., Emerusenge, A. P., Rabi, A., Friese, L., & Mazari, H. (2026). EdTech for Education in Emergencies: A Guidance Document for Education Specialists. EdTech Hub. https://doi.org/10.53832/edtechhub.1161. Available at https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/T22ZEING. Taylor, J., & Swindell, A. (2026). Curated Resource List: Using EdTech in Crisis-Affected Settings. EdTech Hub. https://doi.org/10.53832/edtechhub.1226. Available at https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/9Z7JTIFN. Episode #279 Guests: Kate Radford has 20+ years of experience in education, technology, and international development. Since 2010, she has specialised in scaling multi-stakeholder innovations to tackle the global learning crisis. At EdTech Hub (see https://edtechhub.org/our-team/), she supports ministries of education and education in emergencies actors develop and evaluate tech-enabled education programmes. She previously founded Can't Wait to Learn, an award-winning EdTech program for children affected by conflict, and has private sector technology and manufacturing experience. Kate has a BA in Germanic Studies and European Politics and a master's degree in developmental studies both from the University of Melbourne. She can be contacted at: kate.radford@edtechhub.org and at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-radford-9336a1b3/. Andrew Swindell is a Specialist at EdTech Hub (see https://edtechhub.org/our-team/), providing senior-level policy, research, and technical guidance to Ministries of Education and non-governmental partners on technology-enabled learning systems. In this role, he has led multi-country research examining how EdTech can improve outcomes for out-of-school children and youth (OOSCY) across Southeast Asia, and national secondary-level AI curriculum design research for the GPE Tech4Ed initiative in Tajikistan. Andrew holds a PhD in Social Science and Comparative Education from UCLA and has worked in both online and in-person settings across the USA, Bangladesh, Liberia, Thailand, and Myanmar, specializing in emergency and forced migration contexts. He has published on topics like AI, digital literacy, education in emergencies, and curriculum studies in both popular and academic outlets, demonstrating an ability to convey rigorous evidence-based findings and complex ideas in varied formats for different audiences.  He previously taught K-12 in Thailand and Myanmar, and held roles with the U.S. Department of State, UNESCO, and the PAL Network. He can be contacted at andrew.swindell@edtechhub.org and at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swindellandrew/. Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W9EAKiYAAAAJ&hl=en Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

  8. Sep 12

    The Takina Accord: One Path Towards Inclusive, Scalable, & Sustainable Education

    While billions of people in this planet enjoy educational access here in the 21st century, globally, more than 272 million children and youth are out of school. Seven of ten ten-year olds who live in low-income countries are unable to read a simple story. In response, in March 2026, the International Council for Open and Distance Education published an important new report, THE TĀKINA ACCORD: Advocating inclusive, scalable, and sustainable education. The ICDE Education Policy Forum report highlights insights from over 250 education leaders and experts who had gathered at a pre-conference activity as part of the 2025 ICDE World Conference in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand from November 11-13, 2025. During the event, these education leaders discussed the various policy solutions for promoting inclusive, scalable, and sustainable education in ways aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In Episode #278 of Silver Lining for Learning we will hear from Mark Nichols, President of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and Giselle Byrnes Professor and Provost at Massey University, who were the two editors of that the Takina Accord. They will describe the genesis for the report as well as the intended uses of it. Mark and Gisselle will point out the significant challenges that remain today to educational access. What policies and frameworks can support higher education in ways that are scalable, inclusive, and sustainable. Importantly, they will talk about the quality standards that might be put into place. Access the report at THE TĀKINA ACCORD: Advocating inclusive, scalable, and sustainable education Mark Nichols, President of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and Executive Director of Learning Design & Development at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Dr. Mark Nichols is a global leader in open, distance, and innovative education, known for his contributions to the advancement of learning systems that expand availability, inclusivity, scalability, and sustainability. He currently serves as Executive Director, Learning Design & Development at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, where he leads education design and is an innovator in the adoption of artificial intelligence. With more than two decades of experience across the tertiary and international education sectors, Mark has shaped policy, research, and practice in open and distance learning worldwide. He is President of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and a former Commonwealth of Learning Chair, roles through which he contributes to global dialogues on the future of technology-enhanced education. He is also a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), an EDEN Fellow, a founding member of the Aotearoa Tertiary AI Network (ATAIN), and a lifetime member of the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand (FLANZ). Mark’s research spans the pedagogical implications of digital innovation, organisational capability and strategy, and the ethical and strategic integration of AI in education. His published work includes contributions to international journals, books, and edited volumes that foreground openness, learner-centred design, and system-level transformation. He can be reached at Mark.Nichols@openpolytechnic.ac.nz and on LinkedIn.  Professor Giselle Byrnes, Provost at Massey University Professor Byrnes is an internationally recognised historian, with senior management experience in universities in Australia and in New Zealand, who joined Massey in January 2016. She has a Bachelor of Arts in History and English and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Waikato and a PhD in History is from the University of Auckland. She has worked for the Waitangi Tribunal, taught at Victoria University of Wellington and held academic and management roles at the University of Waikato and Charles Darwin University. Professor Byrnes has been Fulbright scholar teaching New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University, Washington DC, and has served as President of the New Zealand Historical Association. She has a commitment to advancing the agenda around equity and access to higher education and is a strong advocate of the critical role played by modern universities in creating social, cultural and intellectual capital for public benefit and economic wellbeing. She can be contacted at G.Byrnes@massey.ac.nz and her university homepage.  Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org

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About

Silver Lining for Learning (https://silverliningforlearning.org) is an ongoing conversation on the future of learning with educators and education leaders from across the globe. Hosted by Chris Dede, Curt Bonk, Punya Mishra & Yong Zhao, these conversations began under the “dark cloud” of the COVID19 crisis and continue today. We see these conversations as space to discuss the creation of equitable, humanistic and sustainable learning ecosystems that meet the needs of all learners. These conversations are hosted live on YouTube every Saturday (typically 5:30 PM Eastern US time).

Information

  • Creator
    Punya Mishra | Chris Dede | Curt Bonk | Yong Zhao
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    285
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2020-2022 Silver Lining for Learning
  • Show Website
    Silver Lining for Learning

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