Education is full of visionary leaders and creative practitioners who are quietly reimagining what school should look like—in classrooms, research labs, nonprofits, and school systems around the world. IdeaSpark, a brand new podcast from the International Society for Transforming Education, is where their thinking finally gets the mic.
Hosted by ISTE CEO Richard Culatta alongside guest co-hosts from across the organization, IdeaSpark was built on a simple premise: skip the panel, skip the script, skip the résumé recap. Instead, each episode features honest conversations about what is actually working in classrooms, what isn’t, and where education needs to go next.
Rather than recycling surface-level advice, the show dives into the core challenges weighing on educators' minds.
- What are we measuring, and what do students need right now?
- How do we design transformational learning aligned to each student’s identities, interests, and goals?
- How can technology, particularly AI, strengthen human connection in classrooms rather than replace it?
Who's Joining Us First?
The initial lineup brings together leaders who are actively challenging the status quo.
Ted Dintersmith, venture capitalist turned education advocate, asks the central question most schools avoid: Does what we're teaching kids today have anything to do with the world they're walking into tomorrow?
Michelle Kang, CEO of NAEYC, makes a compelling case for keeping the student, not the technology, at the center of learning, even as AI reshapes classrooms far beyond early childhood.
Readers will also hear from Diana Cornejo-Sanchez, who leads the High Tech High network, as she describes what happens when a school builds its entire culture around student-driven, purpose-filled projects, and why any classroom can take a page from their playbook.
With new voices, practical strategies, and candid debates coming all year long, IdeaSpark offers the kind of honest insight educators need to navigate a rapidly changing landscape. You can stream the first two episodes today at https://ascd.org/podcasts.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast player: https://pod.link/1810014681.
