Conversation 29: Interview with Mike Vitelli

01podcast16x16purple_2 Conversation 29: Interview with MikeVitelli (56:35 mp3)

Today I interviewed Mike Vitelli, CEO of The Gaming Krib. Mike and his company had touched off a bit of a firestorm within the education blogosphere, so I gave him a chance to tell his story. Mike and I had a good conversation and I learned quite a bit about what he and his company are trying to do. If you had some concerns, I encourage you to listen to the interview.

Happy listening!

Conversation 15: Interview with Julie Sykes

01podcast16x16purple_2 2007-02-20 Julie Sykes (22:33 mp3)

Today I interviewed Julie Sykes, who represents a wonderfully-interesting blend of the worlds of language acquisition and technology leadership. Julie is a doctoral student here at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and also is picking up her School Technology Leadership graduate certificate from CASTLE. Julie and I talked today about her Spanish Pragmatics Project, which is using virtual world software (like Second Life) to help postsecondary Spanish students learn how to communicate effectively with native Spanish speakers. Julie and I chatted in her department's language learning lab, so you may notice a slight hum in the background (as well as occasional noise in the outside hallway).

Julie generously agreed to include some screenshots of her virtual world (see below) and to field questions from listeners. Comments about this conversation are both welcome and encouraged. Here are links to some other resources:

Happy listening!

Screenshots (click on each to see larger picture)

Sykes006

Sykes001_3Sykes003 Sykes002_2

Sykes004 Sykes005 Sykes007










Conversation 14: Interview with Joan MacDonald, Linda Perdaems, & Colleen Wambach

01podcast16x16purple_1

2007-02-01 - MacDonald, Perdaems, Wambach (47:30 mp3)

Today I had a wonderful conversation with three extremely data-savvy principals here in Minnesota. Joan MacDonald is principal of Bluff Creek Elementary in Chanhassen; Linda Perdaems is principal of Woodland Elementary in Brooklyn Park; and Colleen Wambach is principal of Irondale High School in New Brighton. All three agreed to meet with me over lunch and share their perspectives as part of our podcast series on data-driven decision-making in K-12 schools.

Comments about this conversation are both welcome and encouraged. Happy listening!

Conversation 12: Interview with Jan Witthuhn

01podcast16x16purple2007-01-25 Jan Witthuhn (34:58 mp3)

Today marks the beginning of a new CASTLE blog. We're calling it CASTLE Conversations (www.castleconversations.org). The idea is that we'll interview interesting people on topics related to technology and/or school leadership and then make those interviews freely available through this blog.

We kick off this initiative with an interview of Dr. Jan Witthuhn, Superintendent of the Mounds View (MN) Public Schools. Jan is widely respected for her data-driven decision-making acumen and we think you will find her insights informative as you work to facilitate data-driven educational concepts in your own school organization. Comments about our interview with Jan are not only welcome but encouraged.

Happy listening!