How 80,000+ Teachers Are Rethinking Instruction with Robert Barnett of Modern Classrooms Project

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7d ago 46:18

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Robert Barnett co-founded the Modern Classrooms Project, which has empowered 80,000+ educators in 180+ countries to meet every learner’s needs. Before that he taught math, computer science, English, social studies, and law, from the middle-school to university levels, at public and private schools in the U.S. and Switzerland. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University and Harvard Law School; speaks English, French, and Spanish; and lives in Washington, DC. His book, Meet Every Learner's Needs, comes out in February, and he hopes his two young children will learn in Modern Classrooms someday!

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How Modern Classrooms transforms the “operating system” of schools
Why teacher-created videos are more powerful than polished content
The case for paper-based mastery checks in a tech-driven world
Rob’s take on AI tools—and why teacher-facing AI holds promise
How to truly personalize learning while keeping it personal

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:02:27] Rob’s journey from overwhelmed teacher to instructional leader
[00:03:46] What’s wrong with today’s classroom model—and how to fix it
[00:07:54] Inside a Modern Classroom: self-paced, human-centered learning
[00:13:33] Paper beats screens—for fast, meaningful feedback
[00:14:25] The power of personal: making your own instructional videos
[00:17:46] Tech should amplify, not replace, teacher-student relationships
[00:20:26] Why AI needs clearer use cases in classrooms
[00:26:59] Chronic absenteeism demands a new instructional model
[00:34:51] AI avatars: promising or uncanny? Rob weighs in
[00:39:32] Rob’s new book Meet Every Learner’s Needs—a guide for redesigning instruction

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🎉 Presenting Sponsor:

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Chapters

1. How 80,000+ Teachers Are Rethinking Instruction with Robert Barnett of Modern Classrooms Project (00:00:00)

2. Rob’s journey from overwhelmed teacher to instructional leader (00:02:45)

3. What’s wrong with today’s classroom model—and how to fix it (00:04:04)

4. Inside a Modern Classroom: self-paced, human-centered learning (00:08:12)

5. Paper beats screens—for fast, meaningful feedback (00:13:51)

6. The power of personal: making your own instructional videos (00:14:43)

7. Tech should amplify, not replace, teacher-student relationships (00:18:04)

8. Why AI needs clearer use cases in classrooms (00:20:44)

9. Chronic absenteeism demands a new instructional model (00:27:40)

10. AI avatars: promising or uncanny? Rob weighs in (00:35:32)

11. Rob’s new book Meet Every Learner’s Needs—a guide for redesigning instruction (00:40:13)

344 episodes

#Tech #Podcasting Education #News #Tech News #Alex Sarlin