Mike and I talk with Keith Instone about User Experience and User Interface design, commonly referred to as UX/UI. Keith is a user experience professional who is very involved with the Ohio tech community. You can keep up with his activities and thoughts at DexterityUX.com. In this episode Keith, Mike, and I dig into the definition of UX/UI and the role it plays in product design.

Keith’s site: https://dexterityux.com/
Keith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithinstone/

This episode is also available on Mike’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol7FuNxGUUU

Mike and I talk about the need to build technologists to fuel the high-tech economy in Ohio. The demand for technologists is growing, but many of the kids in our K-12 school districts are being left behind because their schools struggle to either find funding or to find qualified faculty for tech training programs. We discuss some of the projects being created to address these challenges, including my project called Making Software Makers, which is a platform that teaches kids how to build cool things with code.

Mike and I talk about a very cool project that he is spearheading in his area called the Anthony Wayne Innovation and Design Center. This exciting project aims to build community, provide technical training, and develop the workforce in Northwest Ohio.

1. Program overview
2. Mike’s overall vision
3. The importance of giving young people opportunities in smaller communities
4. Why the proper physical space is important
5. Why it is critical to involve local businesses

This is also available as a video cast on Mike's YouTube channel.

We interview Evan Painter from Land Moto. Land is a Cleveland-based maker of electric motorcycles and distributed power. We discuss Land’s products, their history, their future, and how much fun electric motorcycles are. We talk about the following points:

1. Introductions
2. Land Moto’s Vision
3. Creative Problem Solving
4. The Design of the Land Moto Working Space
5. Pubic Reaction to Land’s Motorcycles
6. How to get a Land Moto Motorcycle

Land Moto Website: landmoto.io

This session is also available as a video cast on Mike’s YouTube channel.

We discuss creative problem solving, creative problem solvers, and how to create a workplace environment that fosters creative approaches to solving problems. We talk about the following points:

1. Creative problem solving, design thinking, and the scientific method.
2. The need for a growth mindset.
3. The advantages of having a wide range of perspectives on a problem-solving team.
4. The effect that the physical space in which a person works can have on creativity.
5. What employers can do to grow creative problem solvers and creative problem-solving teams in their organizations.

This session is also available as a video cast on Mike’s YouTube channel.

We discuss some of the technical training projects that we’re working on and talk about workforce development in Ohio.

This session is also available as a videocast on Mike’s YouTube channel.

After a rather long hiatus we discuss feedback and guidance in the classroom and how guidance is really at the heart of what we do as teachers.

In this episode, we discuss the concept of engagement in the classroom. It is very difficult for participants in a class to learn if they are not engaged with the topics and material. That said, there is a lot of confusion about exactly what engagement is and how to engage students. We try to shed some light on this important topic.