Carl Hooker brings us a live podcast from the ISTE+ASCD conference in San Antonio, Texas. He connects with conference attendees, friends old and new, asking each to share a problem they're working to solve in their corner of the education world — or, as Carl puts it: “Tell me your idea spark."

In this episode, Carl sits down with Heather Brantley, Events and Community Specialist at Curipod. Listen to find out how Curipod replaces an expected AI bot with a human!

This episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by EdSurge Solutions Studio.

Live from ISTE+ASCD with Heather Brantley

In this episode of WISE On Air, we explore how sensory education is breaking barriers and transforming literacy and numeracy for learners often left behind by traditional systems. We speak with two remarkable WISE Prize finalists who are pioneering innovative solutions for students with diverse needs and communities with limited access to education. 

From Qatar, Ramy Abdulzaher, Co-Founder and COO of @Bonocle, shares how Braille-based technology and gamified learning tools are improving Arabic literacy for visually impaired students. From Nigeria, Gideon Olanrewaju, Chief Executive Director of the Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (@AREAi), demonstrates how offline digital pens and multilingual resources are delivering literacy programs to refugee camps with no internet access. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

How Braille technology fosters inclusion and engagement for students with visual impairments 

The potential of Fast Track tools to transform literacy learning for underserved communities 

How Bonocle adapts its solutions to meet diverse needs across different regions and communities 

The role of the WISE Prize in helping scale and accelerate these impactful educational initiatives 

This conversation highlights how touch, sound, and human connection are redefining what literacy and learning mean in the twenty-first century and expanding opportunities for students who are often overlooked. 

About the Guests: 

Ramy Abdulzaher is the Co-Founder and COO of Bonocle in Qatar, developing Braille-based solutions to improve Arabic literacy for visually impaired students. 

Gideon Olanrewaju is the Chief Executive Director of AREAi in Nigeria, leading initiatives that bring literacy to refugee communities through offline and multilingual learning technologies. 

🎧 Subscribe to WISE On Air: https://pod.link/wiseonair 

Learn more about WISE: https://www.wise-qatar.org 

Episode Chapters: 
 00:00 Introduction 
 01:27 Introducing Ramy Abdulzaher & Gideon Olanrewaju 
 01:48 How Does Braille Technology Foster Inclusion in Education? 
 04:59 Can the Fast Track Tools Transform Literacy Learning? 
 12:05 How Bonocle Designs for Inclusion Across Communities 
 18:37 How WISE Prize Helped Fast Track 
 21:28 Appreciation and Farewell 

117: Learning Through Touch: How Sensory Education is Breaking Barriers

A new OECD report reveals that nearly 40% of 15-year-olds are uncertain about their future careers. Alarmingly, only one in three students has attended a job fair or completed an internship, and over 20% hold unrealistic job aspirations. These findings come from The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation, a comprehensive look at how well young people are being equipped for the world of work. In this episode of Top Class, OECD Editor Duncan Crawford speaks with the report’s lead author, Anthony Mann, to unpack the data and explore what needs to change.

You can read the full report here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-state-of-global-teenage-career-preparation_d5f8e3f2-en.html

Why student career preparation is going wrong

118: AI as a Creative Partner: Redefining Human Potential in Education

While countries came together in the late 80s to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, technology and the advent of virtual currencies have further complicated the tracking of illicit financial flows across borders. Over $51 billion in cryptocurrency was used by criminals last year to circumvent traditional banking regulations. Chady El Khoury is an assistant general counsel and heads the Financial Integrity Group at the IMF. In this podcast, El Khoury says the anonymity of virtual currency transactions is supercharging the ability for criminals to grow their empires. 

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3KOjzeA

Chady El Khoury on the Virtual Reality of Financial Crime

As industries evolve and the skills gap widens, the question remains: How can we better connect education to employment? 


In this episode of The Idea Spark, host Carl Hooker welcomes Jennifer Wilkerson, VP of Innovations and Advancements at NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research), and Andy Dunaway, Product Manager, Career Connected Learning at Pearson. Together, they explore how credentialing, industry alignment, and strong partnerships help students move from the classroom to meaningful careers. Using construction as a lens, this conversation highlights scalable strategies for building career-ready pathways across CTE programs and beyond.


This week's episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by Pearson, NCCER, and the EdSurge Solutions Studio team.

Career Readiness in the Real World

The US is a breeding ground for startups, and California has been the center of that universe since the dot-com boom in the late 1990s. But rising costs, tighter quarters, and increasing bureaucracy have many tech innovators seeking greener pastures, well beyond Silicon Valley. Princeton University’s Swati Bhatt has been studying the evolution of America’s startup boom in recent years and has uncovered a surprising trend toward rural communities, better known for raising cattle than for high-tech infrastructure. In this podcast, Bhatt talks to journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about these new entrepreneurs opting for a different lifestyle. 

Where Startups Do Roam: Swati Bhatt

Everything you need to know about teaching and learning in one podcast. Top Class, the OECD Education Podcast, interviews leading educators, researchers and policy experts about the big issues facing education systems around the world.




Disclaimer: The opinions expressed and arguments employed on the "TopClass" podcast and the recordings contained therein do not necessarily represent the official views of the OECD, its member countries, or non-members who have participated in any related work. This site may display third party videos or recordings. The inclusion of such videos or recordings does not imply any endorsement of, or responsibility for, the opinions, ideas, or information presented in these videos. The "TopClass" podcast is subject to the Disclaimers section of the General Terms and Conditions of the OECD website. http://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions/

Why student career preparation is going wrong

Top Class, The OECD education podcast