Ep. 85: The Power of Play in Serious Learning

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of play in serious learning with insights from experienced educators on AI and professional development.

Marc Isseks and special guest co-host, Karen Walsh sit down with Dan Thomas, a recently retired STEM teacher who spent his entire 32-year career at the same school he graduated from in Jamestown, New York. Now consulting and speaking under his Coach Thomas Tech brand, Dan brings a hands-on, PBL-driven philosophy to educators looking to make learning visible, meaningful, and yes, actually usable by Tuesday morning. This conversation covers a lot of ground: why AI has finally moved past the shiny-new-thing phase and into real implementation, how the Tuesday Test reframes professional learning (if you cannot use it tomorrow without hand-holding, what is the point?), and why AI may be the first tool that makes genuine differentiation possible at scale. Dan and Karen, a veteran English teacher known for her commitment to creativity and reinvention, bring decades of classroom experience to a discussion that is as practical as it is forward-looking. The takeaway: the teacher who embraces this moment has more power than at any point in the history of education. Follow Marc: Website X (Twitter) TikTok YouTube CAPTIVATE on Amazon LinkedIn Find State of Ed: Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon…

People in this episode

Hosts: Marc Isseks, Nick Simone

Guests: Karen Walsh, Dan Thomas

Topics covered

• power of play
• serious learning
• AI in education
• professional learning
• differentiation
• hands-on learning
• PBL-driven philosophy

Keywords

• play
• learning
• AI
• education
• professional development
• STEM
• PBL

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Coach Thomas Tech

Places: Jamestown, New York

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