StartEdUp Podcast

Soledad O'Brien is an award winning journalist with a reputation for being tough, fair, and factual. So it was no surprise when she candidly talked about politics, truthful reporting, the changing culture of "truth," and why some of this "political correctness" has been helpful in changing the tide of inappropriate behavior. We also get into what role educators play in this divided media landscape. *This is a re-release from 5 years ago. Thus some of the news references are dated.

Lauren Prager is the Chief Strategy Officer for Synapse Florida. Her career has centered around building community through cultivating personal connections. Lauren spent more than a decade working in and around Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist, educator and community organizer building bipartisan support for foreign policy issues. She joined Synapse as a volunteer to support the inaugural Synapse Summit in 2018, where more than 3,000 people came together to celebrate and connect around Florida’s innovation community. She helps to lead Synapse’s expansion to create opportunities that showcase Florida’s diverse innovation talent, facilitating meaningful and intentional connections. Synapse Florida creates opportunities to celebrate, discover and engage with Florida’s dynamic innovation community. Each year they host the Sunshine State’s premier innovation event, the Synapse Summit, connecting thousands of Florida’s innovation leaders from diverse industries, technologies and communities. You’re invited to learn more at www.synapsefl.com, and join us at Synapse Summit 2023 on Tuesday, February 14, in Tampa, Florida. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-slawsky-prager/ Twitter @lsprager [email protected]

Avantis has just launched "The Eduverse" – a ground-breaking new online platform that gives students access to a K-12 metaverse. In the Eduverse, students can access immersive, educational content and amazing VR experiences. They can interact with each other as avatars, all in a secure and controlled environment, inside and outside of the classroom. In this episode, Chris Klein- head of education North America discusses how this web-based tool, which can be accessed on any device, including laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, phones, and VR headsets, including Avantis’ ClassVR headsets, and Google Expeditions kits. Teachers can also use interactive whiteboards or interactive flat-panel displays to allow an entire class to experience the same content without requiring 1:1 devices or VR headsets. Eduverse is free to teachers, they can simply log-in using their existing single sign-on accounts (e.g. Microsoft & Google) and can immediately access a range of virtual reality content including Eduverse Expeditions, which teachers can use to take students on virtual field trips and collaborate with them in real time as avatars. Also available in Eduverse is Avantis World, the world’s first educational VR theme park, with hundreds of explorable curriculum virtual experiences. For more information about Eduverse, visit http://www.eduverse.com.

Blake Hall is the founder and CEO of id.me- but he is also an Army Ranger and knows a thing or two about critical missions. In this interview we talk about cyber warfare, identity theft, and the future of social media (and social media bots and trolls). Moreover, we get into how ID.me is saving US businesses and our Government literally billions in anti-fraud measures. You can follow Blake on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hallblake/

Jason Calacanis is a tech entrepreneur, angel investor, and author. However, his two podcasts: "This Week in Startups" and "The All- In" podcast have gained a lot of notoriety. In fact, this interview aired in 2017 and we really talked a lot about education, and how young people could get a practical education by working for a startup. So when I caught the All-In podcast two weeks ago, I was happy that Jason was talking about the value of a college education. I remembered this great interview and wanted to re-post it, as is a includes very informative, practical advice.