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PODCAST

My EdTech Life

Dr. Fonz Mendoza

My EdTech Life is where education meets innovation with clarity, caution, and purpose. Hosted by Dr. Alfonso "Fonz" Mendoza, this podcast features real conversations with educators, founders, researchers, and thought leaders who are shaping the future of learning.From classroom-tested tools to emerging AI trends, we cut through the noise to spotlight what truly works in K–12 and higher education. As a leading voice in responsible AI adoption, Fonz challenges the hype and elevates voices that often

education

All Episodes

54:05

Your School Librarian Belongs in the AI Conversation...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/10/06

AI can give students a confident answer in seconds. But who teaches them to question it, verify it, and decide whether to trust it? In Episode 375 of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza welcomes back Dr. Karina Quilantan-Garza, also known as Dr. Q, for a conversation about school librarians, AI literacy, and protecting the thinking students need to do for themselves. A former middle school librarian and now an assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, Dr. Karina challenges the id...

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47:37

Whose Problem Is EdTech Solving? | My EdTech Life 374

My EdTech Life ·

2026/09/29

In Episode 374 of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza Jr. sits down with Jacob Kantor, the Chief DODO, or District Office Door Opener, to explore what it takes to earn educators’ attention, build trust, and serve schools. Drawing on 19 years in EdTech, Jacob explains why district doors stay closed, how sales targets can get in the way of listening, and why even well-liked vendors can lose contracts when budgets tighten. We discuss involving educators in product development, asking better que...

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44:55

Stop Measuring Logins, Start Measuring Learning | My...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/09/12

In Episode 373 of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza sits down with Dacia Toll, co-founder of Coursemojo, to challenge how schools measure the value of educational technology. Logins, minutes, and completed activities may show that a platform was used, but they do not prove that meaningful learning occurred. Dacia explains why districts must look beyond usage data and demand stronger evidence of student thinking, instructional impact, and academic growth. Together, we explore the middle sc...

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45:26

Digital Natives Aren't Ready for This | My EdTech...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/08/29

Parent ProTech and Krystina O'Bryant join Dr. Alfonso Mendoza on My EdTech Life to challenge one of education’s biggest assumptions: being a digital native does not mean being digitally ready. In Digital Natives Aren't Ready for This, we explore what students are actually facing online and why knowing how to use technology is very different from having the emotional maturity, critical thinking, and judgment needed to navigate it safely. Krystina O'Bryant, Chief Academic Officer at Parent Pr...

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57:40

"Step One, Step Two" Isn't Real Learning | My EdTech...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/08/11

"Step one, step two, step three" isn't how real learning happens. On this episode of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza sits down with Cari Orts, also known as Techie Cari, an educational technology specialist at Marble Falls ISD with over 20 years of experience in education, to discuss maker spaces, project-based learning, and why AI will never replace real teaching. Cari shares why she believes technology should work like a textbook, not the whole classroom. She breaks down her Cardboard ...

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57:20

AI Can't Steal Your Voice | My EdTech Life 370

My EdTech Life ·

2026/07/26

Can AI take away a student's voice or help protect it? In this episode of My EdTech Life, host Dr. Alfonso Mendoza, a top voice in the ed tech space, sits down with virtual education leaders Larisa Black and LaKeshia Brooks to dig into artificial intelligence in education, digital literacy, virtual teaching, and the growing backlash against ed tech in K-12 schools. With a combined 34 years in education, Larisa and LaKeshia share their personal journeys from classroom teachers to virtual educ...

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63:46

"I Don't Even Like Calling It Claude" ft. Dr. Carol...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/07/13

"I Don't Even Like Calling It Claude" ft. Dr. Carol Fletcher | My EdTech Life 368 A college student let an AI chatbot complete his entire research project. When his professor asked him to explain it, he couldn't. That's the story that opens this episode with Dr. Carol Fletcher, Director of EPIC (Expanding Pathways in Computing) at UT Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), where she leads research and professional development in STEM+CS education across the state. Carol doesn't hold ...

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51:06

Bossing My Robot Overlords Around ft. Dustin Rimmey |...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/07/03

"I can boss my robot overlords around and go, 'I wanna try this thing.'" That line right there? That's the whole episode. This week Dr. Fonz sits down with Dustin Rimmey, aka Rimmey, a 19-year Kansas educator who went from "programming languages just don't stick in my brain" to building his own classroom tools with nothing but a keyboard and a stubborn refusal to quit. No computer science degree. No dev team. Just what Rimmey calls "caveman prompting." You describe what you want. You fail. Yo...

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54:33

The Ultimate Technology Isn't AI, It's You ft. Mark...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/06/23

The Ultimate Technology Isn't AI, It's You ft. Mark Zeiler | My EdTech Life Ep. 367 In this episode of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza sits down with Dr. Mark Zeiler, a 20+ year K-12 education veteran whose career spans ELA teacher, media specialist, assistant principal, dean, and operations and curriculum leadership in Florida. The conversation centers on one core idea: as AI accelerates and humanoid robots move closer to mainstream integration, the most adaptive, creative, empathetic, a...

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53:07

Ready Beats Finished ft. Marnie & Nick | My EdTech...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/06/05

What does it actually mean to be ready for the real world? Not finished. Not just checked out with a diploma. Ready. In this episode, I sit down with Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio, authors of The Business of You and Lead It Like Lasso, to talk about Blue, their app built to help middle school, high school, and college students discover who they are, learn to tell their own story, and step into the world with real confidence. This is not your typical EdTech conversation. Marnie and Nick a...

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53:54

Strategy Beats the Tool in AI for Schools ft. Karle...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/05/26

What happens when a former curriculum director becomes an AI strategist for an entire state? You get the kind of zoomed-out view most of us in education never get to see. In this episode, I welcome back my good friend Karle Delo, AI Strategist at Michigan Virtual, for a real conversation about what's actually working in school districts, what's flopping, and what the secret AI culture in your building probably looks like right now. Karle works with districts across Michigan, helping them bu...

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61:34

Why AI Won't Save a Classroom Without Curiosity ft....

My EdTech Life ·

2026/05/20

What if the missing ingredient in your classroom isn't a new tool, a new curriculum, or another PD session, but curiosity itself? In this episode, I sit down with Olivia Odileke, founder of Spark Curiosity EDU, Education Week contributor, and creator of the Spark Curiosity GPT Coach. Olivia brings an industrial engineering background into the world of education, and her perspective on how we teach, how we evaluate, and how we use AI in classrooms is one you don't want to miss. We get into w...

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53:54

What AI Can't Replace in Instructional Design ft....

My EdTech Life ·

2026/05/10

AI can write your design doc. It can build your storyboard. It can draft your script, your rubric, your assessment, your video outline, and half of your e-learning module before lunch. So what's left for the instructional designer? According to Jonathan De La Cruz, everything that actually matters. Jonathan is an instructional designer at a supply chain company and at a Plano, Texas startup building an AI-assisted learning management system. But before all of that, he was a music educator. ...

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53:30

The Human Edge: Smarter Decisions in the Age of AI...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/05/04

What happens to your judgment when AI starts answering before you finish the question? In this episode, Dr. Fonz sits down with Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, founder of Decisive, decision-sciences educator at Cornell and the University of Miami, and author of the new book The Human Edge: Smarter Decisions in the Age of AI (Cornell Publishing, May 8th). Cheryl spent over a decade as an investigative journalist at Barron's, where her bearish company stories halted stock trading, shut down companies,...

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52:26

If You Live on Earth, You've Been Opted Into AI ft....

My EdTech Life ·

2026/04/27

There's no opt-out button for AI. That's the reality Valerie Brock, Curriculum Lead at Day of AI, brings to this conversation, and it changes how we think about AI literacy in K-12. In this episode, Dr. Fonz sits down with Valerie to unpack what AI literacy actually means (hint: it's not prompt engineering), why early childhood classrooms belong in this conversation, and how Day of AI is building developmentally appropriate, tool-agnostic curriculum that's now reaching students in Australia, ...

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48:26

The #1 AI Governance Mistake Schools Are Making ft....

My EdTech Life ·

2026/04/15

Episode 360: The #1 AI Governance Mistake Schools Are Making ft. Betsy Cooper What's the biggest mistake schools are making with AI right now? According to Betsy Cooper, it's not taking it seriously from day one. In this episode, Dr.Alfonso sits down with Betsy Cooper, Founder and Executive Director of the Aspen Policy Academy, for a powerful conversation on the AI governance decisions quietly reshaping schools — and what educators, leaders, and parents can do about it. Betsy brings a one-o...

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52:28

No CS Background. Below Poverty Line. Now Learning...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/04/06

What happens when you take public high school students with zero computer science background — 87% of whom are below the federal poverty line — and put them in one of only two quantum computing programs for high schoolers in the entire nation? That's exactly what A.M. Bhatt and his nonprofit DAE are doing in Connecticut, and the results are challenging everything we think we know about education reform, student potential, and what it really means to prepare young people for the future. In t...

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52:06

Giving Student Voice a Stage ft. Tim Belmont | My...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/03/17

Student voice is one of the most powerful forces in education — but only when it has a real stage. In this episode, Dr. Fonz welcomes back returning guest Tim Belmont, Language Arts teacher and Technology Coordinator at Lyndhurst High School in New Jersey, for a rich conversation on what it actually means to give students an authentic voice — and the innovative project he built to make that a reality. Tim breaks down how he integrates podcasting into his Public Speaking and Advanced Public Sp...

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53:25

Safe AI for Kids: How Chatperone Protects Your Child...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/03/11

In this episode, Dr. Alfonso sits down with Caleb Hurd, founder of Chatperone, an AI chat platform built specifically to keep kids safe online. As a father of two and a 20-year tech industry veteran, Caleb built Chatperone not for investors or school district contracts, but for his own children first. What started as a personal solution has become a mission to give parents and educators peace of mind in a world where AI chatbots are already in the hands of our kids. From the Character AI co...

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59:50

Podcasting in 2026: Grow Your Show with AI & Descript...

My EdTech Life ·

2026/03/02

Dr. Alfonso sits down with Aaron Makelky of Descript to unpack the real future of podcasting beyond vanity metrics, beyond over-polished edits, and beyond the AI hype. This conversation is a masterclass for creators, educators, and entrepreneurs who want to amplify their voice without burning out. From workflow wisdom to sponsorship strategy to the rise of hyper-niche podcasts, Aaron delivers practical insight with zero fluff. If you’ve ever wondered whether your downloads are “enough,” whe...

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269 results

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