Teach Online

Course Stories, Season 4, Episode 6: Redefining Classrooms: ASU's Bold Leap with Study Hall

In this special two-part series finale of Season 4 on Course Stories, we’re excited to introduce a new Course Stories correspondent, who’s out in the field at the GSV Summit, bringing us exclusive insights on the innovative partnership between ASU, Crash Course, and YouTube to take higher education to the next level with Study Hall. We delve into the world of creative video content and its impact on higher education. Our correspondent talks to experts from Crash Course and YouTube, uncovering the secrets of engaging students through innovative digital storytelling.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series, where we’ll give you an unprecedented look behind the scenes at making Study Hall. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss! Join us for this exciting exploration and be sure to check back for the thrilling conclusion of this two-part series!

S03E06 Study Hall Spectacular Part 01

In this Episode:

Michael M. Crow

President, Profess of Science & Technology, & Course Stories Correspondent

Michael M. Crow is an educator, knowledge enterprise architect, science and technology policy scholar and higher education leader. He became the sixteenth president of Arizona State University in July 2002 and has spearheaded ASU’s rapid and groundbreaking transformative evolution into one of the world’s best public metropolitan research universities. As a model “New American University,” ASU simultaneously demonstrates comprehensive excellence, inclusivity representative of the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the United States, and consequential societal impact.Lauded as the ”#1 most innovative” school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for eight straight years, ASU is a student-centric, technology-enabled university focused on global challenges. Under Crow’s leadership, ASU has established more than twenty-five new transdisciplinary schools, including the School of Earth and Space Exploration, the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School.

Hank Green

Science Communicator | Crash Course

Hank Green is an expert host and can talk on a number of topics including climate change, science communication, online education, social media, online video, personal development, and creativity. Hank is also the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Study Hall, Crash Course, and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him “one of America’s most popular science teachers.” Complexly’s videos have been viewed more than two billion times on YouTube. Green cofounded a number of other small businesses, including DFTBA.com, which helps online creators make money by selling cool stuff to their communities; and VidCon, the world’s largest conference for the online video community. In 2017, VidCon drew more than forty thousand attendees across three events in Anaheim, Amsterdam, and Australia. Hank and his brother, John, also started the Project for Awesome, which last year raised more than two million dollars for charities. Hank lives in Montana with his wife, son, and cat.

Katie Kurtz

Managing Director, Global Head of Learning YouTube

Katie Kurtz is Managing Director and Global Head of Learning at YouTube. Katie joined YouTube in 2019 after serving as Chief Product Officer at Noodle Partners, an online program manager designing and building fully online degree programs for universities. Previously she was Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager for Higher Education at Cengage Learning. Prior to that Katie was Vice President of Business Development at adaptive learning pioneer Knewton, where she led the platform’s partnership strategy for three years.

Wayne Anderson

Senior Director of Strategic Design and Development and EdPlus Ambassador for the Weird and Unusual

Wayne leads transformational projects at Arizona State University, EdPlus. During his tenure, he has helped architect emerging educational models, including pathway programs for learners at various developmental stages, personalized education solutions, new educational benefit models for companies like Uber, blended learning with Mayo Medical School, high school curriculum with ASU Digital Preparatory School, informal learning on YouTube with Hank and John Green and unique programs on Coursera and EdX. Curiosity, collaboration, and outcomes drive Wayne’s approach to steer projects from concept to reality, with an acute understanding of opportunity and business impact.

Lenora Ott

Director of Learning Design for Universal Learner Courses within the ASU Learning Enterprise

Universal Learner Courses (ULCs) are a selection of first-year college courses offered online at ASU and open to everyone. Through Universal Learner Courses, learners can test the college waters, and earn college credit for a fraction of the cost. They pay only if they pass.

ULCs run in multiple modalities including: On Demand, Session-Based, and Classroom Cohort models. These courses are designed for maximum enrollment while maintaining the quality of course experience and instructor feedback and learner engagement described with the term “scaleable”.

Lenora manages a team of instructional designers and academic professionals charged with developing and launching online courses and providing long-term evaluation, redesign, and support for learning design. Their goal is to create inclusive, evidence-based, and meaningful learning experiences for learners and instructors in order to advance Learning Enterprise’s mission to provide universal access to education and opportunity, at every stage of life.

She has a Master of Science in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University (MSGTD) and a graduate certificate in Educational Technology with a focus on Adult Learning from Northern Arizona University.

Matthew Robinson

Associate Director New Media

Matthew attended ASU and received his BA in Journalism and an MA in Film Studies. Currently, he works for EdPlus as the Associate Director of New Media. The New Media team collaborates with faculty, building relationships to facilitate transformative instructional media production experiences in order to collectively create high-quality, innovative, efficient, and effective educational media.

Matthew has held many positions at ASU including Trainer, Instructional Designer and assistant director on Online Learning and Strategic Development. Matthew is a lifelong SunDevil who has consistently worked at the forefront of ASU’s innovative approaches to online education.

Meredith Savvides

Instructional Designer Principal

Meredith holds Master’s degrees in Special Education and Educational Leadership, and spent 13 years in k-12, both in the classroom and as an instructional coach. She also has a certificate in instructional design and has been with EdPLus since September 2018.

Meredith supports a variety of ASU Online programs including Justice Studies, Organizational Leadership, Project Management, African and African American Studies, Counseling and Applied Psychological Science, Technical Communication, and Interdisciplinary Studies. You may also see her as your facilitator in one of several webinars or workshops including Quality Matters and Master Class for Teaching Online. Along with program support, she leads the instructional design team for Study Hall in Google Classroom.

Your Hosts

Ricardo Leon is a Media Developer for EdPlus and is a co-creator and co-host of Course Stories. He has developed a number of other podcasts and various other forms of instructional media. In 2021, Ricardo was on a team that received The President’s Award, which formally recognizes successful solutions in innovation, for his work on the Study Hall project with Crash Course.