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Hello everyone, and welcome to a special episode of Ed up.
Ed Tech. My name is Holly Owens and I'm
your host and today we are doing an episode where we are
highlighting a fantastic human being, who is on the hunt for a
new role today on the show, I have with me Stephen Schaefer,
who is an educator? So Stephen.
Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me.
Holly, I'm excited, you know, we know each other for my community
and I'm excited to talk to you and here and highlight.
All the wonderful things that you have been doing
professionally and hearing more about you and sharing that with
our vast audience. Looking forward to it, it'll be
fun. Yes, so let's get right into it.
So tell me a little bit about yourself and how you journeying
into the education space. So I've been in education now
for about About 22 going on, 23 years.
Yeah, 23 years ish. I actually got started actually
through. I was playing sports.
And my, the first job I had was teaching tennis.
And they actually wanted to develop a program for some youth
that were on the verge of either dropping out or not going to
college. And so that sort of led me to
going down, the education rabbit hole.
Little bit as I learned more and more about just different ways
that I can try and connect with them.
My mentor was a 30-year math teacher and after my little run
at the tennis spot he suggested that I get into education and
then that took me down to you know, working with primarily
what we call Idol youth who are kids who have disengaged and are
re-engaging with their High School experience where I have
been an administrator After where ran a school for kids, who
had dropped out of school? And I'm currently in a role
where I work with students who are also read engaging in their
High School experience in a project-based learning
atmosphere. Oh my goodness.
You're you're doing a lot of impactful work.
Yeah. When it comes to re engaging the
students and I just realized we have a, you know, I love sports,
I used to coach as well and just met we always told the students
or like you're a student athlete.
So the And part of that comes first.
Well, with sometimes, sometimes they forget that sometimes they
forget that. So now that you've been in this
game for, you know, quite a bit and you've done some like I said
some pretty impactful work and you have all the experience.
It sounds like you're wanting to take a shift and get into more
of like ux research ux design. So what's been inspiring you
along the way? The kind of make that transition
and yux. What's What's the attractiveness
there? So my entry into ux was actually
through a service design Workshop.
We were in covid, there was a local agency around where I live
in Philadelphia called think company and they did this whole
thing around service design. And I had been sort of like I
had, I knew a little bit about service design and learning
experience design, but I was like, oh, this was something
that seems really interesting. And then after that particular
Workshop, We actually like try to solve an actual problem.
It's just really like peaked and interests and sort of scratch
the different itch that education sort of does as well.
Right, you know, your I look at my students is like puzzle
pieces, right? Or as pieces of a puzzle.
Yeah. Right.
And so like, I have to sort of figure out like, okay, what
piece do I need to kind of put together in order for you to
get, you know, whatever it is that we're currently working on
and then what ux did for me, you know, and learning experience
design what they did for me was they sort of like, Oh, now I can
look at this like larger Challenge and be like, oh what
are the missing puzzle pieces that we need to put together for
that? I like it how you use the
analogy of a puzzle because that's definitely what you do
with lxd and definitely you X design.
So I do want to ask you a question.
Off-script about ux design. So you said, you went to a
workshop and what kind of problem in the workshop where
you were, you trying to solve that inspired you to kind of
look at this, this industry, more?
Sure. So, the problem we were looking
at this is in the very, very beginning of covid.
So this was prior to like, all of the major Delivery services
for psych supermarkets and things.
So, you know, like when we first went in, you know, they have
these like long lines and people had to stay six feet away, but
local supermarket was actually trying to do a like order and
delivery service, right? Where you could go on their
website order some food and then the employees would put together
the packages of food, you know, the they would do your shopping
for you and then you could then come and pick the food out, just
to again, try and keep that in. Terms of people interacting with
one another and so they were, you know, brand new to the game.
And so they kept, they wanted to just sort of like, what, what
should we do, what are the pieces that they're doing?
So they opened up their, you know, their doors to us to say,
like okay, well here's some of the information that we have,
what can we how can we make this experience, you know, simple,
right. But yet efficient and, you know,
cost-effective and how can we design that kind of experience
so that the so That our customers are still being served
and we're still, you know, sort of continuing to, you know, keep
our business up and running. And obviously a lot of the
skills you have as a coach and as an educator transfer directly
over into this type of research of this type of Industry.
Absolutely, absolutely, a lot of the stuff, you know, when I'm
planning for any of my lessons, you know, I'm currently a math
teacher so as I planned for any of my Lessons, you know, I'm
always thinking about the user in terms of like, who I know I'm
going to have in the room and and, you know, the various
capacities that they have or the various fears that they have
because I'm a math teacher, and a lot of my students are have a,
have a big fear of math. I've had bad bad math
experiences. So, you know, I try and use.
I'm one of those students. Listen, I was wrong.
Like really just sort of thinking of it from their
perspective and how can I, you know, how can you make this
experience, a little less threatening, a little less
fearful and a little bit more enjoyable and sort of taking
those aspects and being able to incorporate them into the lxd
experience. Yeah.
And you definitely do that and ux design because you want it to
be, you don't want it to be. Threatening to the the end-user
you want to be comfortable, you want to be in like a space.
Kind of like where the product or the system itself just
disappears into the background. And you don't think it's just a
part of you. Yeah.
It was it was a lot of fun.
You know, definitely was eye-opening because it was
really my first time at that kind of level, you know.
They really broke it down for us in terms of, you know, like you
need to be thinking about these aspects and you need to think
about, you know, this side of the experience and that side of
the experience, from both the customer.
And then also from the store perspective to write and how
those, how those two things get married?
And so it was really, really, really eye-opening experience.
One, I was like, oh, this is a transferable skill but he's
skills that I've been working on as a teacher.
I can now apply this in a different way.
And so that was sort of where the connection came.
Well, I'm so glad you had that Workshop experience.
A lot of people, seek those things out or know that those
kinds of things exist, where you can kind of explore an industry
before you hop into it. And I love the fact that they
had you to a real life project. Yeah, you know.
That's that's really how. Patients should be but that's a
podcast episode for another day. That's a whole.
That's right. So, you know, tell us a little
bit about yourself, what are some of the like, the main
skills that you possessed and knowledge?
You know, what things are you looking to do you have any
current projects that you can share, you know, highlight all
the wonderful things about you. Stephen tell us what is so
great, like, which why should we follow you?
Tell us all the banks. Well, so, you know, like I said,
I've been at this. I've been at Education, for
20-plus years. I work with a very particular
population, but that population is sort of General in terms of
like okay. Yeah, I'm you know, we
identified students that we consider Idol or re-engaging but
those are students that you see on a regular basis even if
they're coming to school every day, those kids that are not
necessarily engaging. So I really have a greater
understanding and I can bring a lot of wisdom to, you know, I
bring a lot of wisdom and experience to that.
I'm also really creative like I love.
You know, this is gonna sound sort of odd but I love problems,
right? I love problems in the sense
that they can, they can all be solved and I feel like even that
your math teacher, right? And you know, the other thing
about it too, is that not? Every problem needs to be solved
the same way like a lot of the things that I work with my
students around, is this idea that yes, there are certain
formulas in there are certain techniques that you can use, but
you can still get to the same answer.
Use going in and going at it from a different approach.
And really trying to embrace that.
And so I've I have fully embraced that idea to it's sort
of like okay? Yep there are some traditional
ways in which, you know, certain problems can get handled but
there are also some other creative, you know,
opportunities that are also out there too.
And I think very creatively as well just because, you know, I
have a, I have a filmmaking background so the idea of you
know, like, oh that's fancy. And so you have to think about
it from like, oh, what about this shot?
What about this shutter? How can this character do this?
And this one? Yeah, But always that, you know,
this message can be conveyed, whether it's, you know, but by
being spoken or nonverbals, or any of those kinds of things.
So I'm bringing a lot of those talents to, to the table.
Absolutely. And you didn't mention the, the
beta, the app that you're testing.
Yeah. So there is a highlight that,
don't forget that. Let's highlight the app.
So in my current school, so I currently work for an
organization called Big Picture film.
Delphia we are part of a larger network of schools, called Big
Picture learning. And so one of the components
that we have run up against sort of time and time again, is this
idea of a thing called the learning plan.
The learning plan is supposed to be the guide to kind of help the
student sort of guide, their own learning.
And we've gone through, I've been at this school now, for
seven years, we've probably gone through about twenty four
iterations of this, just because it's like, oh, Going to do it on
paper at first and no, that's not really working.
So we're going to try it on computer and then we're going to
try an Excel spreadsheet or we're going to try a Google
sheet and now it's a word doc. And so I was like, you know,
it's trial and error early when it comes to these sorts of
situations. And so I kind of looked at this
and said, well, what is the thing that what's the constant
that the kids are always using? And obviously, it's their phones
and apps are obviously a huge thing, you know, that continued
to grow throughout, you know, as we as we continue to Faced with
these phones. And so I was like, what if we
created or what if I could create an app that could capture
the things that the students need in terms of understanding
the how to prioritize their learning and then also, you know
really help them start to wrap their heads around time
management, right? A lot of the students that are
deal with both, you know, idle or non idle, you know, you know,
they struggle with time management.
So, the app is a A little bit prioritization, little bit of
time management and that sense. Yes.
And I think it's so important to highlight, like, you came up
with this, you know, basically, like on your own just thinking
about the end user, what was needed, what they're using in
real life relating it. To all that.
Did some trial and error when it comes to like setting things up
that is like project management 101.
Yeah, figuring out where to start with things and how you're
going to get from point A to point B and who's involved and
what's involved. I mean that's really awesome
that you have this beta thing going on.
Yes. Yeah, so we actually just
started testing in our school. I've got about 20 students that
are currently using the app were gathering data as we speak to
sort of figure out. Again, it's really.
I mean like I'm very, very early in the stages.
It's really just like this is the fourth version of the MVP,
you know, so that we're kind of working through right now.
So you know, I'm getting some really great feedback from the
students some that sort of like yeah this doesn't work.
And so that's good. So that means I can then take it
and start to iterate as a result and as Think about it, just
saying it out loud. Like I think about that initial,
you know, lxd the service design experience and sort of like oh
at the end of that, I thought like, oh well, how can I apply
this? And so now you know a year plus
later, this is what the result of that is.
Yeah, you've made progress. I think that's one thing.
Two people aren't necessarily cognizant of is that you have
started somewhere and it, although it does it feel like
you've gotten very far, you really have?
Yeah. Yeah.
You gotta remind yourself of that.
It's really difficult. Cult to be like, oh my god, I've
spent so many hours and it's just here, but that is progress.
Yeah, so congratulations to you for doing that.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Of course. So I'm going to ask another
question Off Script. I want to know right now if what
is your dream job, if you could describe that for the audience,
you know, if what is your dream role when you're coming to
transition out of Education, are you looking at like, ux research
lxd? What is your dream job entail?
Actually, I would love to be part of an lxd team, right?
That is, whether it is on the research side or even on the
implementation side. You know, I had such an amazing
time doing that thing. And again, I've done more
research around, you know, just learning experience, design in
general. And the more, the more I dive
into it, the more I realized like, oh, that is really
something where I want it, you know, like that learning
experience, design and service design, like those two areas of
the, the Areas really won't know that I would love to focus on.
And even if that is like designing school, you know,
like, you know, I've seen some opportunities out there on
LinkedIn and, you know, all these other remote job spaces
and things like that, where you know, just the idea of Designing
schools and trying to help in the development of that.
Like that would be an ideal, you know opportunity.
For me again, I'm also a very creative thinker or bring 20,
plus years of experience to the table.
So it's also sort of like, oh yeah, you know, have we thought
about This and, you know, here's the latest and greatest
information about this because you know, I'm a researcher, you
know, by Night by night kind of thing.
So yeah, that would be an in an ideal world like that would be
my dream role. I love it and that's so gonna
align with the creative mind that you have and all you're
saying, I'm so glad that you came on and you're talking to me
about all these things and sharing it out and just putting
it out into the universe. Like, what year your ideal?
Because you've already, you know, you've given back in the
sense of being an educator South.
Now you're thinking, like, what is my next step here?
It's not the end of the road for me.
So, what's my next step? I love that you're doing that.
Yeah, I think the other next step two is, you know, my wife
has been out in California. She's been in Northern
California since October of 2021.
She got this amazing job opportunity with the food bank
of Contra, Costa and Solano. And so when decision was Coast.
Yes we're oh my gosh bicoastal. So my youngest son was a junior
at the time. We have for kids, collectively
and so my youngest son was a junior at the time.
He's the last one to be finishing up.
He's actually will be finishing in June.
Very excited about that to him. That's awesome.
Yes, thankfully, so, you know, when the decision was, oh, you
know, this really wonderful opportunity in California.
It was also sort of like, okay, well, I knew that there was an
End date where I was. And so really thinking about
that transition and then making that shift from the east coast
to the West Coast. You know has really been another
kind of layer to you know the search and really trying to tap
into the skills and really highlight the skills that I have
to you know hopefully aligned with the organization and to be
honest with you I just need an opportunity.
Like all I really needed to just get my foot in the door and I
promise you I will, you know, make your So much stronger.
You know what I mean? I bring such a wealth of, you
know, talent and energy and creativity to, you know, to a
position that I just really need that that foot in the door.
Yeah just you already have like you said the vast amount of
experience and talking to you and hearing your so clear and
concise about where you want to go with things and your voice on
top of that is just calming, there's like no sense of
urgency. You know a lot of different
corporate spaces. There's a lot of sense of
urgency. See, I feel like you would
definitely you honor the process and you take it step by step and
make sure that everything is ready to go as it should be for
the end user. So it just it just is amazing
where I see a bright future for you is what I'm trying to say.
So I want to know, is there anything or coming up on the end
of the episode here? Is there anything that we missed
what's next? For you?
I know you're talking about, you're going to the West Coast.
Anything else that you'd like to share?
I feel like the west coast is sort of the next minute.
The next major step for me, and then, you know, sort of taken
the app to the next level. Again, we're currently beta
testing and in one school over here on the east coast, and then
I want to take that information and then do some iteration.
But then possibly finding additional schools, you know, to
also help with beta testing the app.
I feel like that's going to be really important, you know?
And then really just thinking about you know, No plotting a
path towards, you know, the future my future and attack,
whatever that looks like whether it's, you know, doing the deeper
dive around this particular app or, you know, working with an
organization or a company or school that where I can just
again, add, you know, some tremendous value to that
organization. So, that's really, really what?
I'm what I'm looking forward to moving forward.
I love it. I can't wait to see what you do
next and I can't thank you enough for being a part of the
professional. Community.
You hopped in when it was pilot stages so he might have been a
little messy at first. Listen, I'm glad listen.
So let me give a little Shameless plug here.
Okay, I'll go check her out on LinkedIn.
Everybody on LinkedIn, number one, number two, she's got this
incredible professional Journey community that she is building
out. It is a wondrous, wonderful
thing to be a part of. Like the thing about it was I
could never make the The live classes and I was like, oh,
there's one day, I'm going to make a lot of class.
I could never do it just because I had other things that I was
working on but like the the amount of information and the
and the just like connections and things that you bring to the
table are just incredible. I am like I'm so thankful just
to have been a part of that because I was actually initially
wait-listed. Yeah and I miss them.
Not. Thank you enough.
It was, oh, you're welcome. I think you're right back
because you bring so much added value to the community and it's
so much fun and inspiring to me people like you and other people
in the community as you know, who are on the same path of
finding something different, and it's just nice to have that
support there. So thank you for the shout out.
I'm not blushing, I appreciate you and all that you're doing
and thank you for being an education, so long.
Oh my gosh. It's just, it's so inspiring to
hear your story. And I can't wait to see what you
do next. Yeah, thank you.
Holly, I really appreciate the opportunity to be on the show.
So everything about Stephen is going to be in the show notes.
Go follow him and Linkedin to send him.
Ux job, send them what, you know, things in California, so
he can get back together with get the family and get the band
back together and everything. So Steven, thanks again.
Thank you. You've just experienced an
another amazing episode of Ed up.
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