EdTech: Lemma Shomali Of Gale On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact On Education

Your technology needs to solve a discreet problem for a discreet person. People want technology that makes their life easier or entertains them. If you can hone in on that, your technology has a solid starting point.

In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course, many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. In this particular installment, we are talking to leaders of Education Technology companies, who share how their tech is helping to improve our educational system. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lemma Shomali, VP, Product Management & Strategy, Domestic Learning at Gale.

Lemma Shomali is the Vice President of Product Management & Strategy for the Domestic Learning Division at Gale and has more than 15 years’ experience developing and managing ed-tech products in the K-12 classroom and library market. She holds a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Organizational Dynamics, and has a soft spot for old English Literature. When she needs a break from the fast-paced world of educational technology, you can find her at the nearest CrossFit box, whipping up cookies for friends and family, or playing endless board games with her two daughters.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?

My parents immigrated to the United States from Palestine in the 1970s. My father was a teacher, my mother a stay-at-home mom. I have three sisters and a brother. I grew up mostly in Michigan, but I spent my high school years in Palestine. When I graduated, I came back to Michigan for college — I was a dual physics and English major. After I graduated, I’d planned to take a break and then continue school to get a PhD in Physics, but fate intervened and I got a job as an assistant editor at Gale…and now, 21 years later, I run one of our product divisions.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I think it’s just the career path I followed, honestly. Listen, no one grows up saying they want to be a product manager. Maybe a doctor, a firefighter, or a teacher, but “product manager” doesn’t really roll off the tongue. I didn’t know when I started at Gale that I’d still be here all these years later, and I didn’t know that I’d develop such a passion for product management and team leadership. Product management in and of itself is interesting because every day is a little different, every problem you solve has an impact on a customer that makes their life a little easier. There’s a gratification in that that I didn’t realize I was missing. There’s also a ton of gratification in helping a new person discover product management and experience that little thrill themselves.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

So many people over the lifetime of my career, but I’d say the constants have always been my sisters. They inspire and motivate me. They talk me through the rough times, and help me celebrate the successes. Recently I decided to get my Master’s in Leadership and Organizational Dynamics. My younger sister, a PhD herself, helped me stay focused and prioritize, and she even proofread a few of my papers. Then she surprised me by coming to the graduation, even with her own full schedule.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Things usually happen for a reason. Sometimes, the reason is evident right away, and other times, it takes a while to reveal itself. Either way, trust yourself and things will work out eventually.” I don’t know if this is an actual quote or something I’ve made up along the way, but it works for me. I can trace it back to my challenges in college. Had I been a more “natural” student, I wouldn’t be at Gale now. It grated on me at the time that I wasn’t as gifted as some of my classmates, that I had to work two and three times as hard just to keep up. Now I can look back and say that’s part of how I landed where I am today, even if I didn’t understand it then.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Determination, passion, and introspection. Determination because success doesn’t tend to fall right in your lap — you have to work hard, stay focused, and stay the course. Passion because without it, you burn out. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, it’s a job, not a career — and jobs are easily left. Introspection because without the ability to reflect on yourself and your skills, you won’t learn from your experiences.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our educational systems. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?

At Gale, we’re trying to help every child reach their potential, and prepare them for what comes beyond high school — be that a traditional college degree or something else. We build products and services to help schools help the teachers help the students. The problems we aim to solve shift with every school we partner with, as each has their own challenges to overcome. That said, two common themes are helping avoid teacher burnout by saving them time and providing ready-made, adaptable solutions that engage students with diverse and thoughtful content. Sometimes saving teachers time means having a pile of lesson plans readily available, but it can also mean helping them integrate their personal materials into our technology so they have a single space where they can access everything they need.

How do you think your technology can address this?

Our products are a unique blend of quality, authoritative content and tools to engage with that content, whether as a teacher or a student. Unlike a traditional textbook, we support a lot of fluidity in the use of instructional materials. This flexibility makes it possible for educators to create customized materials based on their students’ needs. Once they’ve created these materials, teachers can continue to augment or adjust over time, making the material continuously relevant. They can also share their work with others in their district, taking a “divide and conquer” approach to building curriculum. All of that points to saving them time, making teaching their primary focus, and directly benefiting student outcomes.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about education?

The truth is, I fell into education when I came to Gale. I’d been contemplating going back to school to get my PhD, but I started working at Gale instead. I’ll let you in on my biggest secret: I was not a good physics student. I loved the material, loved the concept, but I had to work insanely hard just to keep up, just to maintain a passing average. I tried everything: office hours, study groups, tutors. I wasn’t in a rush to start that over again, and after five years of working three jobs and going to school full time, the novelty of a 9-to-5 life was really appealing to me. But my ambition and passion kicked in when I started to really understand what Gale was doing, and what working there could mean. We have this product, Gale In Context: Science, that became my responsibility in 2006 or so. That was my turning point. I was managing the content for the product, and realized that it had so much in it that would have helped me as a high school student and as a physics major. I became determined to bring that kind of support to teachers and students everywhere. My hope is that in every school we work with, there are students who are better able to achieve and succeed with our products.

How do you think your technology might change the world?

“Children are our future” may sound cliché, but it’s every bit true. The education they receive in their formative years helps to shape them. We want today’s children to be well-rounded, analytical problem-solvers and critical thinkers as well as academic achievers so that they go on to being inventors, doctors, lawyers, business owners, chefs…even product managers!

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

Technology is only as powerful as those who wield it. We need good educators to harness the power of technology. Over-relying on technology, or using technology in a vacuum without external input or consideration, is a concern but a manageable one.

How do you envision the landscape of education evolving over the next decade, and how does your technology fit into that future?

Every year, we move further away from the “one size fits all” mentality that was the original textbook. I see that continuing in the future, as technology continues to expand and schools gain access to more materials, I see educational plans and curriculums becoming more tailored to individual student needs. I think we’ll see more variety in materials for students and more choice for teachers, and ultimately, more opportunity to work with students 1:1 — with technology as the vehicle. Our technology fits right in with this, as we strive to provide solutions that can be easily tailored to meet a specific need, that can be used alone or in tandem with another solution, and above all, are easy to use and reliable so teachers spend less time searching and planning, and more time teaching.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)

1 . Your technology needs to solve a discreet problem for a discreet person. People want technology that makes their life easier or entertains them. If you can hone in on that, your technology has a solid starting point.

2 . Your technology needs to be easy to access and use — and people have to want to use it. Going back to the first point, your technology is in service of something — people have to know where to get it and how to use it. In user experience terms, your technology needs to delight them to keep them coming back for more.

3 . What you think about what your tech should do should be a reflection of what your customers want. As a Pragmatic Marketing certified professional, one of the first things you learn is: “Your opinion, while interesting, is irrelevant.” In any industry, the voice of the customer is the voice that matters.

4 . Accessibility is a core requirement, not an afterthought. In today’s environment, users might have all manner of restriction, both personal or imposed. Your technology needs to work with different devices at different scales and needs to support tech savvy users and the not so savvy, in addition to serving users with physical or mental impairments.

5 . The more diversity in your team, the more likely you are to have considered and represented multiple viewpoints, circumstances, and experiences. Nothing is more frustrating than getting to the end of a project and realizing you’ve left out a core requirement because you didn’t account for a workflow or use case scenario that is meaningful to the industry you’re trying to serve.

In the realm of EdTech, there’s often data collection involved. How do you ensure the ethical handling of user data, especially when it concerns students?

We build our products in a way that minimizes the amount of information collected. We try for the bare minimum where possible, and when we do collect personal or sensitive information, we follow procedures outlined in FERPA, COPPA, SOPPA, as well as state mandates or regulations.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

It’s another cliché, but we really only have the one life to live, and the one world to live it in. If you want to look back and feel like you made it a better place for those that come after you, then start early. Change — especially good change — doesn’t happen overnight. The sooner you take a small step forward, the more likely you are to see the impact, and perhaps even benefit from it.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Hmm, that’s a tough one. I think maybe Simon Sinek (@SimonSinek). He’s a brilliant man, and I love the approach he takes to business and leadership.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Readers can experience Gale and all our great assets at their local library, read my blog posts, or follow me on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.