There are two root ways in which K-12 education can be wholly brought into the 21st Century: 1) Change the System or 2) Change the Effectiveness of the People in the System. Technology and web services will likely be a necessary tool in either case.

I first met Nicole Tucker-Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Lessoncast Learning, at a Baltimore edtech meetup celebrating the early edtech ecosystem work we had begun in Maryland, what was a precursor to EdTech Maryland’s evolution. Prior to that, I had met another Lessoncast co-founder and Nicole’s husband, Khalid Rudo Smith, at an ETC Baltimore mentor meeting. Stating Nicole and Khalid as a dynamic duo does not do them justice. Below is a conversation I had with Nicole about Lessoncast, and how her approach to teacher professional development, moreover education is both different and lasting.

Frank: Nicole, what drove you to leave a profession in which you were seemingly successful and found harmony?

Nicole:

I’ve left the traditional path for educators, but I don’t think that I will ever leave education. Whether I’m a teacher, a principal, a district leader, or founder of an edtech company, I’m still serving the education profession. I left my position with the school district because I believed that there were innovative ways to improve teaching and learning, and making those innovations a reality required going outside the bounds of traditional schooling. In leading professional learning for a turnaround middle school, I realized the painful inadequacies of typical professional development (PD). If we truly want to improve how students learn, then we need to provide better options to help teachers learn new practices, share their expertise, and grow professionally. In developing the Lessoncast process, I saw the impact and potential for improving professional learning opportunities for educators. I felt that the best way to scale that impact was to found a startup.

Frank: Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

Nicole:

It’s no coincidence that my husband, Khalid, was the founding director of StartupWeekend Education. I saw the work that he was doing with other entrepreneurial-minded educators, and he encouraged me to recognize the potential of my ideas. I was tired of being bound by the institutional phrase “this is the way that we’ve always done things.” Together, we’ve turned a classroom-tested improvement process into scalable software as a service. Building the opportunity to share this service with other schools is exciting, invigorating, and scary all at the same time. But as Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Done.

Frank: So, you founded Lessoncast to make a difference, to solve some problems in education. What are some impediments to teacher effectiveness at scale and how does Lessoncast address these?

Nicole:

One of the major impediments to teacher effectiveness is a 20th century mindset to professional learning for educators. When we use the term “PD,” many of us still envision a two-hour workshop where all of the teachers sit in a cafeteria and hear from an outside speaker. Rarely does this lead to changes in practice much less “effectiveness.” In the same way that we recognize diverse learning needs among students, we need to realize that teachers vary in their learning needs as well. Lessoncast employs technology to rethink professional learning opportunities for educators. We provide differentiated teacher learning experiences that are tailored for specific teacher learning communities (schools, districts, teacher preparation programs). Through our platform, interactive modules are available on-demand when they are most relevant, and as teachers engage in the learning process they actually create resources for other educators. We need teacher supports that are relevant to today’s classrooms and that capitalize on the power of digital technology.

Frank: What makes the Lessoncast solution unique and scalable?

Nicole:

We recognize that teacher education is a continuum. It starts in pre-service teacher preparation programs and spans induction and ongoing professional growth, not just for teachers but administrators as well. Lessoncast partners with programs and schools across this entire continuum, and we’re able to bring together the best of both worlds. Our Lessoncast tools enable us to build on the research-based methods used in teacher preparation programs to provide K12 educators with professional learning modules that are relevant, impactful, performance-based, and results-oriented. And, in the process, teachers create resources that showcase their professional voice and expertise.

Frank: Your co-founder is also your husband. You have two children. How do you balance the home and professional sides of life?

Nicole:

While leading a startup is a 24–7 commitment, I find it much easier to achieve work-life balance in this role than I did as an assistant principal. Being a school-based leader is not only around the clock, but it allows for very little flexibility in terms of scheduling and managing your time. Khalid and I joke that Lessoncast is our third child. We give lots of time and love to this third child, but not at the expense of our first two. If we did, then all would be for nothing. Keeping that in perspective and recognizing that we choose how we spend our time helps us to maintain that balance.

Frank: What excites you the most about what you do? What the least?

Nicole:

I’m excited about the real potential for major breakthroughs and making a difference for teachers and students. I enjoy meeting new people from national organizations, other companies, and educational institutions and learning from their experiences and challenges.

What excites me the least is the day-to-day accounting and invoicing, the financial realities of running a company. At the end of the day, we have to go beyond having a great idea to having a sustainable business. It’s a bold leap; now we just need to stick the landing.