In this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana sits with Meredith Allen, Head of Customer Happiness at Soundtrap. The conversation covered a lot of ground, including Meredith's path from teaching to EdTech, working in a role that engages her in yet removes her from education, and how the EdTech industry could become a player in education reform.
We’d love for you to listen to the entire episode, but in case you’re short on time, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite points below. Don’t forget – scroll down to the bottom to access any resources Meredith mentioned.
Leave The Classroom Only For What You Believe In
From the time she was a seventh-grader shadowing her band director, Meredith knew that her future lay in teaching. That's why she's still a bit surprised to be working in EdTech. Here's how it happened. When she was a K-7 band director with an affinity for technology, she Googled for music collaboration tools and discovered Soundtrap. She was impressed by their product and she later found out that they needed an on-the-ground perspective of U.S. education. She admitted to us:
"I worked for free for them for a long time because I was in love with what they offered students and teachers for creativity. Eventually, they offered me a position as kind of a paid ambassador. The tool was something that I believed in and I still believe in. If I were to recommend anything to anyone, it would be to make sure that you’re leaving the classroom for something that you believe in."
While many people working in EdTech are passionate about education, if not actual educators like Meredith, others might not have enough classroom experience to fully understand what educators and students need. Part of Meredith's job at Soundtrap is bringing that clarity. She explained:
"I’m trying to provide opportunities that team members can listen in and shadow and come to a conference and watch and be part of that, so they have context to make the connections. If we can give them experiences of the core product and its application in classrooms with teachers, that seems to work well."
Is EdTech A Lever for Education Reform?
While the EdTech sector serves educators and students, it's still an industry where businesses have market shares, operating costs, and sales projections. During the worst of the pandemic, many of these companies offered their products and support for free – noble yet unsustainable. In this moment of thinking about EdTech's pivotal role in the education world, Meredith suggested how her industry could be a lever for education reform:
"Why should one school on this side of the tracks not have the same access as this other school on the other side of the tracks? Some of that comes back to educational reform on a state or a federal level, and that’s a big rock to move. It comes back to money and funding. We have some instances where there’s been a big organization that’s said, 'OK, we believe that all the students in this organization need to have access to Soundtrap, so we are putting our stake in the ground here and saying, "We will give access to all of these students."' That’s awesome, but it’s few and far between."
With forward-looking businesses in a forward-thinking industry, commitments like this may be a step toward educational equity.
The Best EdTech Unlocks Student Creativity
As much as she loves her role as Head of Customer Happiness, Meredith misses interacting with students in the classroom. When she needs a lift, she checks out Sountrap's user stories, where she can hear student voices and tune into the things that excite young people. In describing that experience, she shared an observation by one of her teammates about their product, an image that's stayed with her:
"Soundtrap offered this low floor, so kids could just ease into the tech, and then virtually no ceiling. And I’ve now seen this sandbox that they can play in, and make such powerful, creative things that, honestly, I’m astounded. You’re born with the brain that you have. It’s being able to unlock what’s there, and when you get a tool to be creative, you are able to unlock so much. Every learner is different, and you shouldn’t expect all of them to be able to do the one worksheet that you pass out to the whole class. Sorry, no worksheets!"
Here's the full transcript of Meredith's podcast episode.
Note: Soundtrap is a client of LCG but this is not a sponsored episode. We just love showcasing passionate educators making a difference. As always, all opinions are our own.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Soundtrap, the collaborative, cloud-based recording studio that enables students to create music and podcasts, where Meredith serves as Head of Customer Happiness
Early Soundtrap promotional video that inspired Meredith to join the team
StartEd, a forum to which Meredith belongs, where local students, startups, and professional advisors come together for mutual benefit
Eduspace, a consultancy that guides and places students in exceptional academic programs, the client whose account Soundtrap first hired Meredith to manage
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
Meredith Allen, Guest
Prior to joining Spotify and the inception of Soundtrap for Education team, Meredith served as an Instructional Technology Consultant at Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Iowa. Preceding her consulting, Meredith taught instrumental music, K-7 technology and facilitated the district’s Virtual Reality Education Pathfinders program. She also served on the District Leadership Team, served as the district’s Technology Integrationist, and assisted with implementation of the district’s 1:1 computing initiative. Meredith has strong interests in elementary coding and was a CS Fundamentals Facilitator for Code.org. She is also certified in the Instructional Practices Inventory and is a Seesaw Ambassador, reflecting her strong desire for classrooms that foster deeper student engagement. Meredith has a Master’s of Science in Technology for Education and Training and participated in the 2016 Iowa cohort of the national Teacher Leadership Initiative, a joint endeavor of the National Education Association, the Center for Teaching Quality, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. In addition to music, Meredith is passionate about creating deeper learning through student-centered, problem-based learning experiences that result in student agency and authentic work. She has held several roles within Soundtrap over the years and is currently posted as Head of Customer Happiness, managing both the Education Specialists and Marketing Team.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase brand awareness, engagement, and revenue.
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