Today on the EdTech Startup Show, I talk to Chris Castiglione (@castig).

Chris is the Dean of One Month, an adjunct professor at the business school at Columbia University, and the host of his own podcast, On Books.

(Note: One reason to start your own company – you get to give yourself an awesome title like “Dean.”)

In simple terms, Chris is a twenty-first-century teacher. His company One Month is an online education platform teaching people technical skills like coding and project management through real-world projects in just 30 days.

The company started when Chris and his co-founder Mattan began traveling around the world teaching people how to code. The problem was clear: they couldn’t clone themselves, and there was a flood of students who wanted to learn from them.

One Month was born.

I first connected with Chris and his company in 2013. Having just sparked my own curiosity in learning to code, I dove into their One Month Rails course, which was one of the first Chris and Mattan offered on their site.

I eventually wrote about the experience for Edutopia here.

In just a few short lessons, probably under an hour, I had downloaded a new programming language onto my computer and created the basics of an app that was a clone of Pinterest.

Just contrast that with the way a typical in-person course syllabus plays out. How long until students work on an exciting project? Days? Weeks?

These satisfying wins, or “gold coin moments” as Chris calls them, are at the heart of great learning experiences, both online and in-person.

Chris knows a thing or two about the power of lifelong learning. We discuss:

– How in-person teaching experience led Chris to start his online education company
– “Gold Coin Moments” and the difference between an online course and college class
– The History of the Internet, an inspiring new writing project
– Why knowing the mindset folks bring to your education content is a difference maker
– Motivating students in online education
– And more

Fun links from this episode:

• As a listener to the Edtech Startup Show, you can get 10% off coding courses at One Month.
• The History of The Internet: https://hackernoon.com/the-history-of-the-internet-cdb844ff460c
• Syllabus for Digital Literacy for Decision Makers: https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/courses/mba/2018/fall/b8125-001
• On Books podcast: https://castig.org/on-books/
• And more

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You can also give me your feedback by tweeting @GerardDawson3 with the hashtag #EdTechStartupShow – thanks for listening!