Segment 1:
The Modern Workplace

Are we experiencing a fundamental transformation in what is important in work and the skills that we as workers need to have in the 21st century? Are creativity and big-picture thinking as important as logical, linear, computer like abilities that have been ever so important in the 20th century to succeed in the workplace today? And are these qualities innate in a person or do we have an ability to develop them and if so how? We also discuss the topic of his latest book: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, including what motivates us to do our best quality work and how much this motivation has to do with extrinsic rewards that we as employees are offered.

Guest:
Dan Pink, author

Dan Pink is a best selling business author who has changed the way companies view the modern workplace. He has written articles on business and technology that have appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Wired. Mr. Pink worked previously as Vice President Al Gore's chief speechwriter from 1995-97, and before that as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. He received a BA from Northwestern University and a JD from Yale Law School.

Segment 2 :
Lifelong Kindergarten

Can the same approach of experimenting and "play" that children use to learn in kindergarten be extended to how we learn in the rest of school and in fact the rest of our lives? Are we all born with a natural curiousity and desire to learn more? What types of situations and environments nurture that curiousity and our ability to think creatively and what types of situations discourage it? And should we be thinking about how to apply the principles of how we learn in kindergarten to the rest of our educational, professional and personal lives?

Guest:
Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Professor of Learning Research

Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Professor of Learning Research and head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Laboratory, explores how new technologies can engage people in creative learning experiences. Dr. Resnick earned a BA in physics at Princeton University (1978), and MS and PhD degrees in computer science at MIT (1988, 1992). He worked as a science-technology journalist from 1978 to 1983, and he has consulted throughout the world on creative uses of computers in education. Dr. Resnick was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award in 1993.