Breakout Edu!

Have you ever done an escape room? If not, Google that and find one to do with a group of friends! They are so much fun and challenging. Even better? Making one yourself!

Breakout Edu is an awesome platform that turns your classroom into an escape room. If you purchase a kit, you will be given a set of physical locks, a large and small box, and few other supplies that allows you to build out the game. You can use the website's already made games by teacher around the world, or like I did, create your own. There is even a feature to use digital locks, so you do not have to buy a kit!

ISTE EdTek Hub: 6 Ways to Give Feedback That Helps Students Improve and Succeed

Over the last several months I have been studying in both graduate school and professional development effective feedback to drive student understanding and growth. I took a chance to write an article for ISTE's EdTek Hub, and they have decided to publish it! You can read the article by clicking on the link below:

6 Ways to Give Feedback That Helps Students Improve and Succeed



I'm glad to contribute to a community that I believe in, one that has inspired me in the last few years, and to help other teachers utilize the technology for efficiency and effectiveness to help our students improve and succeed in a timely manner. I would love to hear other ways you may use technology to provide effective feedback to students!

Instructional Design in a High School Biology Blended Class

The purpose of instructional design is to create “an environment for learning by structure content and creating activities that engage students and facilitate meaningful learning” (Morrison, 2013). Designing online, blended, or hybrid learning environments that harness technology have been a challenge for teachers that are used to traditional teaching methods. As technology become a very prevalent tool in schools, the role of technology campus facilitators is key in the support that teachers need to grow as designers. Supporting the process of learning must be valued, over the process of teaching, in the design of these types of courses.

In designing hybrid learning environments (such as a 1:1 iPad learning environment), a variety of learning theories should be considered.

Instructional Design in a High School Biology Blended Class

The purpose of instructional design is to create “an environment for learning by structure content and creating activities that engage students and facilitate meaningful learning” (Morrison, 2013). Designing online, blended, or hybrid learning environments that harness technology have been a challenge for teachers that are used to traditional teaching methods. As technology become a very prevalent tool in schools, the role of technology campus facilitators is key in the support that teachers need to grow as designers. Supporting the process of learning must be valued, over the process of teaching, in the design of these types of courses.

Leveraging Technology For Quick Effective Feedback

I love harnessing the power of technology. My students learn to critically think as they use technology and I get to see what they truly know (and don't know) when they create with their iPads in Biology.

This year, it is my goal to use technology for quick effective feedback. I want my students to know where they are in learning, and what they need to do next to improve and ensure they can achieve mastery. Here's a quick video explaining how technology can provide quick effective feedback.

How do you provide quick effective feedback, especially with over 100 students? I would love to hear from you!

A Reflection of Tools in My Technology Learning Environment

I have been in a 1:1 iPad learning environment for four years (going on my 5th). There are times when I think to myself, “I really don’t think I could go back to the old ways of teaching.” I think those exact same things about my own personal use of technology on a daily basis; how did we make it without smartphones? Well, we did make it-but personal devices really do make things easier and fun! In hindsight, I feel very fortunate to have been in two schools that are 1:1 iPad schools. When I was first introduced to iPads in the classroom, my training began with the app first and application second. Oftentimes my professional development and conferences would discuss the “really cool new app” first and showcase all of its bells and whistles. After a while, I felt burned out; I had too many apps and used them in a shallow manner. I began to think more about the design of my class and how I wanted to shape my learning environment and over the last few years I have been doing that.

The NMC Horizon Report K-12 Edition highlights trends in technology that align with collaborative learning, deeper learning through PBL and inquiry, students as creators instead of consumers, and blended learning (New Media Consortium, pp. 10-16). These are things that I have strived for in my learning environment over the last few years. These are how I make decisions about using (or not using) technology in my classroom. In addition, one of the great things I have leveraged technology for is feedback; "technology helps teachers to gather, analyze, and act upon student feedback more efficiently" (Vega, 2013). The use of technology has given me real-time information about where my students stand on a lesson, saves me time in receiving this information, and helps to guide my next steps in the lesson.

Watching this video can give you a small glimpse into my students’ learning environment. This video was created for my application to the Apple Distinguished Educator Program, Class of 2015, but it felt most appropriate to show here.

Social Media Made me "Famous"

About four years ago a few of my coworkers and I began doing flipped lessons for biology. We created this video:

In the last few years, when I have my students watch it from my YouTube channel, they crack me up by saying "Mrs. Hahn, you're famous! Look how many hits you have on this video!" --currently, this video has over 80,000 hits.

In their eyes, they think I've "made" it (so funny!). When I look at those hits, I'm thinking "woah, what's going on here?!" Out of the bazillion YouTube videos that exist and are uploaded daily, they think I've "made it" in the digital world. :)

Reflections of #ISTE2016

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend and present at the ISTE Conference in Denver (thank you Westlake Academy!). Over 14,000 people involved in education attended this conference. While at first this was VERY overwhelming (trying to choose which lectures and speakers I wanted to hear), I found being surrounded by like-minded educators and technologists like a slice of home!

I led a poster session with my fellow ADE's Dr. Layne Morsch and Maggie Mabery called "Lights, Camera, Science Action!," a session on student authored videos in science middle school through higher education. (See our poster session documents here). I really enjoyed leading and visiting many of the poster sessions. These sessions are scheduled within a two-hour window. As you visit, you can stay for as long as you like at a table to hear about a particular topic and ask as many questions as you want. I love this style of presenting because it allows you to have personal conversations with others!

Measuring a 1:1 iPad Program

One of the hardest things to do in life is SLOW DOWN...just enough to think, look back, and gain perspective. This is no different with school initiatives; often times we (meaning those in education) are excited to implement a new idea, equipment, or philosophy, but forget to stop and look at how that implementation is doing.

In his book, How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business, Douglas Hubbard makes it clear that measurement is not about ridding of all uncertainty, but that it is a "reduction of uncertainty based on one or more observations" (p. 30). In regards to a 1:1 iPad program in a school, how can you measure it's success? What does an "effective" 1:1 iPad program really look like and how do you know teachers are using iPads in the classroom "effectively?"

A Study of Global Technology Trends

It is becoming increasingly common for information and communications technology (or ICT) to be incorporated into educational organizations around the world. Adoptions of technology come in a variety of forms, such as computers, laptops, or mobiles technologies (phones or tablets). According to UNESCO’s Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning, ICTs in several countries are making education accessible for people and students that do not have access due to location, social equity, quality of education, or financial abilities (West, 2012). Mobile learning is opening up the educational possibilities. “Mobile learning is learning that occurs in or outside of a classroom or formal education setting, is not fixed to a particular time or place, and is supported by the use of a mobile device (Hylén, 2012, p. 10). In some ways, mobile learning is showing people across the world ways they can utilize their everyday devices for learning (Isaacs, 2012, p. 26). In other ways, this type of learning is allowing those in low-income or remote regions of the world to have access to education because of the accessible nature of learning and knowledge; the ability to discover new things is easy when given a phone or tablet and access to the World Wide Web.

ICTs are not only opening up opportunities for education and knowledge to reach remote areas, they are also challenging the education system’s policies, support, and methods of pedagogy for the future. For example, ConnectEd is a government program from Obama’s administration that supports infrastructure, teacher training, and private sector innovations to empower students through the use of digital content (Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2015, p. 24; “ConnectEd”). Trends from UNESCO’s Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning in Africa and the Middle East show that individualized ways users of mobile technology are “disrupting and transforming traditional paradigms of learning” (Isaacs, 2012, p. 20). Mobile technologies are allowing for a shift to collaboration (So, 2012, p. 17), student critical thinking (Hylén, 2012, p. 17), effective feedback (West, 2012, p. 15), blended learning, and increase of face-to-face time between the teacher and students (Johnson, et al., 2012, p. 16).   

What Do You Do Next After a 1:1 iPad Initiative?

What really needs to happen after a technology initiative has been established? How does an initiative go from being an "initiative" to something more? Several case studies highlight the successes and the pitfalls of growing Information & Computer Technology (ICT) plans from around the world. Governments and educational organizations globally are beginning to implement technology as a way to provide equal opportunity for all learners. This is causing positive and negative changes in policy, community opinions, and teacher support. While there are great strides being made through the use of ICT, there are still improvements that can be made globally. These improvements and problems are opportunities, not setbacks, for the evolution of education as a whole.

Below is a response to these global studies: the successes, the areas of concern, and what we can learn from them in response to a two year 1:1 iPad implementation.

To end, I think this video from Tom Daccord, Director of EdTechTeacher, brings great perspective.

A New Culture of Learning

If you know me by now, you know how much I love a 1:1 technology environment! There is just something very different that happens when you put technology at the finger tips of the ones you teach (yes, there are several concerns to address of which I am aware, but just roll with me here!).

Often we hyper focus on maintaining the stability of the infrastructure of education rather than responding to the change that is taking place in how our students learn today. After reading the book called "A New Culture of Learning" by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, I feel confident in the direction I have been going with my classroom, and can see clearly that it is imperative that we move toward a focus of creating significant learning environments (SLEs). 

Students are intuitive and creative. According to the book, this new culture of learning is made of two things: "The first is a massive information network that provides almost unlimited access and resources to learn about anything. The second is bounded and structured environment that allows for unlimited agency to build and experiment with things within those boundaries." Along with this, "learning thus becomes a lifelong interest that is renewed and redefined on a continual basis. Furthermore, everything-and everyone-around us can be seen as resources for learning." An SLE is not necessarily focused on actual environment of the classroom, however that can play a role. It is the culture within and the context of learning, rather than the content, that shapes the learning environment.

A Study of Leading Organizational Change

In the last five weeks, I have been studying best practices of leading organizational change, focused on technology implementation. Leadership is a tricky thing; it's really about understanding yourself and position within an organization, looking past the anxiety and emotions that may come from change, and create an environment where specific behaviors occur that ultimately lead you to your end goal.

Leadership goes beyond the heart. It's more than a Ted Talk.

In the link at the bottom of this post, I have studied the following things that are essential to leading successful change through technology implementation:

• Communicating to teachers the Why, How, and What of what you represent as a school is key in guiding staff to understand the purpose of using technology in the classroom.
• Identifying vital behaviors and six sources of influence are essential to see increased use of iPads by teachers and administration.
• How to execute a plan of increasing iPad use by teachers and administration using the 4DX model.

Self-Differentiation in a 1:1 iPad Environment

The ability to lead change in an organization seems like an easy task. Often, it is viewed as being a coach that is a motivator and makes everyone feel like they are a part of the team. While there is an element of leadership that requires these attributes, often long-lasting change and shift in the culture of an organization must come from a self-differentiated leader.

self-differentiation: knowing your job and staying connected to others without losing identity or taking on the anxiety of the group.

While intelligence, self confidence, sociability, technique, and even skill are necessary, "knowing where one ends and another begins" gives you, as a leader, the ability to see the goal objectively, and lead others to stay the course throughout the uncomfortable change. 

Increasing iPad use in a 1:1 iPad Environment

The whirlwind of daily tasks in education are consuming. Often, they operate at 100 mph and knock you over daily. No matter how much or how little time you give to these tasks, they will always be consuming. Because of this, they can quickly put any strategic plan to a halt. 

After reading The 4 Disciplines of Execution, as well as the Influencer, I have come to see that it takes strategic effort to set aside the whirlwind and focus on those one or two "wildly important goals" in order for effect changes to take place in education. By identifying achievable goals and setting vital behaviors (a major component of the Influencer Model), and setting those goals up with the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) model, effective change can come easy!

The influencer model, discussed in my previous post, allows for you to focus on six sources of influence that are broken into two main groups of motivation and ability, and then further broken down into what are intrinsic (personal) and extrinsic (social and structural) motivators. This model gives great clarity to motivations and abilities that should be addressed on a team. 4DX provides a way to achieve and measure these same goals. 

Influence and Vital Behaviors in a 1:1 iPad Environment

Over the last few weeks, I have been learning about vital behaviors and leadership influences for my graduate course. Based upon the work from the book entitled, Influencer, I have learned that in order for changes to occur, the heart has to change. But even motivating change at a "heart" level isn't enough. After identifying desired changes, specific vital behaviors need to be clarified. BUT even after that, changes that are measurable, using Influencer's six sources of influence are key in effective change. This type of organizational change is not a quick-fix, and I appreciate that! Being able to identify these sources of change is very foundational, which can provide a platform for true growth in education.

Based upon these learnings, I propose below a desired result I believe is needed for continued development of a 1:1 iPad initiative.

The Why, How, and What of Technology Integration

There is something unique about the word empower; it is a word filled with authority and strength-beckoning for action. The ability to empower a student, rather than “guide” or “help” automatically creates a sense of urgency and necessary action. It creates a sense of responsibility for the teacher to act on their duty to give strength and authority to their students so they can truly achieve their highest potential.

Teachers themselves need to be empowered to do so. By evaluating the last two years of our 1:1 iPad initiative and creating a common vision for technology integration, we will have the ability to create differentiated professional development that gives teachers the experience they need to use the iPads in the classroom. 

A Culture of Innovation

A term coined by Clayton Christensen, technology is a perfect disruptive innovator that increases accessibility to learning, simplifies tasks, and brings convenience to digital natives as they learn.

Through study of global educational technology trends across the world, I have learned that there are very successful technology initiatives that are beginning to help reach many people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and North America. These early stages of mobile technologies allow for equal access to knowledge and also open up the door for policy change. Technology is enhancing communication between teachers as students as well.

While vision and leadership, professional development, evaluations, and infrastructure are improving for school systems, these same attributes of an ICT program also need improving. In some countries, vision is well established, and in others, the vision is lacking and teachers do not know why they are using devices to teach. In some educational programs, professional development helps teachers to learn how to use devices, but in other areas of the world, teachers desire more guidance on how to integrate the device into their personal curriculum.

My hope is that a platform is established for conversation; as we begin to have education technology dialogue, I hope this work inspires us to ask tough questions:

How can we move forward and embrace the technology we already have as a catalyst for change and innovation that supports our current and future constraints on students, teachers, and administration?

Can we evaluate our own program and apply the lessons learned internally and globally to develop a vision and professional development specific to the needs of our own values?

How do we equip teachers to be effective facilitators of learning in the classroom within our own educational program?

The Innovation of Technology

After studying disruptive innovations via technology for the last month, I have created a video that summarizes steps that can be taken at my current school to learn from the past, cultivate the present, and prepare for the future by utilizing our 1:1 iPad initiative as a catalyst for change. This video is meant to spark conversation and to get the ball rolling! Enjoy!

See the original YouTube Video here.

An Outline for a Culture of Innovation

Below is an outline for some ideas I have on a proposal of utilizing a current 1:1 iPad initiative as a catalyst for change in a culture of teaching and learning. Any feedback is welcome!