Guest post by Anthony Salcito, vice president of worldwide education
I’m always inspired to see the innovative ways educators bring new approaches into their classrooms, challenge the status quo and create a better learning environment for their students. But these magical moments and ideas often stay inside the walls of classrooms – isolated and under-leveraged.
With a passion to empower every student and educator to do more, Microsoft is committed to shining a light on classroom innovation – which is exactly the idea behind #HacktheClassroom – coming directly to your screen on Saturday, September 24th from 8:00 – 10:00AM PDT where you can join us live during this free digital event.
A global movement
Microsoft launched the Hack the Classroom movement in January 2016 which connected teachers from 120 countries to hear founders of Code.org and the maker movement talk about how they’ve hacked learning spaces to help students improve computational thinking, critical thinking skills and creativity.
And our upcoming #HacktheClassroom event promises to be even more inspiring. We’re bringing together some of the most innovative – and outspoken – experts on education transformation to share their insights and tips with you and your peers around the globe.
#HacktheClassroom takes the powerful Microsoft Educator Community to the next level with a simple goal: to spark education innovation on a global scale.
I hope you will join me and our other guest speakers to experience:
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“This year is gearing up to be even better. More powerful voices. More Hack the Classroom Events viewing parties (I am hosting!). I am using it as a catalyst to ignite change, to remind educators that we do indeed have some powerful ideas, and that with a few small tweaks we can be even more powerful. Hack the Classroom is about investing in yourself and believing in others. It is about the conversations that emerge from the presenters. It is about the local touch of viewing parties while learning from a global network of people who believe in educators and students. It is about taking the stance to make a change. So often we complain that we don’t have time, or that PD costs money. This is free. This is invaluable. This event has been organized in a way that all excuses have been removed.” – Aaron Maurer, MIE Expert, #HacktheClassroom veteran |
- Visit an Interactive Maker Space with Jordan Shapiro, PhD, a world-renowned thought-leader on global policy and education and a senior fellow for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, where he coordinates research and advocacy around digital technology and education policy.
- Hear inspirational ideas from keynote speaker John Kao, who has played a leading role in the fields of innovation and business creativity for over 30 years. John blends the perspectives of musician, facilitator extraordinaire, former Harvard Business School professor, Harvard-trained psychiatrist, best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, and Tony-nominated producer of film and stage. And as founder and CEO of EdgeMakers, his latest mission is to empower young people worldwide to become highly effective innovators “ahead of schedule.”
- Get a glimpse into a classroom using OneNote with Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert and elementary special education teacher Lauren Pittman, who is harnessing the power of OneNote’s Learning Tools to help her students dramatically increase their reading and writing abilities.
- Take a Virtual Field Trip with MIE Expert and Skype Master Teacher Dyane Smokorowski, who has used Skype to open the walls of her classroom, enabling global connections for her students.
- See what a classroom using Minecraft looks like with Patricia Romero (https://education.microsoft.com/Status/Public?token=k1cec3dU), MIE Expert from Mexico, who went from watching her students play Minecraft to working with teachers in her school and across Latin America to create collaborative learning experiences using Minecraft.
Thank you for inspiring us!
Educators are my heroes. They not only make a difference each and every day, they work to raise the expectations of our students in classrooms around the world. Microsoft is proud of our global community of educators – including our MIE Experts and Microsoft Showcase Schools — and we can’t wait to come together on September 24th to celebrate you.
Register for #HacktheClassroom. Participation is absolutely free! To see how teachers like you are using #HacktheClassroom to innovate teaching and learning, check out these guest posts from Aaron Maurer, Jeanne Parent, Tammy Dunbar and Jim Pedrech.