Hack Learning

In Episode 51, Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes recruits guru Don Wettrick to Hack Innovation. Wettrick is a high school teacher in Indiana, popular education presenter and author of Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level. His Innovation Class has grown into an amazing place, rife with students who are creating new programs that have caught the eye of the private sector. Don shares several fascinating stories about Innovation Class, focusing on students who have, among other things, worked on reservations bringing innovation to native Americans and have created theater groups for shy kids and students with disabilities. One of the humblest teachers you'll ever meet, Don also explains a revelation about Innovation Class that a student provided, right after she told him one of his ideas was "about the dumbest thing" she'd ever heard. Instead of being angry, Don said, "Why's that?" Then, he had an epiphany about his Innovation Class. This is Hacking Innovation; learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com.

Today's technology empowers teachers and learners to break down the walls of school and business. In Hack Learning Episode 50, Mark Barnes explains how you can easily share teaching and learning with all stakeholders with the power of live streaming video. Learn how Facebook, Periscope, and other platforms help you reveal your best practices and engage a global audience with live video. And learn how to begin immediately. See http://hacklearningpodcast.com for further details and resources.

Publishing giant Amazon developed a tool for publishers and bloggers to market books, but in the process it may have empowered teachers to turn non-readers into lifelong readers. Kindle Instant Preview is helping educators bring books to life for students, and Instant Preview just might inspire even the most reluctant readers to dive into a book, once they peruse it from their tablet or mobile device. In this episode, Mark Barnes shares the Secret Sauce inside Kindle Instant Preview, which gives website and blog administrators the ability to embed any book on a web page or blog, so a preview of the book will appear there, making instant reading a one-click experience. But how does this rescue reluctant readers? Listen now to unveil this powerful secret that, according to Barnes, even Amazon doesn't completely understand. Learn more about Kindle Instant Preview at http://hacklearningpodcast.com.

Mark Barnes shares the evolution of the Hack Learning model and says it's time to reframe your thinking and to change your attitude about problem-solving in education and in life. It's time for right now solutions. Here are three examples of solve-today-implement-tomorrow strategies that are sure to improve teaching and learning in your class, at your school, and at home. Learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com. Tweet your thoughts to #HackLearning on Twitter.

Renowned educators Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis are not your traditional school leaders. In fact, they prefer to lead from the middle, which is quite unorthodox, when you consider the typical top-down leadership model. In a recent conversation with Hack Learning creator and Times 10 Publisher Mark Barnes, Sanfelippo and Sinanis, co-authors of the new Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love, explain how to create a positive school culture, how to empower teachers, and how to facilitate a collaborative community in schools. Learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com and share your thoughts at #HackLearning on Twitter.

If you want to build an engaged, vibrant learning community at your school and in your school district, you need to connect with teachers, parents, and community leaders on social media. School principal, connected educator and author of the popular Learning and Leading education blog, Bethany Hill, joins Mark Barnes in Episode 46 to discuss community building in and around schools, using the power of social networks, blogs, online courses and other social sharing tools. Building a successful learning community, according to Bethany Hill, is about transparency and sharing. Grab this episode and learn how to make education transparent and exactly what to share and how. Learn about Bethany Hill on the show notes page at http://hacklearningpodcast.com.

Apple Distinguished Educator Peter Cameron dramatically changed his teaching methods. He created a new kind of homework, which he calls "home share". After reading Cameron's blog post on this alternative to traditional homework and discussing it with him, Mark Barnes explains Cameron's home share strategies and expounds upon the value of Cameron's unique out-of-school assignments, in yet another assault on traditional homework. This is Hacking Homework . . . Again. Learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com and follow Mark Barnes on Twitter @markbarnes19.

Flipped learning has become wildly popular in education. Unlike a traditional course setup, where content is delivered in class and students apply and practice their learning through homework, the flipped classroom turns that arrangement on its head: The initial content delivery happens at home, and then students and teachers re-converge in class to apply and practice their learning. In this episode, Mark Barnes identifies the biggest problem with the trendy flipped classroom and provides some simple strategies teachers can use to flip learning back to the classroom, with the in-class flip. This is Flipping Flipped Learning. See step-by-step details on the strategy at http://hacklearningpodcast.com. Talk about on Twitter at #HackLearning.

What if you could build a small group of experts or like-minded people who answer your questions or respond to your rants 24/7. Mark Barnes explains how he "Voxes" his way to success with his own expert groups with one simple, free web and mobile application. Learn how to build your tribes and start communicating with them immediately for improved personal and professional growth, in another brief edition of Hack Learning 101.

Jennifer Hogan tells Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes about her initial experience with the backchannel, which it turns out she may have unwittingly created decades ago. Hogan, an Alabama principal, #USedchat co-founder and global education consultant, conducted an online chat with her students, using, get this, an old AOL chat room, where she discovered some amazing things about teaching and learning in the digital world. In this episode, Hogan explains how that AOL chat turned a shy kid into a classroom star, and she shares two examples of using modern backchannels in today's classroom. Not sure how to use a backchannel for teaching and learning? Hogan reveals this too--all in under 10 minutes. This is Hacking the Backchannel.

Some of Twitter's most experienced live chat creators and moderators join Mark Barnes to discuss the influence of Twitter on teaching and learning, during live Twitter hashtag chats. Sharing their insights are Tom Whitby, co-creator of Twitter's oldest live discussion, #Edchat, Brad Currie, co-moderator of #Satchat, Connie Hamilton, moderator of #TMchat and Starr Sackstein, co-founder of #Sunchat. These Twitter facilitators reach millions of people weekly during their live chats, which feature hundreds of educators tweeting and retweeting ideas, opinions, and resources. This is Hacking Live Twitter Chats.

In an under two minute hack, Mark Barnes is joined by Missouri principal and globally connected educator Naomi Austin, who shares her story of change. After some serious reflection and self-evaluation, Austin decided that her assessments were not not efficiently assessing her students. This epiphany led Austin and a colleague to drastically change their practice and Austin's mindset about traditional grades. Learn how Self-Evaluation Changes Practice in about 101 seconds.

Teacher and student engagement expert Jim Sturtevant joins Mark Barnes in a discussion about the concept of the avatar -- no, not the movie. Sturtevant, author of You've Gotta Connect and Hacking Engagement, explains the power of the avatar for engaging kids and helping teachers and parents learn all they can about their most important target audience. Sturtevant details how he gets kids to open up about themselves with a simple online survey and then uses this information to discover the student avatar and help kids expand this metacognitive process outside of the classroom, into the real world. This is How to Find Your Avatar.

World renowned teacher/rapper and Youtube phenom Jason Levine, aka Fluency MC, shares three hacks for English Language Learning, including a surprising tip about using social media. Levine travels the world, demonstrating how to engage English Language Learners in ways most teachers and learners have never seen. An international Youtube star, whose unique ELL rap videos have been viewed millions of times, Fluency MC stops rapping just long enough to share some practical, yet powerful, tips for making language learning easy and fun. This is Hacking English Language Learning.

Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes, one of education's top social media and digital learning experts, explains the power of Periscope. Mark provides four simple steps to help you get started with the live streaming video tool in 101 seconds or less. Listen to this brief episode and start sharing your message with the world, using Periscope today. This is Hack Learning 101: The Power of Periscope.