I’m so excited that I have been selected as a participant in the Google for Education Certified Innovator Program! The program officially begins with an Innovation Academy to be held at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA (aka Googleplex) on February 24-26, 2016. The fun logo above was designed by fellow Mountain View Cohort-mate, Ari Flewelling.
There were 34 participants selected from around the world (United States, Canada, UK, Germany and South Korea!) to be in the program based on their professional experience, their passion for teaching and learning, their innovative use of technology in school settings, and their potential impact on other educators.
At the Innovation Academy participants will discover how to unlock creativity, translate insights into solutions, experiment rapidly, and build an effective innovation culture in schools and organizations. Participants will come away with practical approaches, valuable tools and techniques, and the beginnings of an Innovation Project. This project will drive change in education, impact educators and students, and be documented for other educators to follow. I blogged about the application process, my innovation project and my “ideal classroom” previously.
Our cohort has already begun Voxing, chatting daily via Google Hangouts, collaborating and helping one another with projects. This has been a whirlwind of a few weeks, and I cannot wait for the year ahead!
We also received BreakoutEDU boxes in the mail with hints and clues to start figuring out during week one (pictured left). Now that we have found our partners (my partner is Stacy Yung from California), we have to develop a game together for others to play once we arrive in Mountain View. I’ll admit, I need a little help in this department, so please please offer your suggestions for our breakout game in the comments below! It has to include my word lock & my partner’s number lock, both boxes and help others learn about our innovation projects.
There are just over 1300 Certified Innovators worldwide from 49 countries; I am incredibly honored to have been selected and to represent Forward Edge in this prestigious program. For more information on the Google for Education Certified Innovator Program, please visit www.certifiedinnovators.com.
Have you played a BreakoutEDU game before? What suggestions do you have for me and my partner?
Tech To You Later!
-Katie