Presenters
I'm Mohammed Abo Hassan. I have been teaching English at A'ali Intermediate Boys' School in Bahrain for more than 12 years. I'm an MIE Expert, MIE Fellow, and a Global Learning Mentor. Last but not least, I'm a Wakelet, Kahoot!, Buncee, Flipgrid, and UN's SDGs Ambassador.
Lydia Billings is the Chief Operating Officer at 100cameras, a nonprofit organization that equips youth worldwide with tools to process and tell their experiences, impacting how they view themselves and their role in their community. Lydia's dedication to the organization has spanned over a decade, where she has passionately served in both creative and managerial capacities.
Creative Learning Strategist
Martha Bongiorno is a student voice activist and is currently serving as a school librarian in Metro Atlanta. She supports students and educators by pushing boundaries of traditional education to empower learners as thinkers and creators to make positive change in their communities. With her unique perspective from the heart of the school, she explores how the tapestry of learning is interwoven with literacy, technology, creativity, and student voice. Martha serves others as an ISTE Ambassador, Immediate Past-President of Georgia Library Media Association, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Master Trainer, a Flipgrid Student Voice Ambassador since 2016, and an Adobe Creative Leader.
Head of Research and Innovation
Jody Britten is a thought leader in digital learning. Acting as an activist for purposeful, quality learning experiences for all children Jody currently serves as the Director Learning Technologies for Team4Tech, working to ignite impact for global nonprofit organizations inspiring quality learning experiences for under-resourced communities. She has supported national and international private, public, and K12 organizations. Her work has supported large scale change that has lead to better learning experiences for children. She began her career as a public school educator, and grounds her work in practical yet strategic efforts to transform systems of learning.
School Community Architect
Dr. Marialice B.F.X. Curran is the Founder and Executive Director of the Digital Citizenship Institute. Her advanced graduate and doctoral studies on adolescent development at Boston College reinforced her commitment to service learning as Dr. Curran leads by hand, heart and mind. As a mother and a connected educator, she has served as an associate professor, middle school teacher, principal and library media specialist.
Stormy Daniels is an experienced educator who has spent over 15 years in the classroom and is known for her focus on personalized pedagogy that aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Stormy is passionate about creating positive change and empowering students to become global citizens who can make a difference in the world. Stormy's expertise includes implementing personalized curricula, and she offers personalized coaching and consulting services through her education consultancy, EdTech Purpose LLC, to help educators and institutions create student-centered and impactful learning experiences. Ed3DAO Genesis Member
Meggan Ford is a librarian just north of Atlanta. She is a self proclaimed crazy cat lady and a huge lover of Saturdays with coffee and a good book. In 2021, Meggan's library program was chosen as the exemplary library program for the Georgia Library Media Association. In 2020, she was honored to become the Fulton County Library Media Specialist of the Year. Meggan is also a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Adobe Certified level 2 Certified Educator.
Content Development Editor, English Language Learning Materials
Jacqueline Gardy is a Virtual Exchange Specialist and materials editor in the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the Office of English Language Programs. Prior to this, she was an English Language Fellow in Novi Sad, Serbia, through the State Department’s English Language Fellow Program, and was a high school ESOL teacher and community college ESL teacher. She has been on the board of the ISTE Online and Blended Learning Network and the M-Education Alliance. Her interests are in design thinking, edtech in low-resourced environments, and creative thinking.
Evo Hannan is the founder of Innovation X, a big thinking company that helps inspire a new way of thinking to move education forward. Before devoting his work to Innovation X, Evo served as a Head of Innovation at a number of schools in Dubai, and has been teaching Design for 2 decades. Evo has been featured in several publications in the Middle East and UK, and has gone onto speaking about his passion for innovation and change in education across the world, as well as a 2 times TedX speaker.
Melisa is a 2nd grade teacher in Hilliard, Ohio and has taught for 26 years. Melisa has a Master's in Education degree and is passionate about teaching Global Goals, inclusion, blending technology into curriculum and creating experiences in the classroom, such experiences focus on creativity, Stem, coding and more. She earned the recognition of Global Teacher of the Year in 2020. She is also a Microsoft Flipsider, Wakelet, Whiteboard Chat, Night Zookeeper, Teach Better Ambassador and an Apple Distinguished Educator.
Connect with me on Twitter @MrsHayesFam
Wendy Hedeen is a current computer science and reading intervention teacher with 30 years of classroom experience. Her passion is accessible and engaging classrooms using technology: especially those disenfranchised and marginalized students. She is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Master Trainer and a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert. She is an ambassador for both Wakelet and Gimkit and Flipgrid Certified. She has presented department, school-wide, and district-wide training on accessibility and engagement. She also presented various tech training at the NCCE (Northwest Council for Computer Education) 2019 conference, and TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) Conferences for 2020-2022.
Storyteller, cultural promoter and educator passionate about helping youth and communities thrive through inclusive multimedia storytelling. Pablo has 20 years of experience leading the development and management of multimedia initiatives for educational, cultural and charitable entities in Latin America, Spain and the United States.
In 2004, Pablo co-founded Colectivo Piloto, a nonprofit which advances community engagement and youth development through multimedia storytelling.
Director Instructional Technology & Blended Learning
Dr. Kaylah Holland is passionate about empowering educators through professional development, one on one coaching, and innovative lesson design. She holds a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design and Technology with extensive research in active learning environments. She has spent years empowering educators and championing student-centered classrooms. She is a Google Certified Trainer & Innovator, a college professor, an ISTE community Leader, and was presented the “20 to Watch” award by ISTE in 2022. Kaylah is the Director of Instructional Technology and Blended Learning for BreakFree Education and works to empower educators to radically improve education inside juvenile justice facilities.
Nonprofit Executive Director
Rushton Hurley is a former high school teacher, former principal of an online high school, author of three books on learning and schools, and founder and executive director of an educational nonprofit. Rushton has spoken to and trained over 100,000 teachers and school leaders around the world on topics such as professional development, school improvement, change strategies, staff morale, promotion in the community, and getting the best out of students and teachers. As he sees it, if we're not having fun inspiring our students, we're doing this wrong.
English Department Chair & Consultant
Sawsan Jaber, Ph.D., NBCT, is a global educator, presenter, equity strategist, curriculum designer and keynote speaker of 20+ years. She has held a variety of education leadership positions in the U.S. and abroad. She’s currently a high school English teacher and a district equity leader at East Leyden High School in Franklin Park, Illinois. Jaber founded Education Unfiltered Consulting and works with schools nationally and internationally. She completed her doctorate in curriculum and instruction, with a focus on inclusion and belonging for students from marginalized communities. She was awarded the Cook County Teacher of the year in 2023, the Illinois Digital Educators Alliance (IDEA) Teacher of the Year in 2022, and has been nominated as the 2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year and for the ISTE 20 to Watch Award for 2023. She’s a member of the board of directors for the Our Voice Alliance (OVA), which amplifies the voices of teachers of color to create more equity for students of color. She’s also one of the founders of the Arab American Education Network (AAEN) and is an ISTE Community Leader. Jaber is a National Board Certified Teacher and focuses much of her research on engaging students in equity work and advocating for Arab and Muslim students. Among other projects, she is currently working on national and international equity-centered projects with Google and the National Board Association. Jaber is a Pulitzer Teacher fellow and a WAMS fellow. She has been featured at several conferences and on many podcasts, and has written for a host of blogs, journals and newsletters with the goal of helping educators empower students to work toward global equity and justice. Jaber has published several scholarly works and is the co-author of Navigating Precarity in Educational Contexts: Reflection, Pedagogy, and Activism for Change. She’s passionate about her work as an activist scholar and co-conspirator for justice alongside her students. Jaber says her perspective as the daughter of refugees from Deir Yasin, Palestine, influences her work.
Jane Ji is an award-winning game designer and producer. In tandem with her team, she created the award-winning educational mobile game series iBiome. As a co-founder of Springbay Studio, Jane created the iBiome series to educate children and create a generation that cares about nature and climate change.
Jane believes that environmental education should be more empowering, playful and action-based. Currently Jane is leading her team on the League for Green Leaders program, one-of-its-kind online climate action platform for children around the world to compete and reduce their carbon footprint.
District Instructional Coach
Cammie currently works as a District-wide Instructional Lead in a geographically vast rural Alberta district (Prairie Rose Public Schools) and with the district’s Distance Learning programs. She has over 20 years of experience as a high school English and Social Studies teacher and taught an EdTech college course for preservice teachers for 5 years. She is a proud ISTE Community Leader and puts her roles as Google Certified Trainer / Coach and Microsoft Master Trainer to good use as a member of Canada’s Cobblestone Collective edtech trainers.
Lindsay Kincaid is an educator with deep experience driving change in high school classrooms, higher education courses, adult learning spaces, and nonprofit organizations. Her passion is designing equitable learning environments and advancing youth agency, teacher capacity, and social justice. Lindsay believes technology is a tool that can foster unprecedented creativity and collaboration within education. She loves building inclusive, engaged communities across geographies and generations. Currently, Lindsay is the Chief Program Officer at Team4Tech, a nonprofit impact accelerator, and is an adjunct faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Education.
Alefiya Master is the Founder & CEO of award-winning app development program, MAD-learn. She believes that enabling students to have passion-driven career choices should be a key focus for schools. It’s not often that you find a millennial, woman, minority, educator turned entrepreneur who has founded and grown two EdTech companies that now impact over 40,000 students in 30 states and 5 countries. She knows the critical role of education in workforce development, the need to have ALL kids learn to think & create for themselves, and be exposed to technology creation, not just consumption.
Director, Science Technology Entry Program
I work with underserved students who are K - 12 from from NYC to eastern Long Island, and advocate for them statewide as the Director of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine Science Technology Entry Program... a New York State Education Department (NYSED) grant.
Our lifestyles have a planetary impact. I use the United Nations Sustainable Development goals to teach students how to be global citizens and environmental stewards.
My wish is that we all rise together, save the planet for the next generations, and live peacefully - having a goal greater and more impactful than greed.
JP Pullos (he/him/his) is the Director of Programs at 100cameras, a nonprofit organization that works with youth around the world, teaching them to process and tell their stories through photography in a way that impacts how they view themselves and their role in their community. JP lives in New York City!
Technology & Digital Design Coordinator
Greta Sandler is a Learning Innovation Leader at Belgrano Day School in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is passionate about creating safe learning environments and empowering learners by giving them a voice and choice in their education, nurturing their creativity, and prioritizing their social-emotional needs. Greta is an ISTE Certified Educator and a Google Certified Trainer who advocates for agile, student-centered classrooms and project-based learning. She aligns projects with the UN's SDGs, empowering students to become agents of social change. As an ISTE Community Leader, Greta enjoys working alongside educators worldwide, exchanging ideas, and empowering teachers everywhere to elevate their practice.
Speaker | Education Coach | Consultant
Yaritza Villalba leads professional learning opportunities, centered on culturally responsive sustaining education (CRSE), to an international network of educators. With thirteen years of experience in Urban education, Yaritza supplies many effective strategies and resources for educating and supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous. and people of color) students and families.
Over her career, Yaritza became an Assistant Principal and an author of culturally relevant children's books creating opportunities and experiences for students of color to gain fair access to resources that spark critical thinking and meaningful conversations in and out of the classroom.
Dr. Jennifer Williams has dedicated herself for 25 years to the field of education through her roles as an education activist, professor, school administrator, literacy specialist, and classroom teacher. As an educator and author of the ISTE book, Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good, she champions teachers to use educational technology purposefully for the planet and its people. She is the co-founder of TeachSDGs and the non-profit organization Take Action Global. Connect with Jennifer on Twitter at @JenWilliamsEdu and at www.jenwilliamsedu.com.
Business Development Manager
Nik currently works for Innovation X, a big thinking company that helps inspire a new way of thinking to move education forward.
Nik has a diverse, multinational corporate leadership background, encompassing retail, telecommunications and banking.
Before joining Innovation X, Nik was a leader for Vodafone Qatar, returning home in 2018 to assist with the expansion of a UK challenger bank.
Since starting with Innovation X, Nik has been actively involved in projects such as creating an innovation expo for a school district in California and the Design4SDGs UK Design Challenge. Nik is now focussed on further developing Design4SDGs internationally.
Session description
Join a global experience to connect your classroom to the world and learn how to make an impact using SDG projects. Fill your digital passport by participating in interactive stations, project signups and obtain resources. Start your global collaboration adventure by learning to be positive, active participants in the world.
Purpose & objective
Purpose
The purpose of this playground is to provide a space where participants can connect with each other, learn about global collaboration projects, and design their own projects using the United Nations SDGs as a framework.
Objectives:
Participants will:
Learn about ways to connect and collaborate with colleagues around the world
Participate in a live global collaboration experience
Learn how to apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals to global collaboration projects
Hear inspiring stories from educators around the globe on the presentation stage
Connect global ISTE educators together whether attending ISTE 23 in person or virtually
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Outline
Outline:
Content and activities:
Digital Passport- To encourage participants to visit multiple stations throughout the playground, we will have a digital passport. As participants visit each station, they will receive a code to unlock a digital SDG icon. If they unlock all 17, they will be entered for a giveaway. This passport will act as a digital file for playground visitors to access the resources all in one place.
Live mind map- Participants will share where they are from, and data will be displayed in real time to show a visual representation of global locations. We will share out to online participants as well. for participants to share where they are from.
There will be a place both physically and digitally for teachers to connect, network and collaborate on ideas for SDG-connected collaboration projects.
Presenters for tables will showcase their best global collaboration projects focused on the SDGs. The tables will have interactive elements using different technology tools for collaboration and ideally a way for participants to try things out.
Call to action as participants leave the playground- Participants will be encouraged join a database or padlet to keep sharing ideas and connect after the conference is over.
Live & pre-recorded presentations from educators around the globe will be streaming as part of the presentation stage presentations. They may include topics such as: inspiring stories from global educators, ways to connect the global community, example global collaboration projects, highlighting projects that focus on one of the 17 SDGs. Playground coordinators will moderate these presentations.
Sandbox tables will cover a variety of hands on activities and presentations and will cover topics such as: projects focusing on all or some of the 17 SDGs, example projects connecting the global community, resources for global collaboration, a live map of current attendees both in person and virtual to foster collaboration and community, and more.
Table Stations:
Each presenter (or set of presenters) will have a table for 1 hour. There will be 12 presenters or pairs during the playground. They will switch on the 1-hour mark.
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Supporting research
Asia Education Article- https://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/professional-learning/pathways-and-toolkits/global-collaboration/global-collaboration
SDGs overview- https://sdgs.un.org/goals
iEarn- https://www.globaledguide.org/learn
World Savvy, global competence- https://www.worldsavvy.org/our-approach/global-competence/
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Explore and create: Playground 
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