As a passionate technology integration specialist, Lisa Highfill has spent almost three decades bringing innovation and engagement to the Pleasanton (California) Unified School District. For this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, she sits down with Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, to share stories about two remarkable accomplishments: a teaching tool called HyperDocs and creating a district-wide Virtual Academy.
HyperDocs Are A Unique Blend Of EdTech And Pedagogy.
Calling HyperDocs digital worksheets would be like calling your computer a word processor. In the spirit of teaching students how to learn, Lisa and her colleagues turned a suite of Google apps into a platform for digital lesson planning, engagement, and formative assessment. She explains:
"A HyperDoc asks for active engagement, that cognitive thinking from the onset: explore this content, make meaning of it, and then I'll either take your thinking into a higher level, or I'll correct it when I go to explain that."
A HyperDoc bakes personalized formative assessment into the lesson. Lisa says:
"We build in the explore portion of a lesson before the explain. Explore first, then explain, then apply. It really comes down to authentic application of that knowledge."
Students who understand that they're shaping the lesson as they go through it are more likely to take ownership of their learning.
Lisa realized she wanted to contribute to building student agency with this mindset shift she experienced when students would ask her what to do:
“Students would come in and sit down and just say, ‘Just tell me what to do. Tell me when it's due and how many points it is.’ I realized I was feeding the beast. They were just complying with what I was giving them. So, I had to change up what I asked of them and, in the process, build agency for exactly what you're talking about, take responsibility for you'r learning, make choices. Those are things that I hope that will transfer into the workplace seamlessly- that confidence in their work.”
A Remote Learning Program Births A Virtual Academy.
As her district's tech integration specialist, Lisa guided 15 schools through the remote learning days of the pandemic. Her administration, aware that many students had thrived during this period, then asked if she wanted to help build and launch the Pleasanton Virtual Academy (PVA).
"I said, 'Yes, please. Is this true? Can you pinch me?' Because our district decided to take the learning gains from pandemic instruction and really build upon it. I don't know if we would've ever truly understood the ways students were thriving until it actually happened."
PVA is built around Lisa's passion for design thinking, project-based learning, and student metacognition. With an initial enrollment of 450, an adequate number of subject-area teachers, and a hybrid model allowing for a range of student participation, Lisa and her team invited students to help create their own learning experience.
"It really empowers the kids to think, 'There isn't one right way to do this, and I have the power to control that and figure it out for myself.'"
Lisa says her real ‘aha’ moment, especially this year, was:
"Teach students how to be really good learners. I mean, that, to me, is my job. Teach students how to be really good learners, and then provide this content for them to practice on.”
Simple EdTech Can Foster Profound Learning Experiences.
Lisa relies on EdTech for HyperDocs and virtual learning, yet what excites her the most is the creativity of lesson planning and students' "aha" moments as they learn. She encourages EdTech developers to keep these end goals in sight rather than adding too many bells and whistles:
"When I'm building HyperDocs throughout the year, I tend to stick to four Web tools. I need Web tools for creativity, for collaboration, for visual production, for video production. And then I stop and limit myself, because I'm afraid with too many choices, we're getting away from the heart of the initiatives we're trying to do, which is to really teach students."
As an example, Lisa describes AnswerGarden, a simple feedback tool that encourages in-class collaboration with a word cloud, about which she then asks:
"'Let's dig in deep. Why did someone write this word here?' That's why we need to use tech tools, not just to make a pretty word collage, but to then say, 'What does this collage tell us about our classmates, and how we can work together today?'"
Her simple takeaway: it doesn't have to be complicated, just creative and effective.
What We Talked About
Use this to jump to parts of the conversation you want to listen to more closely
[00:42] Introducing Lisa Highfill
[04:55] Introducing HyperDocs
[09:15] The heart of lesson planning
"I get a lot of energy in being a creative person through designing lessons. I have so many ideas for it, and it brings that joy back into the profession that I really need. That's my fuel to get up every day and work with kids."
[13:08] Lesson planning for back-to-school
“[Students] were just complying with what I was giving them. So, I had to change up what I asked of them and, in the process, build agency for taking responsibility for their learning, making choices, which tool's going to best showcase my knowledge. Those are decision-making things that I hope that will transfer into the workplace seamlessly."
[16:09] HyperDocs as a possible model for EdTech developers
[19:47] How Lisa built the Pleasanton Virtual Academy
"We built a structure around all of the dream initiatives I've had throughout the years, which is design thinking and project-based learning, with the idea of having a hybrid space."
"When we first started building this, it was a lot of teaching students how to be learners."
[29:18] How you can build a Virtual Academy at your school
"I encourage teachers to start with what you do have control over. Every teacher has lessons that they are to design. I always start with looking at problems and then designing for those solutions."
"One way to start preparing for back to school is thinking about ways that you could build trust with students. I think that's an important part to address right away."
[39:13] What keeps Lisa going
[41:16] How people can get in touch with Lisa
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
All Things HyperDocs
The HyperDoc Handbook: Digital Lesson Design Using Google Apps by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis, a book about this digital lesson planning, student engagement, and formative assessment tool
HyperDoc Academy, a resource for educators who want to know more about HyperDocs
Beginning of the Year HyperDocs, a Wakelet with a number of back-to-school lesson plans that Lisa mentioned
Teachers Give Teachers, a search feature that helps teachers dig deeper into HyperDocs
Additional Tools and Sources
AnswerGarden, a simple feedback tool that Lisa recommends for in-class collaboration
Edgenuity, provider of K-12 online curriculum and blended learning solutions; Lisa mentions them as a source for baseline academic materials
People
Kelly Hilton, Instructional Technology Coordinator for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and Lisa's HyperDoc Handbook co-author
Sarah Landis, Instructional Coach for the Pleasanton Unified School District and Lisa's HyperDoc Handbook co-author
Ramsey Musallam, science and tech educator who has inspired Lisa about cycles of learning
Ken Shelton, EdTech teacher, consultant, and presenter; Lisa refers to his back-to-basic approach to building equity
Books
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig; thoughtful escapist fiction that Lisa enjoys reading in her downtime
Sliding Doors by Peter Howitt; another example of thoughtful escapist fiction
All Things Lisa
Teachers Give Teachers: Twitter
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
Lisa Highfill, Guest
Lisa Highfill is a Technology Integration Specialist at Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD), and the co-author and creator of The HyperDoc Handbook and Teachers Give Teachers. Lisa describes herself as a thinker, philosopher, debater, and geek. She has worked in PUSD (San Francisco Bay Area) for over 28 years, and is currently the district’s technology integration specialist coordinating the new Pleasanton Virtual Academy. Working in the EdTech field since 1998 when she earned her Master's Degree in EdTech Leadership, Lisa went on to become a Google Certified Innovator, a YouTube Star Teacher, a Merit Fellow, and a Leading Edge Digital Educator. Lisa has served on many advisory boards, including GoogleEDU and Imagine K12, and presents at EdTech conferences around the country.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase reach, relationships, and revenue.
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