INNOVATION AT MERCY

Kirk Demlinger (Algebra)

‘pre-loads’ lessons using the video platform

EDpuzzle - his students watch the lecture as homework and then complete the traditional ‘homework’ together in class. EDpuzzle gives him analytics on the students’ progress on the video lesson, which helps him to hold them accountable for their learning,

Mercy is committed to the growth of our teachersinvesting significant time, energy, and financial resources into professional development in order to stay closely connected to educational best practices. Faculty are challenged to continuously learn, improve, and develop innovative ways to engage our students!

Three years ago, Mercy made its largest investment in professional learning by retaining Knowing Technologies (KT), an EdTech consulting company that provides training on strategic technology implementation. KT works one-on-one with individual teachers to improve their comfort, confidence, and overall fluency with technology use and integration. This intensive, individualized training has changed the landscape of instruction at Mercy, so that teachers become coaches and students become empowered learners. In addition, Mercy Administration hosts interdisciplinary faculty sessions and encourages peer teaching to promote a culture of collaboration.

This year, Mercy founded an Instructional Innovation Team that now consists of 7 faculty members who engage in weekly planning sessions with KT. The individuals on the Team are working to a point where they can teach their colleagues and become models of innovation themselves. Ultimately, the goal is to empower teachers to be passionate about their subjects and tools, and to share their passion in a way that elicits dynamic student outcomes.

Importantly, technology itself is not the focus of innovation at Mercy. The objective is to understand the benefits that technology can provide to the students, so that students can lead and own their learning. Mercy’s innovation goals coincide with a larger education trend permeating the industry of reimagining what teaching looks like -- where learning and classrooms are studentcentered, and teachers leverage strategies and digital tools to further engage students and deepen their learning. Mercy faculty are actively experimenting and innovating, paving the way in the EdTech space to redesign the learning experience.

Tom Wootten (Social Studies) is using Touchcast for student videos, integrating green screen technology for multimedia presentations. In his Propaganda project, students learn about communication techniques and employing core tenets of persuasion theory in order to achieve a desired outcome. They analyze how various propaganda techniques are used to influence their behavior, and how social media was used in the 2016 election to influence prospective voters.