About @mrhooker

Bio:

Carl has been involved in education since graduating from the University of Texas in 1998. He has been in a variety of positions in both Austin ISD and Eanes ISD, from 1st grade teacher to Virtualization Coordinator.  He’s a father of three girls, Sophia, Lauren, and Caroline and a wonderful, understanding wife Renee, all of which play a large role in any presentations he gives or blogs he writes.

Carl was the Director of Innovation & Digital Learning in the Eanes Independent School District.  As Director, he utilized his background in both education and technology to bring a unique vision to the district and its programs.  During his time in the position, the district jumped into social media, adopted the Google Apps for Education and started to build a paperless environment with Google Docs. He helped spearhead the LEAP (Learning and Engaging through Access and Personalization) which put 1:1 iPads into the hands of all K-12 students at Eanes.

He is also the “Godfather” of the learning festival called LearnFestATX. This festival (formerly known as iPadpalooza) has grown into a global phenomenon over the years. With the help of his amazing team of “iVengers”, this event has impacted schools and districts from all over the world.  The event has inspired spin-off events in other states as well Australia.

Mr. Hooker has been a part of a strong educational shift with technology integration since becoming an educator.  From his start as a teacher to his current district technology leadership, he’s always had one common belief – the kids need to drive their own learning. He realizes the challenges in our current public educational institutions and meets them head on. His unique blend of educational background, technical expertise, and humor make him a successful driving force for this change. As a speaker, he brings this background as well as a wealth of practical tools and ideas that teachers can use in their classroom tomorrow.

Carl has a 6-part book series titled Mobile Learning Mindset.  All of the  books in the series are now available for purchase. These books focus on a different stake-holder and the role they play in a successful mobile learning initiative .

Aside from his district work and writing, Carl also works as a keynote speaker and consultant through his company HookerTech, LLC as well as advising for multiple Ed Tech start-up companies. He guest authors a regular blog on Tech & Learning and has written guest blogs for the Huffington Post and Edutopia.

Carl is also a podcast host for both the ISTE Learning Unleashed podcast and is co-host with good friend Adam Phyall on the Future Ready Podcast called Undisrupted. 

Check out his official website at CarlHooker.com

Booking:

Carl has availability for speaking and presenting in either a Keynote or Workshop format. Contact him here if you have interest in bringing him to your event.

 Curriculum Vitae: