Troy Hicks  is a member of The Educator Collaborative network.  Read his full bio here or request him for consulting or a speaking engagement.  Dr. Troy Hicks is an award-winning expert in digital literacy, writing instruction, and teacher education.  Troy is a professor of English and education at Central Michigan University and focuses his work on the teaching of writing, the intersections of literacy and technology, and, more broadly, teacher education and professional development. A former middle school teacher, he collaborates with K–12 colleagues and explores how they implement new literacies in their classrooms. Troy is author of Crafting Digital Writing (2013) and The Digital Writing Workshop (2009) as well as a co-author of Because Digital Writing Matters (Jossey-Bass, 2010), Create, Compose, Connect! (Routledge/Eye on Education, 2014), Connected Reading (NCTE, 2015), Research Writing Rewired (Corwin Literacy, 2015), Coaching Teacher-Writers(Teachers College Press, 2016), Argument in the Real World (Heinemann, 2017), and From Texting to Teaching(Routledge/Eye on Education, 2017). His edited collection, Assessing Students’ Digital Writing (Teachers College Press, 2015) features the work of seven National Writing Project teachers. Hicks has authored or co-authored over 30 journal articles and book chapters and blogs regularly at hickstro.org.

Amira Abdel-Aal is a member of The Educator Collaborative network.  Read her full bio here or request her for consulting or a speaking engagement. 

Amira Abdel-Aal is an expert in providing culturally sustaining literacy education, complimented by technology and focused on fostering global citizenship.  For the past eight years, Amira has been a teacher and technology innovation leader at New Horizon School in Irvine, CA. New Horizon is an award-winning Independent Islamic School, distinguished as a National Blue Ribbon School and a Leader in Me “Lighthouse School.” She holds a Masters degree in Teaching, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and a Bachelors in Economics with a minor in Business Management from U.C. Irvine. After leaving the corporate world as a consultant, Amira quickly found fulfillment and inspiration in the students she had the privilege of sharing a classroom with.