Dr. Sonny Magana is an award-winning teacher, world-renowned edtech researcher, and best-selling author. He is the president of Magana Education Services, which provides innovative and impactful keynotes and professional development for teachers and leaders. Robert J. Marzano called Sonny, “An inspirational educational visionary.” John Hattie wrote, “Sonny Magana has truly become the Eddie Van Halen of Learning.”
A 1:1 learning pioneer, Sonny created and served as Principal of the first Cyberschool in 1995. A tireless advocate for digital equity, Sonny received the National Milken Family Foundation Educator Award, the Washington Governor’s Commendation for Educational Excellence, and the EdTech Digest Global EdTech Leadership Award. His innovative teaching and learning methods were peer-reviewed by global education scholars and inducted into the prestigious Oxford University Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Sonny is the author of the best-selling books, Enhancing the Art and Science of Teaching with Technology (co-authored by Robert Marzano), and Disruptive Classroom Technologies: A Framework for Innovation in Education, in which he introduced the T3 Framework for Innovation in Education. Synthesized from four decades of groundbreaking research, the T3 Framework strategies have a peer-reviewed effect size of 1.6 and higher (Magana, 2020). Michael Fullan wrote that Disruptive Classroom Technologies and the T3 Framework are, “A brilliant breakthrough in our understanding and use of technology for learning,”
Sonny latest book, Learning in the Zone: The 7 Habits of Meta-Learners, was recently published to global critical acclaim and has already been translated into Mandarin. Dr. Robert J. Marzano wrote, “Magana’s concept of Meta Learning has the potential to set the foundation for the new pedagogy of the 21st Century.” (Sonny is hard at work writing his next book, Teaching in the Zone: The 5 Essential Teaching Habits.)
Skillfully intertwining music with innovative learning methods, Sonny delivers the ultimate hands-on professional development experience from inspirational keynotes to half-day workshops to multiple-day engagements in schools or districts. Sonny’s one-of-a-kind presentation style is not only engaging and powerful, but has been shown to reliably accelerate learning.
Presentation Topics
1:1 Learning that Works: The T3 Framework for Innovation
Despite dramatic increases in classroom 1:1 computing tools, their impact on student achievement remains frustratingly low. The digital age demands that teachers gain basic technological knowledge, but is this sufficient to move the needle of impact forward? How can schools successfully prepare students for the future if the edtech impact needle is stuck on low? Using his unique vision, peer-reviewed research methods, and concrete examples, Dr. Sonny Magana shows how the T3 Framework strategies transform classroom instruction. Combining the art of music and the science of research, Dr. Sonny Magana will empower teachers to find their groove and realize the classrooms of their dreams. Participants leave understanding why John Hattie said, “Sonny Magana has truly become the Eddie Van Halen of learning.”
Learning in the ZONE: The 7 Habits of Meta Learners
Every student has the capacity to learn how to learn, unlearn and relearn. This is hardwired in every human brain, but too often this potential remains dormant, particularly among hard-to-reach students who view schooling as a boring parade of surface level memorization followed by an abundance of testing. It doesn’t have to be this way. Dr. Sonny Magana has devoted his life to developing a unifying theory of learning, what he calls Meta Learning. Meta Learning is an innately joyous and powerful learning process in which students’ passions and abilities converge to elevate their performance well beyond their known limits. In this life-changing workshop, the renowned learning futurist and Oxford Research Scholar shares the 7 Habits of Meta Learners, a sequence of powerful and easy-to-understand strategies that can help anyone find and sustain their Zone of Optimal Performance. You’ll leave this workshop understanding why Dr. Robert Marzano wrote, “Meta Learning has the potential to set the foundations for the new pedagogy of the twenty-first century.”
Teaching in the ZONE: The 5 Essential Teaching Habits
With and effect size of 1.57 (Hattie, 2023) Collective Teacher Efficacy is one of the most impactful influences on student learning and achievement. It occurs when every teacher in a school system believes that he or she can and will improve student learning by collectively improving their teaching practices. This isn’t magic, it is a real phenomenon that begins by helping teachers develop a language of essential teaching practices. In this career-affirming workshop, Dr. Sonny Magana shares his 5 Essential Teaching Habits that will restore the love of teaching in a way that is both sustainable and scalable. You will leave this experience understanding why Dr. Michael Fullan wrote, “For those of us on the frontier of deeper learning, Sonny Magana’s work is a much-needed gift!”
Leading in the ZONE:
The 5 Critical Commitments for Modern Educational Leaders
Recent research suggests that the disruptions to schooling caused by the global COVID pandemic have resulted in significant learning loss. What can education leaders do to reverse learning loss while ensuring learning continuity during future learning disruptions? In 1995, pioneering educational researcher Dr. Sonny Magana created and served as the principal of the first CyberSchool in the United States. Dr. Magana’s CyberSchool was the subject of a ground-breaking longitudinal research study which first surfaced enduring principles of effective blended schooling. These findings were further investigated and codified into the T3 Framework for Innovation and the 7 Meta Learning Habits. In this powerful session, Dr. Magana shares the 5 Critical Commitments that educational leaders can make to accelerate learning productivity in an era of unprecedented change. The 5 Critical Commitments are a blueprint that offers educational systems the direction, guidance, and tools needed to unlock students’ limitless capacities for learning and contribution while equipping students to successfully address tomorrow’s challenges.
Research-Based Methods, Classroom-Proven Results
Dr. Magana’s professional development services are highly sought-after simply because they work to improve learning and academic achievement. High reliability can only be established through integrated systemic interventions, using an actionable and measurable model for continuous improvement. Dr. Magana’s T3 Framework for Innovation is thoroughly grounded in decades of research evidence and practical classroom and leadership experience.
Dr. Magana’s innovative research-based methods have recently been peer-reviewed and inducted into the prestigious Oxford University Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Partnerships to Promote Collective System Efficacy
Dr. Magana’s consultative services are highly sought-after because they are thoroughly grounded in the highest quality education research and theory, and backed by decades of highly effective classroom and leadership experiences. The overarching focus of Magana Education is to develop and sustain Collective System Efficacy: The strongly held belief that together, learning systems can and will measurably accelerate system wellbeing and mastery.
Dr. Magana continues to consult with school districts, educational service centers, ministries of education, large companies with established brands, and new EdTech Start-Ups. Dr. Magana can work with your learning organization to develop and implement a strategic vision, provide leadership coaching, offer reliable advisement on product development, and establish effective impact evaluation protocols.
Rave Reviews:
“Dr. Sonny Magana brilliantly defines the T3 Framework which serves as a “call to action” for all education leaders to examine the role that technology has in teaching and learning. As Sonny details, schools are technology rich and innovation poor due to a constant pursuit of the latest glitzy technology fad that often has limited additive value to student achievement.
As education leaders we must see beyond the frenzy of the latest technology craze and evaluate the value-added impact that technology resources have on teaching and learning.
We have had the distinct pleasure of working with Dr. Magana with powerful results. As this Marzano Research Laboratory Case Study will attest, implementing Dr. Magana’s T3 Framework in our school significantly improved student learning. His work provides a structure for educators to evaluate technology resources and to make education decisions that ensure we are transforming and transcending our classroom learning to the benefit of all students.
Rick Oser
Principal
Lemon Grove Academy Elementary and Middle Schools
Lemon Grove, California
“Serving as an international Schools Superintendent, I have had the pleasure of implementing innovative programs to benefit students in schools all around the world. When I heard that Dr. Sonny Magana developed his T3 Framework, I immediately felt that this work would be exceedingly beneficial to our students and staff at the American International School in Lagos, Nigeria. Even so, I could not have anticipated the outstanding results that we have seen. The survey results measuring our success indicators were simply off the charts.
Our teachers were at first reluctant to even use technology, let alone edtech tools to accelerate learning. But with Dr. Magana’s patient and expert guidance, our staff quickly gained the confidence and competence needed reach the highest levels of and implementation of technology in classroom lessons. The results were outstanding.
The T3 Framework is not about teaching how to use technology. We’ve done that. It hasn’t worked. The T3 Framework works because it’s about learning how to utilize the technology you have in a meaningful and authentic ways to enhance instruction and student learning. From students finding meaningful wicked problems to investigate, to becoming social entrepreneurship focused on improving their world, the T3 Framework will help guide your staff to implementing technology into their teaching in ways that will greatly benefit student learning.”
Greg Rayl
Superintendent
American International School Lagos, Nigeria
“Hiring Dr. Magana to implement his professional development model at my school site was one of the best decisions I have ever made as an administrator. His expertise in content, mastery in delivery, and ability to develop instant audience rapport was extraordinary. Sonny took the time to listen and ask questions, to customize our professional development, and meet our teachers ‘at their level.’ His careful planning and content scaffolding helped establish a growth trajectory our teachers embraced and in which they excelled. Sonny is a proven expert who is incredibly personable and available. He works with teachers one on one, offering personalized advice above and beyond the scope of our training. The relationships he was able to establish with our leadership and instructional staff created the trust needed for teachers to move outside of their comfort zone and truly work towards innovative instructional change. Dr. Magana truly understands the systemic operations of schools and school districts and has established state-of-the-art, research based processes to help teachers ensure their students succeed. I highly recommend Dr. Sonny Magana for your learning organization–you won’t regret it!”
-Allison Roberts
Principal, Regis Jesuit High School
Aurora, Colorado