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Expert Speakers and Panelists

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Karen Cator, the director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, is a strong advocate for making better use of digital tools to personalize learning and raise student achievement. Well-known among chief information officers and other ed-tech leaders around the country, Ms. Cator is now promoting better use of digital tools for learning in the National Education Technology Plan, the federal government’s blueprint for using technology more effectively in schools. Prior to joining the department last November, Ms. Cator was an executive for Apple Inc., where she was responsible for the company’s Distinguished Educator Program, professional-development initiatives, and teaching and learning content on the Apple Learning Interchange, an online network where educators share lessons, strategies, and content-based digital media. Before joining Apple in 1997, she was in charge of technology planning and implementation for the Juneau, Alaska, school district. Ms. Cator will be speaking in both Washington and Boston.

Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia. In June 2010, Mr. Lehmann was named as one of the “30 Most Influential People in EdTech” by Tech & Learning magazine. In 2009, Mr. Lehmann was an honoree for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Outstanding Young Educator award. That same year, Mr. Lehmann was named as one of the “40 Under 40″ dynamic and proven performers in their industries by Philadelphia Business Journal. In 2006, the National School Boards Association named Mr. Lehmann one of its “20 to Watch” among public school administrators. Mr. Lehmann writes the education blog Practical Theory, about his views on educational leadership. Mr. Lehmann will be speaking in Washington.

Kim A. Rice is the chief information officer for the 57,000-student Boston school system. She was formerly the director of strategic planning for information services at the Massachusetts Department of Education, where she was the data architect on the design team for the Massachusetts Virtual Education Space, an online portal of education resources that is now called MassONE. An engaging speaker who is highly respected in the educational technology community, Ms. Rice has worked to modernize the Boston school district’s pool of 20,000 instructional computers as well as other technologies used in the district. She helped build the district’s student-information system and is working toward establishing more 1-to-1 computing environments in city schools. Ms. Rice will be speaking in Boston.

Steve Hargadon is the founder of the 42,000-member Ning social-networking site Classroom 2.0 and a social-learning consultant for the technology company Elluminate. A frequent blogger and speaker on educational technology, Mr. Hargadon helped pioneer on his Ning site the use of social media to support and push for the use of more technology in school districts to personalize learning. Mr. Hargadon is also the co-chair of the Global Education Conference, a free virtual online conference created to address issues related to school policy and leadership. He writes several blogs, including The Future of Education, which features an interview series with education leaders speaking on a wide range of topics, including social networking, the business of education technology, and the government’s role in supporting better use of educational technology. Mr. Hargadon will be speaking in Boston.

Julie Young is the president and chief executive officer of the Florida Virtual School, the nation’s largest state-sponsored provider of online courses for middle and high school students. She directs the work of more than 1,000 faculty and staff for the online school and has played an important role in charting the course of K-12 virtual education. Under her leadership, the Florida Virtual School has grown significantly, and received the 2009 CODiE Award for innovative uses of educational technology from the Software and Information Industry Association. Ms. Young will be speaking in Washington.

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Steven Anderson, an instructional technologist at Clemmons Middle School in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina, was the recipient of the 2009 NOW Award, which recognizes the “Movers and Shakers” in the world of social media. The same year, he received the 2009 Twitterer of the Year award from Edublogs. Mr. Anderson regularly speaks on how educators can harness the power of Twitter and other social-media tools to personalize learning and extend it far beyond school walls. Mr. Anderson will be a panelist in Boston.

Alice Barr is the instructional technology integrator for the 1-to-1 laptop environment at Yarmouth High School in Maine. A semifinalist for the 2011 Maine Teacher of the Year, Ms. Barr is also a Google certified teacher, teaches classes on incorporating technology into education for the Professional Development Center at the University of Southern Maine, and provides workshops and professional-development sessions to educators. Ms. Barr will be a panelist in Boston.

Richard E. Ferdig is a research professor at the Research Center for Educational Technology at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. He is currently studying the impact of emerging technologies, especially the growing role of K-12 virtual schools. Mr. Ferdig is also the editor of the International Journal of Gaming and Computer Mediated Simulations. Mr. Ferdig will be a panelist in Boston.

Jamey Fitzpatrick is the president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Virtual School, one of the largest virtual schools in the country. The Michigan Virtual School offers 150 online courses, has more than 16,000 course enrollments, and works with education leaders in more than 500 schools throughout Michigan to expand online-learning offerings. Mr. Fitzpatrick will be a panelist in Washington.

Tracy Gray, a managing director at the American Institutes for Research, leads the AIR Center on STEM Education and Innovation and oversees two national technology centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education programs: the National Center for Technology Innovation and the Center for Technology Implementation, which promote the development and implementation of technology practices and tools to improve the achievement of students with disabilities. Ms. Gray will be a panelist in Boston.

Martha Greenway, the deputy superintendent for the Fulton County Schools in Georgia, oversees technology, strategy and performance management, professional development, student assessment, resource development, and communications for the district. The Fulton County system is nationally recognized for using data-driven decisionmaking to provide customized information quickly to administrators and teachers in an effort to individualize learning for all students. Ms. Greenway will be a panelist in Washington.

Shawn Gross oversees North Carolina’s Project K-Nect, an initiative that puts smartphones into the hands of students learning algebra. The program has been recognized for having a measurable impact on math achievement. As the managing director for Digital Millennial Consulting, an educational technology consulting firm based in Arlington, Va., Mr. Gross also works with school administrators on ways to use technology to improve student learning. Mr. Gross will be a panelist in Washington.

Steve Johnson is the author of a forthcoming book titled Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Content Areas. He is an instructional technology facilitator at JN Fries Middle School in Concord, N.C., who works with educators to harness the power of digital tools to improve student achievement. Mr. Johnson will be a panelist in Washington.

Eric Klopfer is the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Teacher Education Program, which prepares MIT undergraduates to become math and science teachers. He is also the co-director of The Education Arcade at MIT, an initiative that researches the use of gaming to improve learning in K-12 classrooms. Mr. Klopfer’s research focuses on the development and use of computer games and simulations for building an understanding of science and complex systems. He is the author of Augmented Learning, a new book on handheld games and learning. Mr. Klopfer will be a panelist in Boston.

Douglas Levin, the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, works with state education technology directors and other ed-tech leaders in all 50 states. Mr. Levin played key roles in developing the nation’s first three national education technology plans. He was the primary author of “The Digital Disconnect,” a Pew Internet study of Web-savvy students, and recently launched an initiative to rethink textbook-adoption processes, taking digital content and open educational sources into consideration. Mr. Levin will be a panelist in Washington.

Benjamin M. Merrill, the superintendent of Notus School District #135 in Idaho, is the creator of the school’s Pirate Academy, which provides a roster of online courses for students to take as a supplement to their face-to-face classes. The online academy offers students a wide range of Advanced Placement, foreign-language, and elective courses that would not otherwise be available to students. Mr. Merrill will be a panelist in Washington.

Liz Pape is the president of the Virtual High School Global Consortium, which provides online courses to high school students and professional development for online teachers. VHS is a worldwide consortium that has grown from 28 member schools and 30 teachers to more than 575 member schools and 260 teachers in 28 states and 34 countries. Ms. Pape will be a panelist in Boston.

Joel Rose is the founder of the School of One, a program run by the New York City Department of Education. The school, which aims to improve student achievement by personalizing learning, was named one of the 50 best inventions in 2009 by Time magazine. Mr. Rose is a graduate of the Broad Foundation’s Urban Superintendents Academy. Mr. Rose will be a panelist in Boston.

Bryan Setser is the chief executive officer of the North Carolina Virtual Public School. Under his leadership, the school tripled its online enrollment in just three years to 65,000 students, and test scores rose dramatically in all subject areas. The school was ranked eighth in the nation in 2008-09 by the Center for Digital Education. Mr. Setser will be a panelist in Washington.

Eric Sheninger, the principal of New Milford High School in New Jersey, speaks frequently around the country about how administrators and teachers can use technology more effectively in schools. He has successfully used social-networking tools—including Twitter, Skype, and Facebook—to develop student learning opportunities, build partnerships with technology companies, and attract national media attention to highlight his school’s accomplishments. Mr. Sheninger will be a panelist in Washington.

Tom Vander Ark was the first business executive to serve as a public school superintendent in Washington state, and later became the first executive director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A longtime advocate for using technology to personalize learning, Mr. Vander Ark is now a partner in Revolution Learning, a private-equity investment organization concentrating on improving formal and informal learning globally. He is also a partner in Vander Ark/Ratcliff, a public-affairs firm advocating for innovation and entrepreneurship in schools. Mr. Vander Ark will be a panelist in Boston.

(We are continually adding speakers. Check back for an updated list.)