2010 Conference Speakers
Peter H. Reynolds
Peter Reynolds of FableVision will kick off our conference on Thursday, April 29, 2010. Peter is a best-selling Author-Illustrator and advocate for “off the path” learners and is dedicated to crafting stories, media and technology that challenge children and grown-up children around the world to reach their full potential. Peter, with his twin brother Paul, founded FableVision creating innovative learning software and interactive media. FableVision and Peter have both won numerous awards and have partnered on many different projects with several different organizations including PBS, Scholastic, MIT and the National Academy of Sciences.
Six years ago Peter was scheduled to present at NETA as a Featured Speaker. When the scheduled keynote speaker canceled at the last minute, Peter graciously stepped up to the plate and gave an unbelievable keynote address! This year he returns to share more ideas, inspiration and “Stories”.
Rem Jackson
Rem Jackson of Top Practices Education is the conference’s Friday keynote and this is a presentation you won’t want to miss! He has keynoted over 45 state and national conferences and appeared on television around the world discussing technology and its appropriate uses in instruction and professional development. His ability to guide participants through challenging content in an interesting and informative style has contributed to his national reputation as an entertaining, informative, and dynamic speaker.
Rem has been guiding professional, educators, and business leaders as a coach and trainer for over 18 years. After his keynote address, Rem and two of his associates will be sharing more great ideas with educational leaders. Encourage your school’s administration to join you this year for a wonderful look at how to impact education and strengthen effective leadership.
Meg Ormiston
Meg Ormiston is next up and are we all in for a treat! For over twenty-four years Meg Ormiston has been involved in professional development activities focused on changing instructional practice in the classroom. Meg marries her passion for technology with a deep curriculum background and over twelve years as a classroom teacher. She has served as a curriculum coach, school board member, keynote speaker, professional development specialist and grant facilitation specialist. Meg has also authored two books, written numerous articles, collaborated on professional videos and participates in many personal learning communities. Meg brings all of this to each professional development session, with a dynamic presentation style and a great sense of humor.
Judith Sweeney
Judith Sweeney has worked in the field of education since 1969. She has been a regular education teacher (secondary English) and special education teacher in both public and private schools. She also taught and managed projects and grants in assistive and educational technology at the University of Connecticut for over 10 years. In 1997, Judith founded Onion Mountain Technology, Inc., a firm devoted to providing evaluation, consulting, training, and presentation services to children, their parents, and school systems interested in increasing their knowledge of and access to assistive technology. The company has also developed a number of assistive technology products including the LoTTIE Kits, a series of low and mid tech tool kits for informal assessment and evaluation. Judith is also a national speaker who presents and consults on assistive technology.
Dr. Elliot Soloway & Dr. Cathleen Norris
Dr. Elliot Soloway & Dr. Cathleen Norris are going to challenge you to look at your classroom in an entirely new way. Their combined style of humor and dialog will help you focus your classroom in a direction that your student’s didn’t know was possible. They are co¬founders of a software revolution called “GoKnow Learning, Inc.”. Their products work on mobile devices and cell phones providing a complete solution to harness the power of mobile computing for K-12 students.
Dr. Soloway is a professor at the University of Michigan in many different departments. For the past 10 years, Elliot has been exploring how mobile computing technologies can be effectively used in K-12 classrooms. He has been awarded numerous honors and awards. Besides his teaching responsibilities Elliot is the CEO of GoKnow Learning.
Dr. Norris is a professor at the University of North Texas in several different departments. For 14 years, Cathie taught high school math and computer science and won the distinguished Golden Apple Award. Drawing on those classroom teaching experiences, Cathie’s university research focuses on helping teachers weave mobile learning technologies into the daily fabric of their classrooms. Cathie has been President of ISTE and NECA, the association that organized NECC.