Global Forum on Technology & Innovation in Teaching and Leading Conference Committee Members

• Dr. Lynn Nolan - Conference Chair, Senior Strategic Initiatives Officer, International Society for Technology in Education

  

  Lynn's background encompasses extensive professional experience in the field of education locally, nationally, and globally. She presently serves as the Senior Strategic Initiatives Officer for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). In this role Lynn facilitates strategic planning for enhancing the organization's global presence, and identifies, explores, defines and shares opportunities for partnering and collaborating with associations, institutions, agencies, and other organizations. She also serves as the National Workshop Chair for ISTE's National Education Computing Conference and the Program Chair for the International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology, jointly organized by ISTE and the Singapore Ministry of Education.

  Lynn has extensively published and presented at US and international conferences, including a recent presentation in Singapore at the Third International Conference on Educational Technology in the Microsoft Partners in Learning strand. She currently serves as the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project Director where she is leading the refresh of ISTE's NETS. Lynn participated in the development of UNESCO's ICT Competency Standards for Teachers and represented ISTE, a collaborative partner with UNESCO in this initiative, at the Standards Launch in London in January, 2008. She has advised on the integration of ICT standards in schools, districts, and states in the U.S. and other countries, including Brazil, China, and India. She is facilitating ICT standards development and launched the first phase of this project with the Ministry of Education in May, 2007 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

  Lynn's doctoral dissertation, "Forward to the Future: A Delphi Study of the Future of Education" has provided her with insight into the direction of technology's role in the schools of the future. The Delphi panelists that worked with Lynn as a part of her research were ten renowned experts in the future of education. Together they forecast possible, probable, and preferable events for the future of education. This provided her with an understanding of the possibilities that educators may look forward to in the next few years. Lynn is also a long-time member of the World Future Society.

• Don Knezek, Chief Executive Officer for International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

  

  Don Knezek is recognized internationally for his leadership in collaboration, planning, and standards development related to technology in schools. In his twenty-eight years as a professional educator, Dr. Knezek's experience includes K-12 classroom, district office, university, regional service center, state department, and national and international organization leadership for technology. Don has directed large, multi-state projects in the Star Schools and Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology programs of the U.S. Department of Education.

  Don is CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and Co-Chair of the Educational Technology Advisory Committee to the Texas State Board of Education. He recently served as Director of The National Center for Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (NCPT3) and Co-Director for the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project - both important ISTE initiatives.

  Dr. Knezek is committed to universal education and is a tireless advocate for professional development in context. He is providing consulting services to ministries of education around the world sharing his valued expertise in preparing education leaders and teachers to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

• Natasha Ridge, Visiting Research Fellow at the Dubai School of Government.
  Natasha Ridge is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Dubai School of Government. She too completed her doctorate at Columbia Teachers College and does a lot of work in the area of school quality and gender issues throughout the UAE. Natasha has nearly a decade of experience working in schools and advising ministries of education throughout the UAE. In addition, she has worked on a number of education policy projects for the governments of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekista.
• Anna Batchelder, Founder and CEO of Bon Education
  

  With experience leading education product development, training and programming initiatives for leading companies and academic institutions including Wireless Generation, SchoolNet, Columbia University, Kaplan, and ECC Foreign Language Institute (Japan), Anna is passionate about improving education for all and developing technology solutions that significantly improve learning and access to educational resources. Recent projects include the development and promotion of:

  • Curriki.org: an online education community, that develops and provides free, open-source instructional materials for K-12 students throughout the world
  • UAE Urban Identities: a research initiative and experimental technology collaboration between students and professors from the American University of Sharjah (UAE), Oxford Brookes University (UK), Parsons The New School for Design (USA) and KAIST University (South Korea). The collaboration focuses on key urban heritage areas within the United Arab Emirates allowing participants to collaborate, research, analyze, plan, design and present innovative architectural and technological solutions. The greater goal of the project is to develop public awareness and appreciation of UAE urban heritage sites.
  • FreeReading.net: a K-3 open source early literacy program currently used by literacy teachers in over 170 countries
  • Columbia Business School Education Leadership Consulting: a course that trains MBA students on how to address key technology, data and resource allocation initiatives for education sector clients

  Anna has hosted numerous workshops on how to incorporate technology tools into the classroom and is author of the blog www.literacyispriceless.com. She holds an MA in Comparative and International Education from Columbia University, Teachers College, a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary and is a former English teacher.

• Clifton Chadwick, Professor at the British University in Dubai as well as an education consultant for a number of projects in the region.

  Clifton Chadwick is a professor at the British University in Dubai as well as an education consultant for a number of projects in the region. When it comes to knowing education policy, needs, curricula and just about anything else in the region, Clifton is my go-to person. He is wonderfully energetic and can give you a good sense of the education landscape here if you have specific questions. He also has extensive experience in Qatar, East Timor, Korea, Latin America and I am sure several other regions!

• Punit M.K. Vasu, Director of Strategic Programs, Knowledge and Human Development Authority
• Kerry Bailey, Curriculum Consultant – ICT (Model Schools) for Abu Dhabi Education Council.
  

  Kerry has been involved in the use of ICT in education for over twenty-three years. As a professional educator, Kerry's experience includes, classroom teaching, principalship, teacher librarianship, district learning technology advisory roles, teacher education, ICT education management, and the development and facilitation of online learning for teacher professional development and for K-12 classroom use.

  In his career, Kerry has focused on the use of ICT to support the education of students across K-12. A large portion of this has been associated with Education Queensland, in Australia. This association has led him to work with Education Queensland's elearning facility, 'The Learning Place'.

  Currently, Kerry is working for the Abu Dhabi Education Council on the implementation of the council's new ICT Education Curriculum Standards and the infusion of ICT across the curriculum to support teaching and learning.

• Stephen Cox, Director of Strategic Professional Development for GEMS, the largest provider of private education in the region.
• Robin Dada, Director of Graduate Studies at Zayed University where she works with pre-service teachers, especially in the area of education technology
• Chris O'Neal, ISTE Faculty member, Professor at University of Virginia and Technology Director for School District in Virginia
• Punit Vasu, Director of Strategic Programmes is Knowledge and Human Development Authority