Speaking July 11, 2012
A parent of two middle school aged children, Will Richardson has been thinking and writing about the intersection of social online learning networks and education for the past 10 years at Weblogg-ed.com and in numerous journals and magazines such as Ed Leadership, Education Week and English Journal, and most recently at willrichardson.com. He is an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of the diverse new learning opportunities that the Web and other technologies now offer. He is a former public school educator for 22 years, and is a co-founder of Powerful Learning Practice (plpnetwork.com), a unique professional development program that has mentored over 5,000 teachers worldwide in the last five years. His first book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Corwin Press, 3rd Edition 2010) has sold over 80,000 copies and has impacted classroom practice around the world. His second book, Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education, (Solution Tree) was released in May, 2011. His third book, a collection of blog posts titled Learning on the Blog, was published in August of 2011 by Corwin Press. Over the past six years, he has spoken to tens of thousands of educators in over a dozen countries about the merits of online learning networks for personal and professional growth. He is a national advisory board member of the George Lucas Education Foundation, and a regular columnist for District Administration Magazine. Will lives in rural New Jersey with his wife Wendy and his children Tess and Tucker.
Speaking July 12, 2012
Kevin grew up in poverty and attended school in many cities across the United States. As he witnessed education around the country he collected powerful experiences that still influence his conversations and his work with educators. He spent 13 years teaching art K-12 in public school and for 17 years spent summers leading creative adventure camps for kids of all ages. In 1991 he received the Making IT Happen Award which is an internationally recognized awards program for educators and leaders in the field of educational technology integration in K–12 schools. The program identifies and rewards educational technology leaders around the world for their commitment and innovation.
For the past four years he has hosted a creative learning site called ArtSnacks (http://artsnacks.org) where he shares 150+ ten minute drawing videos that support standards curriculum. This social “learning” network is his Petri-dish for learning to mentor teachers and students in virtual environments. He was selected to be in the Apple Distinguished Educator class of 2011 and spends time helping schools that use Apple’s powerful tools get the most out of them for students and teachers.
He is currently serving his ninth year as a Technology Integration Specialist at ESSDACK, an educational service center based in Hutchinson, Kansas. At ESSDACK he researches and designs programs, training and staff development with a strong passion for helping teachers and learners become successful with educational uses of technology. He shares his thinking and learning on his blog Tradigital Learning and in his podcast Driving Questions in Education. He is a school board member in the town of Inman Kansas and is currently serving in his second term. He feels that one of his most important roles is to help vision what the future holds for learners and to help move schools in right, new directions. During his classroom tenure, he developed project-based approaches to learning that infused technology and problem solving skills. He created a film program for kids and developed it into a fully functioning curriculum at the high school level. He co-developed a PBL approach called the Life Practice Model with colleague Ginger Lewman and they provide training and certification in this powerful, student driven approach to learning.
Kevin has developed online safety, anti-bullying and cyber-bullying curriculum which he shares with parents, teachers and students around the country. He certifies instructors in this curriculum and supports trainers as they go out and do this important work. His recent book Don’t Stay Under The Couch Starbuck and The Bully is the centerpiece of his Pre-K-6 curriculum. He continues to work with schools to develop innovative, engaging curriculum to better prepare learners for the world they will face when they graduate. He is passionate about meeting the needs of at-risk learners and works with kids in juvenile detention, developing approaches to re-engage the "lost" learner. Kevin travels the country and the world speaking at conferences and working with educators at the grassroots level and likes to promote a "tradigital" approach to education.
Kevin likes to bring his personal life experience and a sense of humor and creativity to the mission of helping prepare 21st century learners!
50 Minute Sessions
2 Hour Sessions
Contact: Timothy Plumer Jr.
Sr. Solutions Consultant, NA Education Sales
Email: timothyp@adobe.com
Phone: 207.318.8302
Website: http://www.adobe.com
North High School
15325 Highway 41 North
Evansville, IN 47725 Conf. Phone: 812.435.5290
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