Keynote Speakers
Jeremy Gutsche
CEO of Trendhunter.com, Award-Winning Innovator, Management Consultant, and New York Times Bestselling Author of Better and Faster
Spotlight and IGNITE Speakers
Presenters
| Nino Humanoid Robot Sirena Technologies If every kid out there gets a chance (access) to play & learn with Humanoid Robots, then perhaps they would grow up and create a much better world through better technologies. Sirena Technologies has made the most affordable & feature rich (and yet simple) Humanoid Robots in the world focussed on improving education through collaboration with Schools, while focusing heavily on school curriculum and content. Sirena Technologies was formed with a purpose to bring innovative world-class products to the market; designed and developed in India, leveraging global ecosystem. The company has built the first Indian Humanoid Robot ‘Nino’ and introduces SKIP (Sirena Knowledge and Information Program) for schools which is crafted to enable students to learn cutting-edge trending technologies which include Humanoids, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Voice Recognition, Computer Vision, Mechatronics, 3D printing, Android programming and more. | |
| Audra Abromaitis K-12 Learning Technologies Consultant Ottawa Catholic School Board Audra is a Learning Technologies consultant with the OCSB. She has taught grades 7-12, in a variety of subject areas. Audra is passionate about leveraging digital to differentiate instruction in an inclusive classroom. | |
| Jeff Allison TELT Contact HWDSB eLearning/Blended Learning Coach and the Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching (TELT) Contact for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Passionate about eLearning, EdTech, Leadership and Assessment & Evaluation. | |
| Akanksha Anand Director Sirena Technologies Private Limited Akanksha hails from the capital city of Bihar, Patna. She completed her engineering education from Bengaluru, and then worked in an IT company for two years. After this, she got associated with Sirena Technologies, and started working in its robotic department. Sirena Technologies aims to build a robot that can make learning easier for children. One of the goals of building this robot is to teach children everything from dancing, to playing games, to few educational concepts, in an innovative and unique fashion. This innovative method will invoke interest in children towards variety of activities. Akanksha says that her team is working towards bringing this concept to government schools. She hopes that this will attract more students to attend school, and enjoy studies. | |
| Ammar Aquil Learning Consultant Microsoft Canada Ammar Aquil is a Microsoft Learning Consultant based out of Ontario. He graduated from the Masters of Teaching program through the University of Toronto, with his master's thesis focusing on implementing commercial videogames in the classroom. Through a combination of practical classroom experience, research and education Ammar is empowered by his experiences and knowledge of Microsoft's learning tools, and hopes to help share their capabilities with fellow educators. | |
| Mario Asta Program Manager and Team Lead, Learning Consultant Program Microsoft Canada Mario Asta is the current Program Manager and Team Lead for the Learning Consultant Program at Microsoft Canada. Prior to joining the Education team in September 2015, he spent two years in Ontario classrooms as an elementary educator. He has taught students from ages 3-15; and is passionate about integrating technology in classrooms that improves student learning and enhances 21st century learning skills. During his time with Microsoft Canada, Mario has trained thousands of educators; and continues to enjoy the excitement and enthusiasm of more teachers finding success through programs such as OneNote, Sway and Minecraft. Outside of the classroom, Mario enjoys everything outdoors! On the weekends you can find him sailing blue waters, hiking tall mountains, or spending quality time with family and friends. Mario is genuinely excited to meet you and looks forward to working with you to help enable educators achieve more! | |
| Patricia Baker Learning Commons Technician Ottawa Catholic School Board Patricia Baker currently works with the Ottawa Catholic School Board as a Library Technician in an elementary school. Patricia speaks at conferences, colleges and schools on learning commons design and makerspace challenges. She visits many schools to make suggestions on the design and transformation of their libraries, classrooms and learning commons. She also has many educators visit her learning commons to see design thinking and makerspace in action. | |
| Ms Swarnaly Banerjee-Modi Instructional Coach Peel DSB Swarnaly is an Instructional Coach supporting teachers from K-9 in the Peel District school board. She has been teaching for over 20 years and is particularly passionate about all things Math, Science and Technology. A lifelong learner herself, Swarnaly loves to empower students and teachers to recognize their own potential as modern learners. | |
| Jason Barker STS Analyst Simcoe County District School Board | |
| Mrs. Maureen Baron Education Consultant English Montreal School Board Maureen Baron has a B.A. in Sociology, Graduate Diploma in Education from McGill University and an MA in Educational Technology from Concordia University. Maureen was an Educational writer and consultant for the CBC and the National Film Board of Canada. She was an elementary school teacher and is currently a pedagogical consultant for the English Montreal School Board, where she works in both English and French. Maureen was a judge for the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. As well, she taught Educational Media in McGill University's Faculty of Education for 10 years. | |
| Amy Beecham Instructional Coach Peel District School Board Amy has been teaching for 19 years and currently works as an Instructional Coach in the Peel District School Board. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Technology and brings a range of experiences to her practice; from teaching in a paperless classroom, working with coding, robots and Makerspace, to refining her digital assessment practices for 21st century learning environments. Amy is a certified Google trainer and is committed to building teacher capacity and efficacy in order to bring technology into the classroom in a meaningful way. | |
| Philippe Bélanger-Leroux Coordonnateur STIAM Conseil scolaire Viamonde Philippe Bélanger-Leroux est enseignant au cycle intermédiaire et coordonnateur du programme d’excellence STIAM à l’école secondaire Toronto Ouest du Conseil scolaire Viamonde. Depuis le début de sa carrière en éducation, Philippe se distingue par ses pratiques pédagogiques innovantes, sa perspective de l’internationalisation de l’apprentissage ainsi que son approche de la pédagogie culturelle. Philippe détient également une maîtrise en éducation de l’Université d’Ottawa. | |
| Fadila Benzidoun Enseignante accompagnatrice CSViamonde Je suis enseignante accompagnatrice au sein du Conseil scolaire Viamonde. J'ai le plaisir d'accompagner des enseignantes et des enseignants dans quatre écoles élémentaires à Toronto. Curieuse de toutes les pratiques innovantes en éducation! | |
| Anu Bidani CEO Stem Minds Anu Bidani is the CEO of STEM MINDS, a company that focuses on empowering youth to become fearless leaders by developing agility and a love of learning through STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). STEM MINDS’ mission is to bring the best in learning experiences to youth to create #Fearless Learners. She believes in creating our future leaders, game changers and problem solvers to build a better, more agile society for future generations. With a dedicated teaching staff, a state-of-the art learning environment and a network of strategic partnerships, she has built a business that is successfully expanding the reach and impact of education to all children! She is a passionate innovator, leader, revenue generator and an entrepreneur with solid experience as a corporate executive. With vetted expertise in the areas of strategy, product development, solutions development, project delivery, information security and audit, Anu has built a solid foundation for her latest entrepreneurial venture – STEM MINDS. She is also a SHEEO activator and supports other women entrepreneurs in their journey of following their passion. Anu has a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, MBA from Dalhousie University and has completed the High Potential Leadership program from Harvard Business School. She is also an external reviewer of funding proposals for Ontario Centre of Excellence. She is a mentor for Summer Company 2018 York Region and frequently speaks at career events at schools to inspire youth to be their best and is a winning coach for her First Lego League Robotics competition team. | |
| John-Rock Bilodeau Database Administrator Conseil scolaire Viamonde John-Rock is a Database analyst specialist at Conseil scolaire Viamonde. He is a graduate of Niagara College in Computer Engineering Technology, and has worked it the IT field over that past 13 years, holding positions such as Technician, Programmer, Database administrator. He has works with a number of varying technologies and project over the years, including a number of system integration, process automation and data reporting projects. | |
| Andrea Blomberg Teacher District School Board Ontario North East Andrea is a grade ⅞ Autism Teacher at Roland Michener Secondary 7-12, in a 1:1 iPad school. Andrea is passionate about providing her students with innovative learning opportunities and supports the use of inquiry and technology within the classroom to develop 21st Century Learning Skills. She teaches photography and videography and uses it as a way to celebrate diversity and support inclusion. Andrea is part of a Teacher Learning and Leadership Program on Building Engagement Through Robotics, Design and the 21st Century Competencies. She is an active school representative for Special Education, as well as Reconciliation in the Elementary Classroom: Collaborative Inquiry. Andrea is part of a group of educators developing innovative programming that allows for student choice and voice. | |
| Lucas Boluk Vice Principal and STEM Teacher BHNCDSB I’ve been an educator for 13years in the BHNCDSB. Although most of my experience is in intermediate grades I’ve had the good fortunes to test the waters in Junior and primary as well. I’m currently in a new role as a Vice Principal and a part-time STEM and Innovation Itinerate Teacher. I’ve always had a strong belief in experiential learning, especially when teaching math and science. Integrating STEM inquiries in the classroom has been an integral part of making my classrooms engaging while pushing students to think harder about the world around them. I have a passion for learning educational technology and a hunger for learning new ways to pair innovation into our current curriculum. I’m a proud father of twin 6-year-old boys and I hope they too share my love of learning one day. | |
| Nayaa Bonsu Teacher Conseil Scolaire Viamonde Nayaa Christelle Bonsu est une enseignante accompagnatrice et chargée de cours à la faculté d'éducation de l'Université d'Ottawa (campus de Toronto), en Ontario, au Canada. En tant qu'apprenante, elle forme et participe à des conférences et à des forums éducatifs et innovateurs; comme le forum des enseignants, qui s’est tenu au Parlement du Canada. Mlle Bonsu, pédagogue influente, responsabilise les enseignants en explorant et en mettant en œuvre des projets novateurs, tout en renforçant simultanément l'engagement des élèves! Ses principes sur les pratiques pédagogiques efficaces la poussent à soutenir les enseignants et les élèves sur divers sujets tels que la robotique, le leadership, le bilinguisme, la résolution de problèmes et le soutien aux jeunes leaders. Enfin, éducatrice constructiviste, elle est aussi un défenseur passionné de l’équité dans l’éducation. Elle croit fermement en la réussite de chaque élève, quels que soient les objectifs fixés par celui-ci/celle-ci. Selon elle, les rêves chéris par chaque élève, aussi profonds qu’ils soient, peuvent se réaliser. Tout est possible! Telle est la vision de Mlle Bonsu. | |
| Patrizia Bortoluzzi Teacher Librarian DCDSB Patrizia Bortoluzzi has taught with Durham Catholic District School Board for 31 years. She has taught Junior Kindergarten through to Grade 8. She also had the privilege of being hired as a Literacy Coach for 3 years. Patrizia just completed a TLLP (Teacher Learning and Leadership Program) with her amazing colleague, Loretta Traynor. She is now working in the Learning Commons at 2 different schools. | |
| Milène Brassard Enseignante Accompagnatrice Conseil scolaire Viamonde Milène Brassard est enseignante accompagnatrice au Conseil scolaire Viamonde depuis 3 ans. Elle est passionnée par les technologies dans l’enseignement et se fait un point d’honneur de les intégrer dans ses accompagnements et dans toutes les sphères de sa vie. | |
| Mr. Niall Brennan Teacher dufferin-peel catholic district school board | |
| Nicole Brooks Teacher Ottawa Catholic School Board Nicole Brooks is a secondary teacher with the Ottawa Catholic School Board with 15 years experience teaching 9-12 English and Contemporary Studies. She has a passion for creating assessments and activities that both engage her students and prepare them for their futures. Using 21st Century tools and skills, Nicole works to make learning meaningful and relevant to all her students. | |
| Aleecia Brunberg Teacher Hillfield Strathallan College Brie and Aleecia are elementary science teachers each with over 15 years of experience working in independent schools. After working to shift their classroom focus to include ongoing feedback, assessment, and the triangulation of data, they became interested in utilizing Google tools to track trends and collect anecdotal evidence. With Brie's immersion into all things assessment and Aleecia's expertise with the use of G suite tools, they have developed methods that could help all teachers implement more authentic assessment. | |
| Amanda Brydges Teacher Lambton Kent DSB Amanda is a grade 3 teacher and Learning Commons coach within the LKDSB. Her love of technology and education has collided into a passion for integrating technology into daily learning in a meaningful and powerful way. She enjoys facilitating PD sessions and workshops revolving around math and/or technology for colleagues within her building and throughout her school board. Amanda has great aspirations of inspiring others to implement technology in classrooms that innovate and inspire learning. | |
| Sandro Buffone IT Technical Support & Projects Manager Upper Grand DSB Sandro Buffone, PMP, ITIL is the IT Technical Support & Projects Manager at the Upper Grand DSB and is currently leading the IT department in the setup and implementation of good Project Management Practices. Sandro has over 30 years of project management, technical and business development experience and worked across a variety of industries and capacities including work in 5 Tech Start-up companies. He uses mentoring, collaboration, trust and respect to get teams to perform to their potential and his approach to managing projects follows a structured project framework, incorporating best practices developed through many years of experience and successful deployments. | |
| Ms. Joanna Bull Digital Literacy Resource Teacher York Region District School Board Joanna Bull is a Digital Literacy Consultant for the York Region District School Board. She is passionate about coaching in the classroom, Design Thinking, experiential learning, mindfulness and EdTech; Joanna is host of the education podcast Outside The Bubble; she is an avid Scuba Diver and shark lover. | |
| Mrs Tania Bumstead STEM Teacher WRDSB BIO Tania is an intermediate teacher in WRDSB at Vista Hills P.S. She has recently been awarded the Prime Minister's Award of Excellence in STEM teaching. She is passionate about creating opportunities in STEM (Science, technology, Engineer and Math) in her classroom. Tania and her team have created a STEM changemaker space to encourage students to show empathy toward others and solve problems in their own lives, their communities and our world. Tania leverages both technology and relationships in the classroom to improve student learning and achievement. | |
| Jonathon Butler Literacy Resource Teacher TCDSB Jonathon Butler is a passionate teacher always looking to engage students and teachers of all levels. He grew up, taught and services schools in Scarborough as a Literacy Resource teacher, supporting teachers in TCDSB. He has wanted to be a teacher since Grade 2 when he realized couldn’t be a superhero so he decided to change the world by teaching. Jonathon’s passions include literacy, inquiry based learning, VR/AR, coding and more. He also works for York University and has taught students all over the world including Kenya, Cambodia and South Korea. | |
| Zélia Capitão-Tavares Hybrid Teacher - Digital Lead Learner McMurrich Junior Public School (TDSB) Zélia Capitão-Tavares (OCT, MEd, BEd) is an Elementary Teacher and Hybrid Teacher -Digital Lead Learner at McMurrich Junior PS. This role embraces Exploration Classrooms highlighting the Global Competencies while leveraging technology. She has a Masters in Education (2012), is a Google Certified Innovator (#TOR16), a Future Design School Certified Innovator and a Microsoft Innovative Expert and a board member on MindShare Learning. She believes in creating learning experiences for students to develop agency and share their voice; “to find the ‘spark’ in each student & step aside to let them shine!” | |
| Jennifer Casa-Todd Teacher-Librarian Cardinal Carter CHS Jennifer Casa-Todd is a Teacher-Librarian, GEG Ontario Leader, OnEdSschat mentor, and author of Social LEADia: moving students from digital citizenship to digital leadership. She is passionate about showing teachers and students how they can use technology and social media to make the world a better place. | |
| Jim Cash Modern Learning Resource Teacher Peel District School Board Jim is currently a Modern Learning Resource Teacher in the Peel District School Board. He holds a master’s degree in educational technology and undergraduate degrees in cognitive psychology and education. In his career, he has taught Grades 1-8 in both Canada and Australia and has held headship and administrative roles. He is a regular presenter at conferences such as ECOO and BringIT Together and has written articles published by ISTE, OLA and TVO. Most recently he presented at MIT this past July at Scratch@MIT 2018. He was one of the authors of Peel’s Empowering Modern Learners vision which has become a key component of the board’s Plan for Student Success 2016-2021. Jim is an active blogger who posts on Medium and makelearn.org. He continues to learn about learning from children and share ideas about coding and mathematics on scratchmathland.com. Connect with Jim on Twitter at @cashjim | |
| Leigh Cassell Manager of Innovation and Learning SPARK Leigh Cassell is an educator, adventurer, edupreneur and partner in learning with teachers and students around the world. Leigh is an education and innovation consultant currently working as the Manager of Innovation and Learning at SPARK, and she is Founder & President of Digital Human Library (@dHL_edu). Driven by her passion to inspire in others a love of learning, Leigh’s expertise is grounded in how we integrate digital technologies for the purpose of building relationships for learning, developing global competencies, designing new literacies, and preparing students to succeed as next generation learners. Leigh is Founder of the Ontario Edu Students’ Twitter Chat (@ONedSsChat), Co-Founder of A Kids’ Guide to Canada (@AKGTCanada) and OnEdMentors Connect (@OEMConnect), and a Founding Partner of Live Learning Canada (@LiveLearningCA). Leigh also works as an Apple Distinguished Educator, certified Google Educator, and SMART Certified Interactive Teacher. | |
| Julie Castonguay Conseillère en technopédagogie Conseil scolaire Monavenir Conseillère pédagogique à l’ère numérique pour le Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir depuis 2016. J’ai enseigné pendant sept ans au primaire surtout en 2e et 3e année. De plus, j’ai été enseignante accompagnatrice en littératie et numératie depuis les trois dernières années. J’ai assisté à plusieurs conférences en lien avec la technologie « Summit Google », TAC2016 et « Bring it together », ISTE2018 et Connect2017. J’aimerais avoir la chance de vous présenter un atelier sur des projets STIAM qui va vous permettre d’innover. Le titre de mon atelier est : Les incontournables à la planification des projets STIAM! | |
| Rebecca Chambers Teacher Ottawa Carleton District School Board Rebecca Chambers is currently a HS Social Science teacher who has been teaching in the Ottawa area for 16 years. She is on a mission to change the way we do school and has been on her own unlearning journey since she began. This year she has gone to a 100 % passion project based classroom. She tries to provide experiential, hands on learning with a focus on authentic audience. She is a firm believe in teaching her students to use social media in the classroom to help them have an authentic audience as well as to learn to create a positive digital tatoo. | |
| Brian Chen Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching Contact Durham Catholic District School Board Brian is a member of the Teaching and Learning Department at the Durham Catholic District School Board. He has been teaching for 15 years and loves the learning process. His current learning focuses around inquiry, technology enabled teaching and resiliency. | |
| Samantha Chin Teacher District School Board Ontario North East Samantha is a grade 7/8 French Immersion teacher at Roland Michener Secondary School 7-12, in a 1:1 iPad program. She looks for innovative learning opportunities and is the lead teacher on a TLLP: Building Engagement Through Robotics, Design and the 21st Century Competencies. Samantha has facilitated PD on Breaking Down Classroom Walls through the use of technology. She is an ongoing school representative in Empowering a Culture of Innovation hosted by Apple. Samantha plays an active role in exploring innovation through the use of robotics, 3D printing, coding, and graphic design. | |
| Ben Clapp Educator Limestone District School Boar I am a father of two young girls and have been an educator with the Limestone District School board for over 13 years. Recently I have been integrating a variety of different technologies into my intermediate classroom. These include Lego Robotics, Scratch coding, 3-d printers and AR/VR. | |
| Mistene Clapp Innovation and Technology Support for Learning Teacher Limestone District School Board Educator, innovator, learner of new things and big believer in educator leadership. Innovation and Technology Support for Learning Teacher for the Limestone District School Board. | |
| Laura Collins Teacher Toronto District School Board I am an educator who currently teaches Kindergarten/Grade1 in Section 23 Programs within the TDSB. I am also the Digital Fluency Chair and Kindergarten Division Team Lead for Section 23. I have taught a variety of subjects in a number of educational roles ranging from Kindergarten - Grade 8. I love EdTech, coding, robotics, STEM, as well as any innovation that increases student engagement and digital fluency. | |
| Sarah Conway STEM teacher BHNCDSB | |
| Francis Cronier-Thériault Directeur École secondaire Toronto Ouest - Conseil scolaire Viamonde Francis Cronier-Thériault est le directeur de l’École secondaire Toronto Ouest du Conseil scolaire Viamonde où la mission est d’enseigner dans une perspective STIAM d’intégration des matières axées sur l’apprentissage par l’enquête. Avant d’entreprendre ce rôle, Francis a travaillé au ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario en tant qu’Agent d’éducation où il était responsable des sciences et de l’éducation technologique, de la politique Tracer son itinéraire vers la réussite et du dossier d’exploration de carrière. Son expertise l’a amené à promouvoir l’enseignement efficace et la pédagogie positive dans plusieurs contextes tant en Ontario qu’à l’extérieur du pays. Francis détient une maîtrise en éducation d’OISE, il est marié et a deux jeunes garçons. | |
| Mrs Suzanne D'Eon K-12 Instructional Technology Coach OCDSB Suzanne D’Eon is a Technology Coach for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. She is passionate about implementing critical thinking and technology into the classroom. She has been involved with the New Pedagogy of Deep Learning (NPD) piloting project that showcased her Coding project to represent the Canadian cluster as well as her entrepreneur project as a global exemplar. She believes by showcasing the 6 C’s it allows students to grow and excel in their learning towards their Exit Outcomes. Currently, she is investigating new ways to implement technology for all into the classroom including Robotics and Pedagogical Documentation. | |
| Noa Daniel Teacher, Consultant, Coach and Chief Building Officer at Building Outside the Blocks York Region District School Board Noa Daniel, MEd, is an innovator and thought leader who has been building ways for students to feel visible and valuable in and outside of the classroom for over 20 years. She is a teacher, consultant, coach, and Chief Building Officer at Building Outside the Blocks (BOB). Noa is also a blogger and podcaster. She hosts The Personal Playlist Podcast and co-produces ONedMentors, both weekly shows on voicEd Radio. | |
| Shulin Dave Senior Manager of Information Management Toronto District School Board | |
| Nick DiFlavio Secondary Program Lead Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Nick is a husband and father-of-4 from Grimsby, Ontario. As a Special Education Teacher and Secondary Program Lead with the HWDSB, Nick has delivered meaningful professional development at local, provincial and national conferences. Nick is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow, Surface Expert, Microsoft Certified Educator, and educational leader who has strongly advocated for special needs students throughout his twenty years career as a teacher. | |
| Michael DiRamio Computer Studies Teacher District School Board of Niagara Michael DiRamio has taught computer science and computer technology at the District School Board of Niagara for the past 13 years. He has been involved with VEX and FIRST robotics throughout the Niagara Region over this time. | |
| Mrs. Jennifer Divell Teacher St. Francis Xavier CHS I am a High School English Teacher at St. Francis Xavier CHS in Ottawa, Ontario. I have been teaching for 10 years, and in that time, in addition to teaching English I have worked at the Board Office as a Lead Learning Partner, and also have experience teaching Online Courses. | |
| M. Stefan Dixon Directeur adjoint/Vice Principal Conseil scolaire Viamonde Stefan Dixon, directeur adjoint au Conseil scolaire Viamonde, a développé une expertise alliant la technologie et l’apprentissage par l’enquête en pleine nature. Formé par de nombreuses années d’expérience en éducation acquises au Japon, au Mexique et au Canada, il est souvent appelé comme consultant pour la restauration d’habitat indigène dans les cours écoles. Explorer des approches éducatives innovantes, en lien avec la nature, est pour lui une source inépuisable d’apprentissage ! | |
| Miss. Kaylyn Dorland Elementary Teacher, Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow Halton Catholic District School Board Kaylyn is a passionate teacher from Milton, Ontario from the Halton Catholic District School Board. She began teaching in 2011 and in 2014 she was selected to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and became a MIE Fellow in 2015. Joining this community of innovative educators was when her journey with 21st century learning really began. Since then, she has developed strategic ways to teach her primary students how to successfully use OneNote, Sway, Forms, Teams, Minecraft, Code.org and uses Skype on a regular basis in her classroom. Kaylyn has presented at global educator conferences, such as Microsoft's E2 in Seattle, Toronto and Singapore. In 2017, Kaylyn and a team of passionate teachers from Milton, were selected to run a TLLP project. They closely studied a variety of strategies that empower students to become self-directed using Office 365 apps and the inquiry process. | |
| Karen Douglas Consultant: eLearning, Blended Learning, and Business District School Board of Niagara A life-long learner, eLearning Consultant, High School English teacher, Technology Learning Coach, and EduTravel teacher with a passion for gamification, collaboration, experiential education, and creating authentic learning opportunities for students. | |
| Michael Drezek District Technology Integrator/Teacher Leader Lake Shore CSD Michael is an Instructional Technology Coach in the Lake Shore Central School District. He is passionate about supporting educators and amplifying student voice with educational technology, especially in the areas of global collaboration, digital citizenship, and immersive tech. Michael has presented globally and contributed to various publications and productions in the field of education including EdCamp LSC, EduMatch Publishing, EdWeek, DITCH That Textbook Podcast, #ARVRinEdu Live, Our Global Classroom, and the Digital Citizenship Institute. I was recognized with the NYSCATE Lee Bryant Outstanding Teacher Award at the 2016 NYSCATE Annual Conference. In 2016 I also joined the growing number of educators taking on the Teach Sustainable Development Goals initiative to advance and strengthen the work of the United Nations in its efforts to transform our world and meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I enjoy connecting with and learning from other educators on Twitter at @m_drez. | |
| Sylvia Duckworth Sylvia is an award-winning teacher from Toronto, Canada, with more than 30 years teaching experience in the classroom. She is an Edtech consultant and sketchnoting evangelist on a constant quest to find ways for teachers and students to “Connect, Collaborate and Create”. She is a Google Certified Innovator, Google Certified Trainer, Apple Distinguished Educator, and author of the books “Sketchnotes for Educators” and “How to Sketchnote: A Step-by-Step Manual for Teachers and Students”. You can find her resources at sylviaduckworth.com and her store at sylviaduckworth.shop | |
| Brie Dundas Teacher Hillfield Strathallan College Brie and Aleecia are elementary science teachers each with over 15 years of experience working in independent schools. After working to shift their classroom focus to include ongoing feedback, assessment, and the triangulation of data, they became interested in utilizing Google tools to track trends and collect anecdotal evidence. With Brie's immersion into all things assessment and Aleecia's expertise with the use of G suite tools, they have developed methods that could help all teachers implement more authentic assessment. | |
| Mr. Robert Dunlop IT4 Elementary Consultant District School Board of Niagara Robert Dunlop is a national award winning teacher with a passion for technology and teacher well being. Recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award of Teaching Excellence, Robert always strives to make learning engaging and meaningful. Whether working with students or teachers, he believes that inspiring a love of learning should always come first. Robert also believes that we need to tap into our passions to find happiness. As part of the Terry Fox Lesson Plan writing team, Robert created a series of K-8 lesson plans to help keep Terry Fox’s dream alive. These lessons have been viewed over 3 millions times internationally since they were create four years ago. Click here to view these lessons. His current role as Technology consultant at the District School Board of Niagara has afforded him the privilege of working with thousands of K-12 educators throughout the province. Through his experiences in this role, Robert has developed a passion for making a positive impact on teacher wellness. He is currently writing a book on Happiness in Education. His mission is to celebrate, connect and inspire educators around the world and empower them to find happiness and fulfillment in education. | |
| Francois Dupraz ICT Consultant English Montreal School Board Francois Dupraz is a Brock University graduate, and currently works as an ICT educational consultant for the English Montreal School Board. He specializes in the pedagogical integration of media literacy and social media. | |
| Judy Eaton Student Achievement Consultant Hamilton - Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) | |
| Nabil El kerri Conseiller pédagogique Conseil Scolaire Viamonde Conseiller pédagogique Nabil est conseiller pédagogique au sein du Conseil scolaire Viamonde, volet mathématiques et sciences au secondaire. Avant d’entreprendre ce rôle, Nabil a enseigné les mathématiques et la physique en se basant sur la technologie comme levier de différentiation et d’évaluation. Il a, également, été en charge de la mise en place du programme d’excellence STIAM au sein de l’École secondaire Toronto Ouest. Nabil est titulaire d’un Ph.D en physique et d'un MBA en administration, il est marié et père de deux jeunes garçons. | |
| Mario Eleftheros Technology Integration Specialist Halifax Regional Centre for Education Mario is a technology integration specialist with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education. His role is to support teachers integrate technology in the Public Schools Program and curriculum in order to maximize student learning, experiences, and engagement. Last year he worked with the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development as an ICT Consultant. Prior to this, he was as a French Immersion teacher in a variety of subjects and grade levels. | |
| Cory Ell Secondary Teacher Ottawa Catholic School Board Cory Ell is a Contemporary Studies teacher with the Ottawa Catholic School Board. When not challenging his classes to critically analyse media content and dig deeper into historical inquiry, he can be found spending time with his family, playing guitar, or pulling out his remaining hair at the progressive disintegration of objective reality south of the border. | |
| Kirsten Elvestad Principal DSB Ontario North East Kirsten Elvestad’s 21 year career has provided her a variety of diverse experiences at the school, district and provincial levels. As an Ontario educator and Principal, she is currently the proud Principal of a small Gr. 7-12 school in Northern Ontario with a desire to do things differently. Her experience as a District Student Success Lead for District School Board Ontario North East and a Provincial Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching Lead with the Ministry of Education (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Branch) have allowed her to learn from her growing professional learning network and work with her colleagues at the school level to create a unique Gr. 7 & 8 program called “Elements”. | |
| Laurie Faith PhD Student / Founder of Activated Learning OISE / UT Laurie Faith is a PhD student at the University of Toronto and the lead teacher, trainer, researcher, and creator of Activated Learning. She has been teaching in special and typical classrooms for 17 years. Laurie is a certified Future Design School educator, and has extensive training in both the Rotman School of Business’s Integrative Thinking discipline and Google’s Search Inside Yourself mindfulness approach. Laurie received recognition from SENG for distinguished contributions to gifted education. Laurie travels around Canada, the US, and the UK, talking about self-regulated learning and executive functioning with groups of educators, parents, and paraprofessionals. Currently, Laurie is conducting doctoral research at OISE, working in the Learning, Engagement, and Attention Lab and contributing to graduate courses for teachers-in-training. Laurie’s research focuses on self-regulated learning, EFs, and bridging the research-to-practice gap. She is working with school boards in Ontario and teams in the UK and California to co-design teaching practices based on EF literacy and metacognition. The Activated Learning program has been published as a chapter Dawson and Guare's 3rd Edition (2018) of Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents. | |
| Vicky Fauteux Enseignante accompagnatrice Conseil scolaire Viamonde Vicky Fauteux est enseignante au conseil scolaire Viamonde depuis 8 ans. Après avoir œuvré aux niveaux primaire et moyen dans différentes écoles, elle occupe présentement le poste d’enseignante accompagnatrice. Apprenante à vie, elle cherche toujours de nouvelles méthodes à partager les découvertes et encourager la discussion entre les professionnels de l’éducation. | |
| Emily Fitzpatrick Director of Professional Development, Canada EdTechTeam Based in Fergus, Ontario, Canada, Emily is the Director of Professional Development for EdTechTeam, Canada. Previously she was a classroom teacher with experience in math, computer science, ESL and special education in Canada, Belgium and the UK. | |
| Lisa Floyd Teacher/Instructor TVDSB, Western University Lisa Anne is an advocate for introducing students and teachers to the world of coding. She is a Computational Thinking in Math and Science Education instructor in the Bachelor of Education program at Western University, for which she has received an award for excellence in teaching in an undergraduate program. Lisa has her Masters in Mathematics Education and likes to consider research and evidence-based practices while integrating coding ideas across all subject areas. She loves to share her passion for creative coding and digital making tools with students and teachers at school districts and educational conferences. Lisa is a co-host for the TVO Teach Ontario Coding and Computational Thinking in the Classroom Hub and has many years of experience teaching secondary Computer Science, Math, Science and Experiential Learning. | |
| Steven Floyd Teacher LDCSB Steve Floyd has over 15 years of experience teaching computer science and computer engineering in Ontario. He was the recipient of the 2017 CSTA Award for Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and has worked on a number of coding and computational thinking projects with elementary and high school teachers across Ontario. He is a co-host of TVO TeachOntario's Coding and Computational Thinking in the Classroom hub and an elearning course writer and developer. Steve is currently pursuing his PhD at Western University where he is investigating Computer Science and Computational Thinking in K-12 education under the supervision of Dr. George Gadanidis. | |
| Carlo Fusco Teacher-Librarian Waterloo Region DSB Carlo Fusco is a Teacher-Librarian and Science Teacher at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, in Waterloo, Ontario. He has always been passionate about the use of technology to enhance student learning and engagement. He regularly shares his expertise when he facilitates Professional Development in the areas of blogging, podcasting, collaborative writing, cloud based tools, 1:1 chromebooks, elementary coding, flipped classrooms, and digital citizenship. You can also find him on Twitter @mrfusco. | |
| Tiffany Gallagher Professor Brock University | |
| Denis Gaudreault Country Manager Intel Canada As the Country Manager for Intel Canada Ltd., Mr. Denis Gaudreault is responsible for leading Intel’s Canada teams, defining and implementing a unified cross-sales org & business Units strategy to drive business revenue and raising Intel relevance in the Canadian market. As Intel’s in-country senior executive, he is interfacing with government officials, key customers executives, major ecosystem partners and representing Intel on a number of Industry organizations and events. Denis regularly delivered keynotes, media briefings on Intel’s and technology trends across TV, Radio interviews. As the Americas Business Consumption Manager Mr.Gaudreault is responsible for leading Intel’s America teams responsible to drive Intel strategy within our enterprises & governments customers in Emerging Latin America market. Since joining Intel in 2000, Denis has held a variety of positions during his career at Intel. Most recently as WW Director in the Government vertical in Intel HQ, responsible for Intel strategy for government engagement around the world. His areas of expertise include technological developments, the disruptive impact of technology, and the effect of both on corporate and Governmental strategies. He holds an Engineering degree from University of Québec and an MBA from University of Montreal. | |
| Denise Gauthier Teacher Conseil scolaire Viamonde Lors de ma carrière comme enseignante, j’ai enseigné une grande variété de matières à des élèves de la maternelle à la 12e année. Pendant les 10 premières années de ma carrière, j’ai enseigné au secondaire et c’est ma 21e année d’enseignement à l’élémentaire. Mon rôle en ce moment est d'enseigner à une classe de 5e et 6e année à l'école élémentaire Champlain. J'aime enseigner par projet, de façon ludique et j’intègre beaucoup la technologie comme outil pédagogique. Par exemple, mes élèves utilisent la robotique (WeDo 2.0 et EV3), le micro:bit, Scratch, Minecraft, le codage et le Makey Makey dans leurs apprentissages. | |
| Jennifer Giffen Digital Literacy Resource Teacher York Region DSB Jen is a Digital Literacy Consultant in the York Region DSB. She has a Master’s in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning from OISE and a specialist in Integration of Information and Computer Technology. | |
| Jen Gilpin Grade 2 Teacher Lambton Kent District School Board Jen Gilpin is an elementary teacher with LKDSB. Currently she teaches Grade 2, and previously she was a district Learning Coach for Innovation. She is passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences for her students. Jen is an Apple Distinguished Educator. | |
| Kevin Graham Principal Hamilton Wentworth District School Board I am the Principal of Student Success and eAdministrator with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. | |
| Jeremy Gutsche CEO of Trendhunter.com CEO of Trendhunter.com, Award-Winning Innovator, Management Consultant, and New York Times Bestselling Author of Better and Faster In just a few years, Jeremy Gutsche has inspired 300,000 people at over 400 events for top-tier brands, billionaires, and associations. With an MBA and CFA, the New York Times bestselling business book, Better and Faster: The Proven Path to Unstoppable Ideas (#1 on Amazon and a CEO Read “Select” book for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and managers), and an influential website, Gutsche is a creative globe-roamer with a broad appeal—an ambassador of transformational leadership for major groups (he’s even held a workshop for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, helping them integrate A.I. to be “lean, agile, responsive and adaptive to change”—and, one day, get human beings to Mars). His website TrendHunter.com is the largest, most influential, most updated collection of cutting edge ideas available anywhere. Imagine the insight from a focus group made up of 100 million people. That’s Trend Hunter—its custom innovation advisory is changing the way the world’s most powerful brands innovate. As its founder, Gutsche relentlessly tracks and finds ‘The Next Big Thing’—that valuable but elusive commodity—for a global audience that generates millions of views a month. With phenomenal speed, Gutsche has grown Trendhunter into a trusted showcase for “what’s next” in marketing, design, technology, and other categories. (It attracts roughly fifteen times more page views than its competitors and has been viewed over two billion times). The site’s been featured or cited in over 40,000 articles, and Gutsche has appeared everywhere from Entertainment Tonight to the BBC. He’s also sought out for his management consulting expertise by leading brands, billionaires, and CEOs who need to reinvent their management, strategy, and culture of innovation to better adapt to time periods of rapid change. Gutsche is the winner of The Cisco Innovation Excellence Award and the BDC’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In bold, interactive keynotes, he delivers a blend of viral new trends, strategic frameworks, and a contagious enthusiasm for innovation. He possesses a unique perspective on innovation in the business context, and draws on his background in both corporate strategy and Web 2.0 to provide you with inspiration and tools to generate ideas, stimulate creativity and unlock potential. At 28, as one of Capital One’s youngest Business Directors, Gutsche led his team to grow a billion dollar portfolio of market leading products. And as a Management Consultant for the Monitor Group, he advised Fortune 500 clients on top level strategy. His first business book, Exploiting Chaos, won an Axiom Business Book Award, was named an Inc. Best Book for Business Owners, and was a #1 bestseller on the 800 CEO Read list. He holds an MBA from Queen’s, is a CFA, and studied innovation at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business | |
| Tanya Harris Elementary IT4 Learning Consultant DSBN Tanya Harris is an Elementary IT4 Learning Consultant with the DSB of Niagara with 18 years experience teaching Grades 1 - 8 in Core and Immersion French and Learning Resource. Her passion for technology integration to level the playing field for all students continues to drive her own learning journey. | |
| Fraser Hebert Teacher NCDSB Fraser Hebert enjoys spending his days in the classroom molding the minds of the next great generation of thinkers and doers. He is a music teacher by trade, but a tech guy at heart. Leader of the Lakeshore Catholic High School tech crew and mastermind of the Com-Tech classroom, Fraser takes pictures of audio mixers and lighting consoles while he is on vacation. When he isn’t off gallivanting around the country directing the school bands to gold awards, he enjoys the quiet frustration of troubleshooting whatever new technology crosses his path. Married to a brilliant wife, a superhero teacher in her own right, and father to two amazing children, Fraser lives an incredibly charmed life. In the evenings he gets to play the role of tech support for his family all the while muttering “we should have bought an Apple.” Fraser is excited to share whatever lessons in technology he has stumbled across in his 18 year teaching career in the hopes it will make your classroom experience just as much fun as his. | |
| Betty Hicks Special Assignment Teacher Secondary Learning Partner HWCDSB | |
| Kristine Holloway Teacher Peel District School Board Kristine Holloway is an educator, speaker, founder of Code4Girlz and advocate of STEM programs for girls both locally and globally. She is a Skype Master Teacher, ScreenBeam Expert, Global Minecraft Mentor and Microsoft Fellow. Kristine has an affinity for space research and is excited about the race to the moon and the journey to Mars. She is a founding member of the Mars Generation. Kristine recently presented in Singapore to an educator audience on infusing technology into curriculum and Taking Teaching Global with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. | |
| Mr. Robin Holt Teacher of Awesomeness Peel District School Board Robin Holt is a PJIS teacher in his 9th-year teacher; 1 year in the Bahamas, and 8 with the Peel District School Board. This year is his 2nd year at Centennial Sr. P.S. in the SciTech Regional Program teaching Grade 7. In SciTech, Students view the curriculum through an inquiry lens, use design thinking, science and technology to engage and empower them as modern learners. | |
| Marieke Holtkamp Vice Principal Navigate (NIDES) Marieke is the Vice Principal at Navigate (NIDES), a K-12 distributed learning school in the Comox Valley and has taught in distributed/blended learning programs for the past 8 years. Marieke is a graduate of VIU’s OLTD and MEdL programs. Currently, Marieke is the administrator of Navigate’s Heartwood Learning Communities and also teaches Online Communication in the OLTD program at VIU. | |
| Valerie Howe VLE Consultant D2L Valerie Howe is a teacher-turned-consultant, who works for D2L. Her teaching experience includes 3 years teaching high school English in Ash Vale, England and 2 years teaching Grade 4 in Fox Lake, Alberta for Little Red River Cree Nation. Currently, Valerie supports Ontario school boards with their use of Ontario’s Virtual Learning Environment to help ensure all students reach their potential, and that educators know they have pedagogically-sound tools available to support them and their students. She has presented at Bringing Online Learning Teachers Together (BOLTT) and Bring IT, Together! (BIT). | |
| Dr. David Hutchison Professor Brock University David Hutchison, PhD is Director of the Centre for Digital Humanities, Brock University where he is also cross-appointed to the Department of Educational Studies. | |
| Chris Johnson Co-Founder and CEO Permission Click | |
| Mr Hugues Kamga Wambo Principal Viamonde Hugues Kamga œuvre dans le domaine de l’éducation depuis une dizaine d’années, d’abord comme enseignant, directeur adjoint et directeur d’école. Diplômé de l’école Polytechnique de Montréal, il a œuvré comme ingénieur de projet dans le milieu industriel avant d’embrasser le domaine de l’éducation. Pédagogue engagé et passionné de leadership éthique et collaboratif, il occupe actuellement le poste de directeur à l’école Jeunes sans frontières à Brampton; une école du Conseil scolaire Viamonde. Il s’intéresse à l’impact du monitorage pédagogique sur l’amélioration de l’apprentissage des élèves à l’utilisation des outils technologiques pour optimiser le temps de gestion d’une direction d’école et comme outil de différentiation pédagogique et d’accélération de l’apprentissage des mathématiques. | |
| Allison Kelly Elementary Educator Lambton Kent District School Board Allison Kelly is a Grade 6 teacher with LKDSB. Last year she was a part of a Collaborative Inquiry project to promote First Nations culture and family engagement. Allison enjoys creating engaging, student centred tasks that are relevant for all students in the 21st century learning environment. She is also an Apple Teacher. | |
| Hugues Kenhefa Enseignant Conseil Scolaire Viamonde Monsieur Hugues Kenhefa travaille au conseil scolaire viamonde depuis quelques années. Il enseigne les mathématiques et sciences au secondaire à l'école Gaëtan-Gervais de Oakville. Monsieur Kenhefa est en faveur de l'utilisation de la technologie en salle de classe pour d'aider les élèves à atteindre les attentes du curriculum. Non seulement cette utilisation est source d' engagement et de motivation, mais il permet aussi aux jeunes de développer les habiletés liées aux compétences globales et d'être mieux outiller pour les emplois du futur. | |
| Ms. Jocelyn Kervin Digital Literacy Resource Teacher York Region District School Board Jocelyn Kervin is a Digital Literacy Resource Teacher in the York Region DSB. She was previously a Department Head of Music at Dr. G.W. Williams SS, where she developed a gamified music program with her students. Jocelyn has presented at Ontario Music Educators' Association annual conferences, EdTechTeam Summits, Ontario Teachers' Federation summer institutes, and her current role as DLRT involves regularly designing and presenting PD/workshops for staff and students across the YRDSB. Jocelyn is also a Canadian Opera Company teacher advisor and workshop leader, and is a Google Certified Educator and Soundtrap Certified Educator. | |
| Fatima Khlifi Enseignante/teacher Viamonde Enseignante innovatrice et aimant les défis pour le Conseil Scolaire Viamonde, elle est passionnée par la didactique de l’enseignement et les pratiques gagnantes en salle de classe. Les outils techno-pédagogiques en salle de classe sont développés dans un objectif d’accroître la pensée critique auprès des élèves par l’enseignante. | |
| Sapna Khosa Grade 6 Teacher Peel District School Board I am a K-8 Special Education and English as a Second Language teacher in the Peel District School Board. I am a self-taught Google Geek, who loves to make all aspects of teaching more efficient, effective and manageable. I am always looking to learn and explore new ways to use technology and I enjoy the level of collaboration that Google Apps and other programs bring to the classroom. | |
| Kyle Kitchen Elementary IT4 Learning Consultant DSBN Kyle Kitchen is the Elementary IT4 Learning Consultant for the DSBN and is a Maker, coder, speaker, leader and all-around teacher of innovation. He is passionate about inspiring teachers and students to enhance their learning through modern technologies. Kyle can often be found sharing creative designs and integrating uses of high and low-tech projects that are rooted in thinking critically about curriculum and understanding of the world around us. Through his mindset of the maker culture, coding, design thinking, and support of the UN Sustainable goals he believes that innovation stems from a curiosity and a willingness to explore the possibilities that may be outside regular thinking. | |
| Aleda Klassen Teacher WRDSB Aleda teaches secondary mathematics and English in the WRDSB. She recently returned to the classroom after spending two years as a consultant with the WRDSB. She is passionate about making mathematics engaging for all learners in such a way that they build lasting conceptual understanding of complex ideas. She learns the most from her students everyday. | |
| Henk Korevaar Innovator ORION Foundation for Special Education My name is Henk Korevaar … (Peddler in Fresh Ideas)… and I am a Nomad Worker living in The Netherlands. As a professional ideator and facilitator I design and moderate interactive and virtual workshops. I have written books on innovation processes (The Innovation Cycle), teams (Effective Problem Solving in Teams) and teambuilding, project management and the impact of new ways of working. Over the last five years I have been active in Youth Driven Innovation projects and Design Thinking projects in South Africa, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and Canada. | |
| David Kozera National Technology Strategist - Education Microsoft David Kozera is Microsoft’s National Technology Strategist for Education in Canada. He joined the company in November 2016 coming from public K-12 education IT in Ontario, bringing with him years of real-world experience with Microsoft technologies. David has a deep understanding of Microsoft Azure, Windows, System Center, Enterprise Mobility, Virtualization, and more. | |
| Mark Labuda Elementary Teacher Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Mark Labuda has been an extremely passionate and innovative teacher for the past 10 years, always exploring and identifying new and engaging opportunities for his junior students to access the Ontario curriculum. His passion and enthusiasm towards learning and STEM has inspired him to integrate computational thinking and robotics into his classroom to ensure all his diverse learners explore learning through coding to some capacity. Through the integration of these technologies, Mark has been committed to ensuring he creates learning experiences in his classroom that promote collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, perseverance, and creativity, ultimately building the essential competencies for success in a fast-changing learning environment. He has been a strong advocate and voice leading various professional development opportunities encouraging educators to embrace technology as a tool to promote learning and achievement. | |
| Aamir Lakhani Senior Security Strategist Fortinet Aamir Lakhani is a leading senior security strategist. He is responsible for providing IT security solutions to major enterprises and government organizations. Mr. Lakhani creates technical security strategies and leads security implementation projects for Fortune 500 companies. Industries of focus include healthcare providers, educational institutions, financial institutions and government organizations. Aamir has designed offensive counter-defense measures for the Department of Defense and national intelligence agencies. He has also assisted organizations with safeguarding IT and physical environments from attacks perpetrated by underground cybercriminal groups. Mr. Lakhani is considered an industry leader for creating detailed security architectures within complex computing environments. His areas of expertise include cyber defense, mobile application threats, malware management, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) research, and investigations relating to the Internet’s dark security movement. He is the author or contributor of several books, and has appeared on FOX Business News, National Public Radio, and other media outlets as an expert on cybersecurity. Aamir Lakhani is a leading security strategist. He is responsible for providing IT security solutions to major enterprises and government organizations. Mr. Lakhani creates technical security strategies and leads security implementation projects for Fortune 500 companies. Industries of focus include healthcare providers, educational institutions, financial institutions and government organizations. Aamir has designed offensive counter-defense measures for the Department of Defense and national intelligence agencies. He has also assisted organizations with safeguarding IT and physical environments from attacks perpetrated by underground cybercriminal groups. | |
| Jessi Lalonde Teacher Limestone District School Board Jessi Lalonde is an Assistive Technology Resource Teacher with the Limestone District School Board. She has extensive experience working with students with diverse needs and looks forward to sharing this information at Connect 2019. | |
| Sarah Lalonde Teacher Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien Sarah Anne Lalonde is a new teacher from Eastern Ontario. She has been energetically sharing her journey from the faculty to the field since 2016. As her first year unfolds, you can find her actively podcasting, blogging and tweeting about the experience. She seeks to inspire educators by opening up her journey to others and by sharing her passion and energy for this profession. | |
| Madame Magali Laville Directrice Conseil scolaire Viamonde Magali Laville enseigne depuis 2010, au sein des écoles du conseil scolaire Viamonde. Durant ses années d’enseignement, elle met en place des classes numériques et inversées pour ses élèves de 5e et 6e année. L’utilisation de la technologie est au centre des stratégies d’apprentissage et de différentiation utilisée pour ses élèves. À titre de directrice d’école, elle favorise l’utilisation de la technologie au service de l’apprentissage à l’extérieur. | |
| Alexandra Le Marquand Senior Learning Development Specialist Microsoft Canada Alexandra Le Marquand is a Senior Learning Development Specialist at Microsoft in the Quebec and Eastern Canada region. Before her time in this program she graduated from McGill University, holding a Bachelor’s of Education at the Elementary level. Alexandra is passionate about integrating technology into the classroom in a meaningful and pedagogical manner, and enjoys working with teachers to show them how technology can help revolutionize their teaching and learning environment. | |
| Coulter Lewis Learning Development Specialist Microsoft Canada Coulter Lewis is a Microsoft Learning Development Specialist who holds undergraduate degrees in Education and Psychology. After a few years of extensive travel he returned to obtain his Master's of Education from Niagara University and completed a Master's thesis focused on Motivation in the Classroom. Coulter decided to take his teaching credentials around the world with stops in Dubai, Australia and most recently San Francisco as a Language Arts Specialist. His role with Microsoft provides an opportunity for him to share his expertise with game based learning platforms such as Minecraft. Coulter's experience has provided him opportunity to assist others using technology, making classroom implementation as seamless and simple as possible. | |
| Patrick Liu Administrateur d'appui Csc MonAvenir Patrick Liu occupe le poste d’administrateur d’appui de l’apprentissage à l’ère numérique au Csc MonAvenir depuis 2014. Il a complété ses études en BTS informatique de gestion, Bsc Hons Business Informatique et CMA, CPA (Toronto). J’ai entamé ma carrière comme administrateur réseau pour une firme satellitaire de l’audio visuelle à l’ile Maurice. En 2010 j'ai rejoindre le Csc MonAvenir en tant que Technicien informatique. Depuis 2014, je travaille en étroite collaboration avec le service informatique et pédagogie pour la mise en place des divers projets et outils qui favorise l’apprentissage de nos élèves dans l’ère numérique tout en développant les compétences globales incluant la transformation des espaces, la robotique, l’environnement d’apprentissage virtuel (EAV), et autres. J’offre mon appui aux écoles et des services en animant des sessions de formation et en offrant du soutien selon les besoins spécifiques de chacun. | |
| Mahlah Lockey Teacher Conseil scolaire Viamonde Mahlah Lockey a commencé sa carrière d’enseignement en Alberta en 1997 avant de déménager en Ontario en 2004. Elle a déjà enseigné tous les niveaux de la maternelle jusqu’à la huitième année, la plus grande partie de son expérience étant aux cycles préparatoire et primaire. Elle est présentement enseignante à Welland, Ontario avec le Conseil scolaire Viamonde. Passionnée de l’enseignement, Mme Lockey perçoit l’apprentissage comme un parcours et croit fortement au développement professionnel pertinent. Elle est toujours à la recherche de nouvelles idées innovatrices afin d’engager et soutenir ses élèves dans leur propre parcours, surtout à l’aide de la technologie et des activités pratiques et authentiques. | |
| Robert Long Coordinator Learning Technology OCSB Coordinator in Learning Technologies at Ottawa Catholic School Board. Passionate about technology in education and learning. Big fan of Google, Deep Learning, Design Thinking and continuous change. Love working in education in this time where there are so many interesting ways technology supports student and teacher learning. | |
| Benson Loo Creator of Moo-O, Newsmaker and Ink2Go, Co-founder of Teevers Benson Loo is the co-founder of Teevers Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based company that designs and develops digital educational products for language learning using video technologies. He is also the company’s product director and is responsible for the designing of the NewsMaker and Moo-O software, both of which won educational technology awards in the United States; the original version of NewsMaker was even shortlisted as a 2011 finalist in the Best Reading/English Instructional Solution category of the prestigious CODiE Awards. Key to such success comes from Teever’s collaborative approach to software design which entails a close working relationship with passionate language arts teachers, and which Benson Loo has spent many hours in classrooms across the world working with teachers and students on the front line, understanding their needs and the challenges they faced. | |
| Megan Lowe Teacher Waterloo Region District School Board Megan Lowe is an Grade 3 teacher who has taught extensively in England, Australia and Canada. She’s a tech enthusiast, TED Innovative Educator and Sphero Hero who is passionate about good teaching and learning. This year she is leading a TLLP (Teacher Learning and Leadership Program) focused on ways we can bring the world to our classrooms to strengthen students understanding and connection with our world. | |
| Javon Luke Computer Scientist Brock University Computer Scientist, Student, Brock University | |
| Pauline Maasarjian Grade 8 Homeroom Teacher Peel District School Board I am an educator who loves teaching middle school students. Currently, I am in a Grade 8 LTO teaching all subject areas and find myself drawn to creating a collaborative space and incorporating technology in all areas of learning. I believe that connecting students to the world around them helps in becoming better leaders and people. I have used various online tools to connect my students to classes around the globe. I am always looking for new ways to keep my classroom innovative and interactive! | |
| Bill Mackenzie IT Liaison Upper Grand DSB With over 26 years in education, Bill Mackenzie has motivated and inspired students and teachers by sharing his passion and knowledge of leading edge technologies. | |
| Madame Laville Magali Teacher Conseil scolaire Viamonde Magali Laville Directrice, école élémentaire du Chêne, Oakville Conseil scolaire Viamonde Magali Laville enseigne depuis 2010, au sein des écoles du conseil scolaire Viamonde. Durant ses années d’enseignement, elle met en place des classes numériques et inversées pour ses élèves de 5e et 6e année. L’utilisation de la technologie est au centre des stratégies d’apprentissage et de différentiation utilisée pour ses élèves. À titre de directrice d’école, elle favorise l’utilisation de la technologie au service de l’apprentissage à l’extérieur. | |
| Kevin Mann Systems Engineer Pure Storage Kevin Mann has been a dedicated technology enthusiast for 30+ years. During his career, he has amassed experience working at companies such as StorageTek, Sun Micro Systems, Oracle and is currently a Systems Engineer with Pure Storage. Kevin specializes in architecting enterprise technology solutions that drive business performance and lower TCO. | |
| Daniel Martinic Teacher Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board For over twenty years, Dan has been implementing new ideas and innovations in the classroom. Now, Dan's embrace of the Digital Classroom brings great insight, ideas, and tips for success. ESRI Canada's 2017 teacher presenter of the year looks forward to sharing at Canada's largest Connect conference! | |
| Alefiya Master Alefiya believes that enabling students to have passion-driven career choices should be a key focus for all educational institutions. She is a young female educator turned entrepreneur who is passionate about ensuring that there are more people like her in the world. She speaks about the concept of #beapreneur and the importance of taking any ideas or interests that you have and creating solutions to solve for problems that exist within them. She believes it is essential for us to be teaching this kind of thought process in our schools, early on. Alefiya has spoken and presented at events around the world, including at the United Nations, ASU GSV, Digital Divide Roundtable, Pinal County Business-Education event, Future of Technology Summit Women in Tech, ISTE, and many more. She knows the critical role of education in workforce development and the need to have ALL kids learn to think and create for themselves and be exposed to technology creation, not just consumption. When we don’t know what jobs are going to be available 10 years from now, we have to teach kids how to create their own. Alefiya’s degree in psychology and education from Emory University, along with her training and experience as a Montessori teacher, powers her passion for wide-scale education improvement. It is this passion that led her to start her first education company, Crescerance, in 2011 to enable schools to better communicate with and engage their communities through mobile. In 2014, she started her second EdTech company MAD-learn which she now runs, focusing on bringing the concepts and tools of app development to K-12 students by enabling them to build their very own mobile apps. This design-thinking program empowers 21st century technology literacy by teaching students vital and transferable skills that will enable them to gain experience with problem identification and solution. In her spare time, Alefiya enjoys touring the world, meeting new people, learning new languages, and experiencing new cultures. She is also a closet adrenaline junkie who loves the occasional ski, sea, or sky dive expedition. | |
| Dawn Mattiussi Teacher Trillium Lakelands District School Board Dawn Mattiussi, Teacher, Trillium Lakelands District School Board. She has been an educator for close to 20 years; the majority of her time teaching in the intermediate grades. Dawn has a passion to see all students learn through differentiated instruction that meets their learning styles. She has been a lead educator and an advocate for technology in the classroom for over a decade now; being involved in digital learning and technological Makerspace opportunities. Dawn balances her home and work life effectively, engaging in an adult volleyball league and touring the regional hockey rinks with her husband to watch their two kids play rep hockey. | |
| Jeffery Maxwell Technology Teacher Niagara Catholic District School Board Jeff Maxwell is an educator who is passionate about enhancing the curriculum with the use of the technology. He has engaged students in blended learning environments for over a decade. Jeff has taught courses in computer science, technological design, math and robotics. Currently he is the TELT Consultant for the Niagara Catholic District School Board. | |
| Ashley McCarl Palmer Teacher Waterloo Region District School Board My name is Ashley and I teach physics and am a guidance counselor. I am a life-long learner who enjoys trying new things in the classroom that have the potential to drive student learning. | |
| Angela McClary Vice Principal DSBN Angela is a secondary school administrator at the District School Board of Niagara. She is also a business owner who uses the power of the internet in both capacities to leverage her time and creativity. Creating systems to automate information/actions and building a culture of efficiency are her areas of expertise. Teaching others to do the same so that they can make time for what really matters- people, are her passion. | |
| Daphne McMenemy Teacher Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board As a primary teacher for the past 14 years, Daphne McMenemy has created opportunity for children in her classroom to explore learning in innovative ways. Using robots to support children as young as kindergarten age in discovering learning through coding, she assists them in developing numeracy, literacy and computational thinking skills through creative exploration. Daphne has a passion for STEM and credits interactive technologies for offering learning experiences that encourage growth-mindset, develop problem-solving skills and build perseverance, allowing even the most hesitant learners the opportunity to succeed and build confidence in their abilities beyond what they thought was possible. | |
| Greg Milligan National Office 365 Lead – Education Microsoft Greg Milligan is the Office 365 Lead for Education at Microsoft Canada. In this role, he’s responsible for working with colleges, universities and school districts across the country to help them plan and deploy Office 365 for use by students, faculty and staff members. He’s been at Microsoft for the past eighteen years, with roles in Microsoft Consulting Services and the Communication Sector group. Prior to Microsoft, Greg held several positions at CIBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Frito-Lay and IBM. | |
| Stephanie Morris Special Education Program Lead Waterloo Region District School Board Stephanie has been a proud member of the WRDSB for the last fourteen years. She was a Secondary School English teacher for eleven and half years before becoming the Head of Special Education at Sir John A Macdonald Secondary School. She is currently in the role of Special Education Program Lead at the WRDSB Education Center where she supports the 16 Secondary Schools in the board. She is passionate about learning, leading, making and innovating. She has an amazing stay at home husband and three delightful daughters age 5, 8 and 10. | |
| Daniel Morrison STS Analyst Peel District School Board | |
| Jonathan Nguyen-Duy Fortinet Jonathan Nguyen-Duy leads strategy and service relationship programs at Fortinet where he focuses on emerging technologies and partnerships. With extensive experience working with global enterprises and nation-states, Jonathan is responsible for developing innovative security solutions addressing the challenges of digital transformation – from the IoT edge to the cloud. Prior to joining Fortinet, Jonathan served as the Security CTO at Verizon Enterprise Solutions where he was responsible for strategic technology partnerships, the Verizon Cyber Intelligence Center, and the data science team that produces the annual Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. Before that role, he led the Security Services line-of-business and was responsible for data analytics and solutions supporting military-grade continuous diagnostics and mitigation. Jonathan also led the development of Verizon’s hosting services and business continuity practice. Before working in the private sector, Jonathan served with the U.S. Foreign Service in Central America working on economic development and disarmament initiatives. He has more than 20 years of cybersecurity and BCDR/COOP experience – working through many business challenges including armed conflict, civil strife, labor strikes, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, network outages and a wide range of cyber attacks. Jonathan is a widely published security expert and frequent speaker at industry conferences. He holds a BA in International Economics and an MBA in IT Marketing and International Business from the George Washington University. In addition, he has a patent for IoT security. Specialties: Cybersecurity, SIEM, Data Analytics, Zero Trust Networking, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Continuous Monitoring, Physical Security, Business Continuity/COOP, Managed Services, Risk Management and Digital Transformation | |
| Erin O'Grady Vice Principal of Business and Learning Technologies OCDSB Erin is a Vice Principal in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. She is extremely proud of the work her Business and Learning Technologies Academic team does to support educator and student learning in the OCDSB. | |
| Chantima Oliveira Elementary Educator Lambton Kent District School Board Chantima is an elementary classroom teacher and a learning commons coach. She is passionate about collaborative teaching and learning opportunities as well as using technology as a platform for higher learning. | |
| Steph Pearson Learning Technologies Consultant Ottawa Catholic School Board I'm only "techie" because I like to click buttons. Traveller, History and GeographyTeacher and Armchair Sociologist. Grilled Cheese Aficionada. | |
| Miriam Petrella Stem Teacher BHNCDSB I have served as an elementary school teacher for 16 years with BHNCDSB. Currently, I am a STEM and Innovation Itinerate Teacher who brings a wide range of leadership in curriculum development and implementation. I am eager and willing to continue to learn, and share the implementation of the STEM curriculum with other students and teachers across the province. I have witnessed the success of this program and how it encompasses the competencies of the 21st century learner. My experiences have allowed me to develop an environment that fosters innovation through inquiry based learning. Developing a growth mindset in students is an integral part of my teaching practices. Student success is most effective when students are provided with opportunities that allow them to build upon their strengths. | |
| Ron Plaizier STS Project Manager ECNO | |
| Michelle Pollington DeLC Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Michelle Pollington is the eLearning/Blended Learning Technical Support Contact for the HWDSB eLearning program. Michelle is passionate about students opportunities for learning and engagement. | |
| Heidi-Ann Poltl K-12 Digital Learning Coach Niagara Catholic District School Board K-12 Digital Learning Coach. I have been in this role for two years after 17 years in the classroom. As I work with such a variety of excellent educators I am always learning and working on how to maximize our collaborative efforts. My favorite topics in technology and the classroom are robotics, coding and now 3D design and curriculum links. | |
| Iuliana Popper Teacher CS Viamonde Roumaine, passionnée des mathématiques et surtout de l’enseignement des mathématiques, je suis persuadée qu’avec l’effort, des stratégies renouvelées et le temps, on peut tous réaliser nos rêves. Voilà le message que je souhaite transmettre à mes élèves, peu importe leur âge. | |
| Kiran Pothula Instructional Coach Peel District School Board Kiran currently works as an Instructional Coach with the Peel District School Board. She enjoys co-learning with her students. Her goal has always been to inspire and engage- beginning with self and moving to others. Kiran is passionate about teaching, creating authentic learning experiences with real world connections and community partnerships. | |
| Ms Joana Potkidis Literacy Resource Teacher Torono Catholic School Board Joana Potkidis is a Literacy Resource Teacher in TCDSB. She is an experienced ESL teacher who uses Google to support student learning and success. In her career in the Toronto Catholic Board, she has also worked as a Teacher-Librarian, and Vocal Music Teacher. Joana has her Principal’s Qualification, and will complete her Masters in Literacy Education in June. Additionally, she holds a specialist in Information and Computer Technology and Vocal Music. Joana looks forward to working collaboratively and developing relationships with teacher in her work to support literacy instruction in elementary schools. | |
| Sophie Poulin Teacher Conseil scolaire Viamonde Des élèves ayant une faible estime d'eux-mêmes, vous en avez déjà rencontré? Moi, beaucoup trop. Ces élèves croient que leur potentiel est fixe, prédéterminé par plusieurs facteurs externes. Implanter des stratégies de mentalité de croissance dans des groupes de 7e année et une classe d'élèves en difficulté a grandement contribué à une meilleure gestion de classe et à créer un lien solide avec ceux-ci. | |
| Mr. Robert Powo Enseignant Conseil scolaire Viamonde Robert powo est un chercheur de formation dans le domaine de la chimie organique et s’est reconverti en tant enseignant au palier secondaire pour partager son expérience avec les élèves et leur donner la goût des sciences et de la chimie. Vu les grande avancées technologiques et la présence des outils technologique de plus en plus envahissante dans nos vies, il est important d’en prendre avantage et de les utiliser à bon escient pour améliorer l’apprentissage de nos élèves et croître le pourcentage de réussite chez nos élèves. C’est ainsi que M. Powo utilise les outils technologiques dans sa salle de classe pour engager et motiver les élèves dans leur apprentissage . | |
| Carmelina Prete Teacher Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board - St. Augustine With 15 years of award-winning journalism experience, Carmelina Prete is now applying her professional communication skills in the classroom. | |
| Dr. Randy Purse Consultant Cybersecure Catalyst RANDY PURSE is cyber security training and education specialist, workforce development advisor, senior learning advisor, and academic. After 36+ years in the Canadian military and with the Communications Security Establishment/Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Randy has assumed the role of Director of Cybersecurity Standards with the Information Technology Association of Canada where he is the project lead for their national cyber security workforce development initiative. He also recently joined the Cybersecure Catalyst Training and Education team at Ryerson University as a consultant and facilitator. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his family, write, read and continues to research and pursue topics of interest in learning and technology. | |
| Catharine Rayner Elementary Teacher Peel As an elementary educator for over 10 years, I have had the opportunity to teach grades 6-8. I have a background in Science and Technology, and look for ways to incorporate current events into my programming. I have had the privilege of working with Kristine collaboratively on several Language, Math and Science initiatives that empower our students to learn, discuss and advocate for change related to current events and Global sustainability goals. We use technology to connect with, learn from, and explore key topics relevant to our local communities and other groups from around the world. | |
| Mr. Roger Reynolds Teacher Trillium Lakelands District School Board Roger Reynolds is a grade 6 teacher with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board in Lindsay, Ontario. Roger is passionate about engaging students through the use of technology and makerspace. His focus this year has been allowing students to explore their own interests and passions through makerspace and embedding curriculum into their self-selected passion projects. You can check out what is happening in his classroom by following @ReynoldsTeach. | |
| Jason Rodger Elementary ICT Consultant Ottawa Carleton District School Board Jason is currently the Elementary Technology Consultant for the OCDSB. He lives by the rule "Tech if necessary, not necessarily tech" | |
| Angela Rohr Grade 3 Teacher Waterloo Region District School Board Angela teaches Grade 3 at Wellesley Public School. She is always looking for new and exciting ways to bring the curriculum to life for her students. Going on VR field trips with her students has been a highlight the school year. She is excited to share some of her knowledge with you. | |
| Sarah Rudge Elementary Teacher Grand Erie District School Board I am a French Immersion Kindergarten Teacher with the Grand Erie District School Board. I love to incorporate technology in my classroom and allow my students to discover the world through technology. | |
| Heather Ryan VLE Consultantq D2L Heather is a former teacher with 11 years of international teaching experience in South Korea. She is passionate about education and educational tools, and her current mission is to enable teachers across the province of Ontario to take advantage of the tools available to them and provided by D2L. | |
| Melissa Schroeder-Hribal Teacher Grand Erie District School Board I am a passionate play based Kindergarten teacher who strives daily to embed 21st Century competencies into everyday classroom teaching. My students and I are excited to be apart of our school board's Apple pilot project, enabling us to explore new and engaging ways to support student learning with both IOS & Microsoft tools. Our class is inquiry driven, and as a facilitator, I explore with my students to extend and further engage with them as I observe & document their growth as young, independent & capable learners. | |
| Stantonn Sequeira Teacher DPCDSB Stantonn is a Mathematics teacher at St. Augustine Catholic Secondary School in DPCDSB. Passionate about making a difference in the education of all students, Stantonn believes students learn best when they are engaged and challenged. His work focuses on incorporating effective teaching and learning strategies that help all students to succeed, as well as integrating technology into the classroom to supplement learning experiences. Stantonn’s passion for teaching drives his efforts to help other educators develop a community of mathematical thinkers. | |
| Bushra Shahid Teacher- Ed-Tech Presenter Peel District School Board Bushra is an enthusiastic, passionate, open-minded 21st-century teacher, and Google Certified Educator working at Peel District School Board. She uses educational technology tools to adapt, modify and accommodate instructional strategies to meet the needs of all learners and to develop students’ technological skills through technology-enabled teaching and learning practices. She has experience using emerging technologies and applications that meet current educational standards. | |
| Nathan Smith STS Analyst London District Catholic School Board | |
| Mr. Ryan Smith Technology Services Consultant Trillium Lakelands District School Board Originally a high school math and science teacher in Huntsville, ON, I am currently a technology consultant with the TLDSB. I have been working with teachers to integrate coding into their classrooms at a district level during the past two years. Personally I have two awesome kids and am an avid mountain biker and hockey player. | |
| Samantha Smith Creative Director Stem Minds Sam is a creative educator, artist, and self-proclaimed geek. She has a passion for experiential education through gamified and hands-on experiences, and embraces the mantra of life-long learning. Throughout her 7 years experience in the education sector, Sam has taught youth and offered professional development in the fields of outdoor/environmental education, fine arts, in-classroom lessons, and STEM. As the Creative Director of STEM MINDS, Sam puts her Bachelor of Education to good use by inspiring the next generation of leaders, game changers, and problem-solvers. She hopes to inspire students and teachers through #FEARLESSLEARNING through online learning experiences and beyond! | |
| Jonathan So Teacher Peel District School Board Jonathan is a Resource Teacher for the Peel District School Board. Jonathan has taught Primary for two years and Junior for ten years. He has been called many names: Daddy, Daddio, Dada, Jon, JoSo and some others that cannot be repeated. I am an avid runner, lover of bowties and so much more. For Jonathan, the teacher has one of the most critical roles to play in child development. Through questions, inquiry and exploration teachers can and will push students to unforeseen expectations. His passions lie in being the best teacher he can be, teaching mathematics and technology, and assessment. Jonathan also enjoys teaching through inquiry and watching the powerful impact it has on student growth and conceptual development. | |
| Greg Sorli Teacher WRDSB Born and raised in Scarborough, moved to Waterloo region at 16, went to UofW and graduated in Honours Bioology, worked as a systems desiginer during and after Y2K, went back to school in my 30s to Canisius to get my teaching certificate, taught elementary for the last 10 years. I have always loved integrating tech into my teaching and sharing what I know with others. | |
| Meghan Squarebriggs Teacher Limestone District School Board I am an intermediate teacher who teaches at an inner city school. I have recently begun to incorporate a blend learning approach to help meet the needs of my very diverse and complex group of students. The blended learning approach has allowed my students to be exposed to a variety of different learning resources while ensuring that I am interacting in a more meaningful and purposeful way. | |
| Mario Stamegna 21C Learning K-12 Resource Teacher Toronto Catholic District School Board Mario Stamegna is a 21st Century Learning K-12 Resource Teacher at the Toronto Catholic District School Board. He is also an Apple Teacher, Google Certified Educator. | |
| Amy Standeven Teacher District School Board Ontario North East Amy is a grade 7/8 Teacher at Roland Michener Secondary School 7-12, in a 1:1 iPad school. She is passionate about the inquiry process in the intermediate grades, incorporating arts and technology to field engagement. Amy is part of a Teacher Learning and Leadership Program on Building Engagement Through Robotics, Design and the 21st Century Competencies. Amy is an active school representative in Empowering a Culture of Innovation hosted by Apple, Culturally Appropriate Pedagogy: Exploring Student Voice (Digital Story Telling & Everyone Can Create Resources), as well as Reconciliation in the Elementary Classroom: Collaborative Inquiry. She is part of a group of educators developing innovative programming that allows for student choice and voice. | |
| Nicole Stogaitis Enseignante accompagnatrice Conseil scolaire Viamonde En tant qu’enseignante accompagnatrice, j'ai le privilège d'accompagner des enseignantes et des enseignants dans trois écoles secondaires à Toronto. À travers mon développement professionnel, j’ai constaté combien notre mentalité a un impact sur nos actions et nos résultats. Développer sa mentalité de croissance nous apporte réellement plus de succès et de bonheur. Voici donc comment je suis devenue passionnée de la psychologie en lien avec l’apprentissage! | |
| Steven Stronach National Lead - Education Device Strategy Microsoft Steven’s information technology experience currently spans over twenty years, and includes leadership roles within several of the world’s top technology companies, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and IBM. A veteran technologist, his broad experiences in all things device related (from initial conceptualization and design, through to supply chain, marketing, sales, support and finally delivery) serve to reinforce his reputation as a trusted business advisor and passionate, well-spoken technology advocate. | |
| Richard Swandel Secondary ICT Consultant Ottawa Carleton District School Board Currently the Secondary ICT Consultant for the OCDSB, Richard has been an educator for over 18 years as both a classroom teacher and a Teacher Librarian. | |
| Jen Taylor Teacher-Librarian Waterloo Region District School Board For five years, Jen has enjoyed the role of Teacher-Librarian at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo Region. Having taught for 20 years in English, Drama and eLearning, Jen has always channeled her restless nature by asking, “How can we make this better?” Through collaboration with peers and students, attending conferences and workshops, and developing PD at her school and board, Jen usually manages to find an answer that works...for now. Currently, Jen is on a mission to help integrate maker culture in her school through design, inquiry and innovation. | |
| Cathy Thier General Manager of Information Services HDSB | |
| Lynn Thomas Digital Lead Learner, Secondary English Teacher Granderie District School Board I am the mother of four children and a Secondary school English teacher at Dunnville Secondary School. Additionally, I serve as a Digital Lead Learner with Grand Erie DSB, am a MIE Expert, a MIE Master Trainer, and a Surface Master Trainer. I am passionate about making learning relevant for my students, teaching the SDGs, and supporting fellow teachers in providing innovative learning opportunities that engage and empower learners to be independent global citizens. | |
| Mrs Kirsten Thompson Classroom Teacher Turtle River School Division Kirsten is a classroom teacher in Turtle River School Division, Manitoba where she has taught 13 different curriculums across 6 different grade levels over the past 4 years. She holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Pedagogy from Brandon University and is currently on maternity leave with her two favourite little students. Kirsten is passionate about the ways in which technology can enhance the educational experience of all students but especially those in rural and remote areas. She specializes in the use of social media as a tool to expand learning opportunities beyond the classroom walls. | |
| Craig Thompson-Wood Teacher Peel District School Board Craig is a grade 5 teacher with the Peel District School Board in Brampton, Ontario. Craig is passionate about engaging students through the use of games based learning and gamification. He is always looking for new and innovative ways to add more fun to the learning. You can check out what is happening in his classroom by following him on Twitter at @MrThompsonWood, as well as follow him on Youtube on his channel "The Board Game Teacher". | |
| Mr. David Tran Instructional Coach Peel District School Board David currently works as Instructional Coach with the Peel District School Board. His passion includes promoting thinking through the teaching of Mathematics and Technology. | |
| Loretta Traynor Grade 3/4 Teacher DCDSB Loretta Traynor completed a Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) project last year. She is an Elementary School teacher of 22 years. She completed her Honours Psychology, B.Sc. at the University of Waterloo and attended the Institute of Child Studies, University of Toronto for her Bachelors of Education. With a background in research, she relishes questions, exploration and challenging the status quo. Loretta spent the beginning of her career teaching at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in the Learning Disabilities Research Program. She has taught in the elementary panel of the Durham Catholic District School Board for 20 years. | |
| Gord Truffen Superintendent of Information Services HDSB Gord Truffen is currently the Superintendent of Information Services for the Halton District School Board. He is an experienced educator with close to 20 years of experience in leadership (Vice-Principal, Principal and Superintendent). As a teacher, he was a consultant of Information Technology for his board implementing technology across the system for both staff and students. He also worked for OPSOA and CODE as a consultant for technology. He leads a team of professionals who are responsible for Information Technology (System Development, Software Systems, Network Operations, Telecommunications and Schools Based Technology), the Information Centre, and Records Management. | |
| Kyle Tuck EdTech Coordinator Brock University Kyle evaluates, tests, and deploys, and trains a wide variety of instructional, collaboration, educational, and information technologies. He provides training on use of the technologies, including best practices. He has worked for Brock University's Faculty of Education for nearly 20 years. | |
| Louise Vaillancourt K-12 Instructional Technology Coach Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Louise Vaillancourt is a Technology Coach for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. She is passionate about STEM and language learning. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for technological tools and strives to make robotics and coding accessible to all. Currently, she is also experimenting with Pedagogical Documentation, the Maker Mindset, deep learning and improving workflow for educators. | |
| Jan Van Arkel Teacher Orion College Drostenburg Jan van Arkel (1965) is a Dutch visual artist and a dedicated teacher, challenging high school children with special education needs in exploring creativity. | |
| Robert van der Gulik Managing Director TOPdesk Canada Robert started at TOPdesk in 2008 at the headquarters in Delft, The Netherlands. He has a broad experience with service management, started as a consultant, grew into project management and had several full-time assignments at organizations as service desk manager and service manager. Since 2018, Robert is the managing director of TOPdesk Canada and is helping service organizations to achieve service excellence, with the motto “Think big, start small”. | |
| Mark Velle Teacher Waterloo Region District School Board Mark Velle teaches primarily primary students at Floradale Public School. Exploring AR and VR with my class has provided some powerful and engaging ways to bring the world to my students. (Especially to those students who don't have the opportunity to go and explore the world...) | |
| Mike Washburn Host OnEducation Podcast "From what Mr. Washburn said, I want to take this world to the next level by actually going and doing the impossible things." - Grade 5 Student | |
| Andrew Wheelock Technology Coordinator Erie 1 BOCES/ WNYRIC I am an educator, husband, and father of 3!.... after 13 years as an elementary teacher, I slowly found myself gravitating to teaching and learning with technology. I survived the early days of the internet, with turtle slow modems and static webpages to see the incredible age of the technology renaissance. The power and engagement possibilities of today's technology from mobile devices to virtual environments, to gaming is incredible. The true value is harnessing it to make powerful learning experiences, as well as, helping students navigate technology dangers. I have many ideas of my own on how that happens, but I feel I grow much deeper understanding when I talked to other innovative educators. These educators inspire me to go beyond and push the boundaries. | |
| Chad Whittington K-12 IT4 Learning Consultant District School Board of Niagara Chad is a Computer Studies Curriculum Consultant and Technology Integration Specialist in the DSBN. Among other subjects Chad taught Computer Studies at Grimsby Secondary School for thirteen years. Chad is passionate about finding ways to use coding across multiple subject areas. He believes that every decision that we make as teachers is an opportunity for learning. | |
| Deanna Williams Teacher/Program Chair of Business & Technology Niagara Catholic District School Board Deanna Williams is a secondary teacher with the Niagara Catholic District School Board. She loves teaching students to recognize the potential in themselves to become self-directed, lifelong learners. She has taught computer science, robotics and communication technology courses for nearly 18 years. She is one of the Technology Lead Learners for her school and has just completed a TLLP project which focused on 21st Century Global Competencies and technology enriched, learner-centered teaching practices. This has allowed her to work with teachers in both her school and school board in a mentor role, to build technological capacity. As a Google Certified L2 Educator she is empowered to find ways to enhance teaching, accelerate student learning and share that learning beyond her classroom. | |
| Amanda Williams-Yeagers Teacher Halton DSB Amanda Williams is an elementary *glitterarian* (read: teacher-librarian) in Halton, who works with students in Kindergarten to grade 8. She has presented provincially and internationally on the arts in education, including a focus on inquiry and dance at Daci (Dance and the Child International) in Denmark. Amanda's current focus is innovative learning models including maker education and design thinking. She continues to develop her understanding of constructionism by connecting with other inspiring educators and being a "guide on the ride" with her students. Amanda believes that everything is better with a little sparkle. | |
| Mark Willoughby Online Course Developer/Administrator Brock University Mark Willoughby has a M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Mathematics. He has taught post-secondary for eight years and currently creating online courses for the Department of Mathematics at Brock Univeristy, using innovative methods to bring calculus and statistics to an online forum. | |
| Shannon Wood Designated Early Childhood Educator Grand Erie District School Board, St. George German School DECE partner in an amazing FDK team that loves technology | |
| Mary Yankosky-Amtsberg Kindergarten teacher Upper Merion Area School District • BS in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education • MEd in Special Education • 20 years Kindergarten teaching experience • Upper Merion Area School District STEM facilitator • Online course facilitator • Pennsylvania State Keystone Technology Integrator Presenter: NECC 2008 (San Antonio Texas) “Blogging, Podcasting, Smartboards, Oh My!!!” ISTE 2009 (Washington, DC) “Flat Kids: An Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Project Based Technology Adventure” ISTE 2011 (Philadelphia, PA) student showcase: “Research and Writing Fun with Flat Kids. ISTE 2017 (San Antonio, TX ) “Travel STEM Education’s 4 C’s with Kindergartners!!!” Maryland State Technology Conference 2017,2018 East Tennessee State University Early Childhood Conference 2015,2017,2018 Pennsylvania State Technology Conference 2008,2009 International STEM Education Association 2018 | |
| Catherine E. Zeisner E.d.D Class of 2030 Leader, Assistant Professor Gonzaga University Dr. Catherine Zeisner is a proud Canadian scholar practitioner who believes the best in education is right around the corner. As an assistant professor at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, Catherine teaches both Masters and Doctoral students, recently had a chapter published in The Reader Leader (2018), and teaches online Masters and Doctoral students at Western University in London, Ontario where she won the 2017 and 2018 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Catherine believes in the power of resiliency and positivity as demonstrated with her conquer over cancer in 2011, completing 3 Chicago Marathons, and a successful 25 year marriage. Having taught French, Phys-ed, multiple grade levels and special education, Catherine believes all students can learn and all teachers can thrive in our very diverse educational settings. As an ADHD program teacher, vice-principal, and principal, Catherine proved that relationships are the key to school success by bridging the gaps between what’s needed and what’s possible. “Anything is possible if you have the right people, in the right room, at the right time, focusing on the right things.” Dr. Zeisner has a very simple message for educators around the world…PUSH UP! Not the tough exercise kind of push up but the kind of behaviour that respectfully challenges the status quo, engages a wide community, and gets others to think differently. The kind of different that provides success for students’ tomorrow, today! | |
| Tianyuan Zhang Student Brock University Undergraduate Student, Computer Science, Brock University | |