2009 Keynote Speakers

Ray Voley

Alaska's 2008 Teacher of the Year.

Ray Voley lives in a log cabin with his wife and two children on the edge of Wrangell- St. Elias National Park and Preserve. He has lived in Alaska for 20 years, working as a fishing and whitewater river guide, and as a journalist during his early years in the state. He taught fifth-grade through high school at Scammon Bay, Alaska, for six years. He has been the high school social studies and a technology teacher at Kenny Lake School for nine years. He earned degrees in Political Science and History from the University of Utah, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from the University of Alaska Anchorage. He has written numerous lesson plans for the akhistorycourse.org, served as a master teacher for the summer Alaska Studies institutes in Anchorage, and presented his ideas at numerous in-services throughout the state. His students have produced numerous award-winning documentaries, and short films. In 2007, his students produced an award-winning 90-minute documentary on the history of the Kennecott mine, and they are currently working on a documentary about the 1898 Valdez Gold Rush. Voley was selected as the 2008 Alaska Teacher of the Year, and the 2008 Alaska History and Cultural Studies Teacher of the year.

You can read more about Ray Voley on Alaska's NEA website.

View the Chariot Group sponsored video @ MediaSite of Ray Voley.

Dr. Brian C. Housand

Examining Giftedness, Technology, and Creativity in a Digital Age

Brian recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut with an emphasis in both gifted education and instructional technology. He is currently an Assistant Professor at East Carolina University in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Brian is also part of the research team at the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development focusing on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading Framework (SEM-R), and a former instructor Three Summers Online Masters Program at UConn. Brian is currently exploring ways in which technology can enhance the learning environment and striving to define what it means to be creatively productive in a digital age.

You can read more about Dr. Brian Housand on his website.

View the Chariot Group sponsored video @ MediaSite of Dr. Brian C. Housand.

Dr. Jason Cole

Remote-Learning, Chief Learning Officer

Dr. Cole has had extensive experience in instructional systems design and implementation of large scale educational technology projects. He was tapped by Open University UK in 2005 to assist OU with its transition from their homegrown learning management system to Moodle. Over the ensuing 2 years he successfully architected a system that currently supports over 225,000 student users worldwide with multiple enrollments. OU-UK is the largest online school known to exist. Jason is the co-author of Using Moodle (c2006 & 2007) published by O'Reilly Community Press, and has been the organizer of several successful MoodleMoot Conferences in the US and UK.

View the Chariot Group sponsored video @ MediaSite of Dr. Jason Cole.

Sonny Magana

Critical Thinking and Creativity

In the course of a twenty year career in public education, Sonny has taught every grade level from kindergarten through graduate school. In 1996 Sonny created and served as the Principal of Washington's first CyberSchool, a highly successful Alternative Learning Program that continues to meet the learning needs of at-risk students. The Milken Family Foundation presented him with the Milken National Educator Award in 1998 for his work in advancing 21st Century teaching and learning in Washington State. He was also awarded the Governor's Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Education. Currently, Sonny serves as the National Strategic Initiatives Manager for Promethean, working with communities of learners to improve student conceptual understanding, critical thinking and creativity.

You can read more about Sonny Magana on his website.

View the Chariot Group sponsored video @ MediaSite of Sonny Magana.

Dr. Carolyn Staudt

Dr. Carolyn Staudt Concord Consortium ~ Realizing the Promise of Educational Technology

Carolyn Staudt is a curriculum designer for technology- and Internet-based projects, including Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science (TEEMSS 1 & 2), JASON Academy, Modeling Across the Curriculum, Models and Data, Mobile Inquiry Computing, Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT), Science Learning in Context (SliC), Virtual High School, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), Kids as Global Scientists (KGS), and NetAdventure at the Concord Consortium. She is especially intrigued with allowing students to collect real-time data with portable sensors and probes attached to desktop and handheld computers. She has designed professional development that includes implementation of technology into the classroom curriculum, teacher and student utilization of existing software, design of tailored activities, and manipulation of software up to, and including, scripting as vice president of KidSolve, Inc. She has 20 years of experience teaching science and math, including physics, chemistry, geoscience, and space science. She holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction in Science from Kent State University. She was a Christa McAuliffe Fellow in 1990 and the Fairlawn, Ohio, Citizen of the Year in 1991.

Shane Elliott

Pukunui Technologies, Perth, Australia

Shane Elliott is the Director, Developer and Trainer for Pukunui Technologies, a Moodle services company and Moodle Partner based in Perth, Autstralia. Shane Elliott is also a core developer of Moodle working closely with Martin Dougiamas, creator of Moodle, at the Moodle House in Perth. Shane holds several degrees in a variety of disciplines including education, mathematics, information technologies, computing, physics, Spanish and audio engineering. As a Moodle core developer, Shane Elliott has worked on the development of Moodle 1.9 and will be speaking about, demonstrating and answering questions about Moodle, the newest releases and future plans for Moodle.

Links Referenced

website: http://www.ak.nea.org/formembers/teacheryearVoley2008.htm
View: http://salesdemo.mediasite.com/salesdemo5/Viewer/?peid=e7aabca71d9b49989cfa636a1010b63b
website: http://brianhousand.googlepages.com
View: http://salesdemo.mediasite.com/salesdemo5/Viewer/?peid=d3887db04b7940ca870aab57638858c2
View: http://salesdemo.mediasite.com/salesdemo5/Viewer/?peid=47735e8cb55c444aa2bfc3353882a03c
website: http://www.activthoughts.blogspot.com