Dr. Kecia Ray began her career as a middle school science teacher in the Atlanta area before moving to Nashville in 1994 to teach in one of the state’s first 21st Century classrooms. Kecia participated in the state’s first distance-learning network and served on the iNACOL research committee. She designed technology-rich learning spaces for the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and became the director of technology research in the Office of Science Outreach at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2000. Kecia joined the Metropolitan Nashville school district in 2004 as district policy manager and was named assistant superintendent of federal programs and grants in 2007 and remained in this position until 2010, when she became the district’s first executive director for learning technology. In 2016, Ray became the Executive Director of the Center for Digital Education a national research center focused on transforming education with technology as a catalyst. Kecia also teaches graduate courses for Johns Hopkins University and serves as president of the board of directors of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Kecia shares her experiences and expertise in the following sessions:

• PreConference workshop for administrators on Monday from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m
• Concurrent session on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Monday ~ Converging Practice in K-12 ~ The Role of Digital Resources

The mission of the Center for Digital Learning follows, "to nurture a community of thought leaders who are rethinking education with technology as the catalyst. Our vision is to make education relevant and accessible for students worldwide." Join Dr. Kecia Ray as she facilitates a conversation with district and schools administrators about current pedagogical practices, instructional technology, and the emphasis on competency for learning. What is the appropriate role of digital resources? What skills, tools, and resources do both students and educators require? Where are the best sources of and strategies for professional learning? What resources are valued? What policies and guidelines are needed? Where is your district or school now and where are you headed? How might you set your goals and create a plan of action to achieve those goals?

Tuesday ~ Social Media ~ A Proactive Position for Instruction & Communication

Social media can quickly become a disruptive factor in our districts and our schools if not utilized and managed from a proactive versus reactive perspective. Join Kecia as she provides insight and strategies for using these powerful tools to the district and schools advantage for both instruction and communication. The Center for Digital Education is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy, and funding. The Center provides education and industry leaders with decision support and actionable insight to help effectively incorporate new technologies. Let Kecia help you navigate the territory of social media.

Kathy has been involved with technology to support teaching and learning since the early 1990's, is an Adobe Education Leader, a Google Certified Teacher, and a Discovery Education STAR and Guru. Kathy writes, speaks, blogs, tweets, and conducts professional development workshops, presentations, and keynotes throughout the world. The EdTech graduate program at Wilkes University (PA) enjoys Kathy’s services as adjunct faculty. She is known for her practical presentations dealing with pedagogically sound practices for the embedding of technology seamlessly into teaching and learning. Her passions are online tools to support classroom instruction, the role of emerging technologies in the classroom, infographics, tablets in the classroom, copyright and intellectual property, tablets in the classroom, information literacy, and gadgets of any type! You can find her on Twitter (@kathyschrock), Google+, and many other social networks!

Kathy shares her experiences and expertise in the following sessions:

• PreConference workshop on Monday from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
• Concurrent session on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.
• BYOD session on Wednesday at from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Concurrent session on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Monday ~ VR in the Classroom: Creating 360 Degree Panoramas & Immersive Tours

Using virtual reality (VR) in the classroom can immerse students in a 360 environment, help with understanding complex subjects, and engage learners of all ages. Discover how to enable students to create these online, interactive panoramas. Explore using a Google Cardboard viewer to immerse the student in an image, this can be very powerful teaching tool! In this hands-on workshop, learn the how and why of this technology to support teaching and learning. Use the Ricoh Theta S camera to create your own images and videos that can be interacted with online and also made immersible when viewed through Google Cardboard.

Tuesday ~ The Common Thread: Weaving Information Literacy Skills to Engage Learners

By engaging students in problem- and project-based learning, impacting their emotions, causing them to question and think about controversial topics, and presenting content in the form of visuals and stories, research shows that students more often retain content and turn it into personal knowledge. By infusing the information literacy skill set as the common thread across the content areas, students have the foundation they need to succeed. Learn how the team of classroom teacher, teacher librarian, and technology teacher can work together to create and teach lessons that intertwine these literacies.

Wednesday BYOD ~ Visual Notetaking in the Classroom

Visual notetaking, also called sketchnoting, allows students to creatively organize their thoughts using sketches. Visual notetaking targets the auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners as all three areas are utilized. Whether taking notes the traditional way and then creating a sketchnoted version, or sketching notes during a lecture, with sketchnotes students showcase their personalized understanding of the content. Learn how to teach students the basics of visual notetaking, how to create a structure that can be used for the process, and practice creating some sketchnotes of your own in this session. Apps and tools that can be used for digital sketchnoting will also be covered. Sketchnoting is appropriate for students in grades 5 through 12.

Wednesday ~ Do the EdTech Hokey Pokey: Put Your Whole Self In!

Put your "whole self in" and "turn yourself around" by exploring exciting new emerging technologies! In addition, learn about the unintended and spontaneous uses of mobile devices with the powerful applications that are here today and coming tomorrow. Teachers, administrators, and coaches need to continue their professional development to understand what technologies are available to support teaching and learning. Understanding the current and future trends plays a big role in their professional growth and leadership in their school and district. In addition, they also should be able to support a digital-age learning culture to ensure that all teachers are on-board with the importance of finding the best technologies and resources for student learning. Technologies presented in the 2016 NMC Horizon Report K-12 will be used as well as a quick overview of the main points of this useful report. This session is a MUST for technology directors and coordinators!

Terry Bullard embodies every aspect of being a technology leader locally, statewide, and nationally. She is in her third year as the Director of Technology for the Bedford School District. Previously, she served as the Director of Technology for the Windham School District for 16 years and prior to that the Technology Director for the Manchester School District for 12½ years. As a technology leader for over 30 years, her passion has been to implement a shared vision for effectively integrating technology to enhance teaching and learning. She challenges administrators and teachers alike to think outside the box as to how technology can be used to transform the world of teaching and learning. Terry believes that technology is more than a “tool” but that it is an integral part of student and professional life. She is most passionate about the two one-to-one initiatives she has implemented, the first in the Windham School District with the opening of its new high school in 2009 and the second at Bedford High School in 2015. Each month, Terry hosts two User’s Groups – Powerschool and Google Apps for Education administrators. Over 55 school districts attend meetings where a variety of topics are presented, shared and discussed. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from SUNY College of Technology.

Terry shares her experiences and expertise in the following sessions:

• Concurrent session on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
• Concurrent session on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.

Tuesday ~ The Changing Landscape in the 1-to-1 Classroom

Today, in education, more and more districts and schools are adopting 1-to-1 or BYOD Programs. This can be very exciting and daunting at the same time for educators. The Bedford School District implemented a 1-to-1 Chromebook program at Bedford High School. Come listen, learn and participate in a discussion on how Chromebooks can be used effectively to impact instruction in a high school setting. The discussion focuses on activities that support and encourage learning, teacher adaptation, as well as classroom management from educators in a variety of content areas at Bedford High School.

Tuesday ~ Balancing Privacy & Innovation

How do we balance the safety and privacy concerns of our students versus the need to teach 21st century skills? With the increasing number of online resources and tools that support teaching and learning comes inherent risks to student data. Jon this discussion around the challenges that districts, schools and educators face to protect student privacy while encouraging innovative uses of technology in the classroom. Strategies, resources, and processes will be presented that can be used to assist educators with adopting new digital tools in the classroom and ensuring that student privacy and data is protected.

Pam Harland has been a librarian for over 25 years working in school libraries, academic libraries, and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Research Library. Currently she is Faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership at Plymouth State University where she serves as the Program Coordinator for the Library Media Specialist and Technology Intergrator programs. She is also on the Board of Directors of the American Association of School Librarians. Pam speaks nationally about library spaces, learning commons, librarians as leaders, and everything in between. She is the author of The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps to Transforming Your Library (Libraries Unlimited, 2011), holds a BA from the University of New Hampshire, a Masters of Science in Information Systems from Drexel University, and was NH School Librarian of the Year in 2010. Follow her on Twitter @pamlibrarian.

Pam shares her experiences and expertise in the following sessions:

• Concurrent session on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
• Concurrent session on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

Wednesday ~ The Learning Commons: Blueprint for the Future Ready Library

Equal access to resources and information literacy skills has never been more important. Explore how creating a learning commons can be at the vanguard of preparing your entire school for future readiness. Learn how collaborative teaching, easily discoverable content, and open access to resources support a future ready school. Rethink library spaces and leave with a refreshed perspective as well as tips, tricks, and hacks to empower students with essential academic and life skills.

Thursday ~ From Screwdrivers to Shark Tanks: Meet Competencies Through Collaboration

Learn how students who traditionally used hammers and screwdrivers are now using Samsung tablets, blogs, and a real-world database to document progress, do research, describe projects, and create an innovative invention in the Shark Tank project. A high school English teacher and librarian work together with the Technology Education department (Woodworking, Autos, and Welding) to introduce innovation and technical writing as an intervention for struggling students to meet English competencies.

Scott is the Assistant Superintendent for the Londonderry (NH) School District. In this role he is a visionary, leader, and advocate in the area of integrated STEM education. Scott serves on the SERESC STEM Advisory Committee and is the NH representative to the College Board’s New England Regional Council. A former teacher of high school English, Scott has published articles, short stories, and a novel. He enjoys landscape painting, travel, and is an avid fisherman. Prior to moving to Londonderry, Scott served as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for the Gilford (NH) School District and prior to that he was the principal of Moultonborough (NH) Central School. He has a BA from the University of New Hampshire, a Master of Education and CAGS in Educational Leadership and Administration both from Plymouth State University.

Scott shares her experiences and expertise in the following sessions:

• Concurrent session on Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

Thursday ~ Shiny Widgets: Leading Tech Innovation without a Technology Background

Examine various strategies by which educational leaders can move beyond the limits of their own knowledge of technology to fully realize the possibilities inherent in new instructional tools. Most systems and building level leaders work hard to remain current in new instructional tools, and yet with the constant developments of new and more effective instructional technology, 'remaining current' may not be enough. How are school leaders to support and encourage innovation in educational technology that they may only partially understand? It is possible - but only with a fundamental shift in perspective and in some cases in the way in which we structure our work each day. Chasing fads simply isn't enough - there are far too many to chase. This district administrator offers strategies and resulting practices that encourage educational leaders to examine the ways in which they approach the integration of instructional technology. The outcome is an approach that allows them to work effectively within their means, while encouraging ongoing exploration and innovation.