Schedule for Each Session:

Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President and President of Global Market Development, Qualcomm

Mobile Technology - Opportunities to Drive 21^st Century Education

Peggy Johnson has been responsible for leading the development of next-generation wireless technology. In her presentation, Peggy will discuss how the use of always on, always connected mobile devices in the hands of students has the potential to dramatically improve educational outcomes by providing unprecedented access to learning resources.  It is her belief that mobile devices used by each student can have transformative results, opening opportunities for learning 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, as we benefit from these fast-paced mobile learning innovations, schools are still being left behind. Wireless technology will play a key role in bringing a 21^st century education to all students, no matter what their income status.

Adora Svitak, Author, Activist; Education Reform and Voices of the Youth

The New Kid(s) on the Block: Youth Digital Culture and Implications for Student Voice in Education

Since the age of four, Adora Svitak has been exploring what she can do with the written word: everything from championing literacy and youth voice to raising awareness about world hunger. Hoping to instill her love of learning in other children, she taught her first class at a local elementary school the year her first book, Flying Fingers, debuted in 2005; since then, she has spoken at hundreds of schools, classrooms and conferences around the world. She co-authored her second book, Dancing Fingers—a collection of poetry—with her older sister, Adrianna, in 2009. At 12, she delivered the speech "What Adults Can Learn from Kids" at the prestigious TED conference. That video received over one million views and has been translated into over 40 different languages. Since 2010, she has organized the entirely youth-run TEDxRedmond conference, which hosts over 700 attendees (mainly young people as well as educators and civic leaders) every year.

Dr. Jason Ohler, Professor Emeritus; Author, Developer of New Media Literacies

Best-selling author, educator, and futurist, Dr. Jason Ohler has worked online and in classrooms, locally and internationally, helping students, educators, and policy makers develop the new media literacies they need to be successful in the digital age. In this Spotlight session, educators will learn how to help students become active media creators, critical media consumers and engaged digital citizens by using technology effectively and creatively, as well as wisely and safely. Jason will focus on how educators can guide students to create new media stories and projects that are articulate, academically sound and personally transformative, thus enabling students to share their work and talents within the collaborative community of the social web. Dr. Ohler's presentation will also make the case for all school community members – from administrators to teachers to parents – to use the tools of the digital age to build the schools they want for their communities.

Dr. Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer, Stanford University School of Education

Unlike practices in the rigid instructionism-based systems, students in the current social network generation are creating, exchanging, and advancing knowledge at an unprecedented pace and magnitude. In this presentation, Dr. Kim examines how the purpose, nature, and process of learning in the 21st century may be renewed, how educational enterprises may evolve to inspire and empower new generations of global citizens, and how we can ultimately cause a paradigm shift in the global education ecosystem.

Tom Vander Ark, Author, Founder of Getting Smart®

May 15, 2013

Tom is author of Getting Smart and founder of Getting Smart®. Tom is also a partner in Learn Capital, a venture capital firm investing in learning content, platforms, and services with the goal of transforming educational engagement, access, and effectiveness. Previously he served as President of the X PRIZE Foundation and was the Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he implemented $3.5 billion in scholarship and grant programs. Tom was the first business executive to serve as public school superintendent in Washington State. A prolific writer and speaker, Tom has published thousands of articles and blogs. In December 2006, Newsweek readers voted Tom the most influential baby boomer in education.Tom is a director of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and several other nonprofits.