Keynote Speakers

Opening Keynote: Tom Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools

Opening Keynote: Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow’s Schools, Today

Having no historical precedent, the current speed of technological breakthroughs has led to the coming age of workplace automation, dramatically altering the world of work that our students will enter upon graduation. With the vast disparities of inequity that have existed for centuries, all that is known about how students learn, and the predictions regarding the world that our students will face tomorrow, utilizing a traditional, one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning is educational malpractice. Built upon the foundation of leadership and school culture, a redesigned learning experience fundamentally shifts the teaching and learning paradigm to one that is personal, while altering the use of authentic assessments, how technology is leveraged, the spaces in which the learning occurs, the way educators grow professionally, how schools collaborate with the community, and ultimately, the sustainability of the system as a whole.

In this session, ASCD best-selling author, Thomas C. Murray, will dissect these eight keys, which each serve as a puzzle piece for redesigning the learning experience, to unlock tomorrow’s schools so that today’s modern learners leave ready to create new industries, find new cures, and solve world problems. We must create tomorrow’s schools today and you are part of the solution.

General Keynote: Kristin Ziemke, Educator and Author

Amplify-Digital Pedagogy for Today and Tomorrow

Technology provides new and innovative ways for students to respond, interact and share as kids leverage digital tools to build understanding. Personalization and differentiation is built-in as multimodal response options make learning accessible and authentic as students create, collaborate and connect around curriculum that is rooted in thinking. But it’s not just the technology; it’s how we use it that really matters.

Rooted in best practice teaching, this session will guide you to change the conditions for learning and AMPLIFY instructional strategies that are research-based, teacher-tested and kid approved. Learn new and innovative practices you can try tomorrow to build readers, writers and thinkers.

Closing Keynote: John Spencer, Author

LAUNCH Into Design Thinking

Despite the myth of “digital natives,” most of my students have very little experience using technology as anything more than a consumer device. It doesn’t have to be this way. By using a design thinking framework, teachers can foster creative thinking in every content area.

I walk participants through the LAUNCH Cycle, offering practical tips and specific examples. Participants leave feeling inspired, challenged and empowered to create spaces where creativity thrives.