The Wired Classroom

METC 2010 online registration begins next week! Here are the latest additions to the Midwest Education Technology Conference line-up:

Ian Jukes is the Keynote Speaker for the Leadership Breakfast for Administrators and Board Members on February 9. His topic is Our Children Are Not the Students Our Schools Were Designed For: Understanding Digital Kids. Ian also presents two more breakout sessions on Tuesday! Ian has been a teacher, an administrator, writer, consultant, university instructor and keynote speaker, but Ian is an educator first and foremost. His focus has consistently been on the compelling need to restructure our educational institutions so that they become relevant to the current and future needs of children. His rambunctious, irreverent and highly charged presentations and articles emphasize many of the practical issues related to ensuring that change is meaningful. As a registered educational evangelist, his self-avowed mission in life is to ensure that children are properly prepared for the future rather than society’s past. As a result, his material tends to focus on many of the pragmatic issues that provide the essential context for educational restructuring.

Returning Featured Speaker Leslie Fisher’s interest in technology began while studying music at the University of Southern California. She quickly realized the value of utilizing computers for music mixing and recording and eventually changed her major. After Leslie joined Apple Computer in 1992, she was assigned to study Internet growth and implementation. In 1997, Leslie founded Fisher Technologies Inc. to help educators with their technology implementations and decisions through consulting, training and presentation services. Leslie will conduct a preconference workshop, Add Yourself to the Web 2.0 World, on February 8 and present on February 9.

Featured Speaker Darren Kuropatwa’s unique skill set — an in-depth knowledge of pedagogy, leading edge technology skills and boundless creativity — make him a strong change agent in 21st century education. He will conduct a preconference workshop, Extreme (Web 2.0) Lesson Plan Makeover, on February 8 and breakout sessions on February 10. His relaxed confident manner puts participants at ease as he leads them through relevant discussions of how the appropriate application of technology in the day-to-day classroom setting can enhance student learning. Attendees leave eager to apply these ideas in their own classrooms. His leadership and vision in the field of educational technology are known world-wide through his work as one of the founding conveners of the “K12 Online Conference” and his professional blog “A Difference.”

Returning Featured Speaker Gail Lovely is an internationally known teacher. She believes that teaching is her calling and a deep part of who she is. Gail is a classroom teacher who has taught pre-school through university level students. An “early adopter” of technology in education, Gail earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Computing from Pepperdine University in the 1980’s. Gail is known for her practical approach to education, her appreciation and admiration for teaching and learning and her skill at making the complex understandable and the difficult manageable. Gail conducts a preconference workshop, Make It and Take It, on February 8 and presents breakout sessions on February 9. Her website, www.GailLovely.com, is visited by thousands of educators from around the world each month because it provides practical support and resources for classroom teachers.

Featured Speaker Angela Maiers has a 20-year career in education, including time as a classroom teacher. She spends her time researching, writing, speaking, and conducting seminars across the country in the areas of literacy, learning, and 21st Century education. Her work is featured in the National Research Council Yearbook, multiple professional journals, and most recently in Urban Schools Most Promising Practices. For the past six years, Angela has created, developed, and organized multiple literacy institutes reaching thousands of educators across the United States. Every student reaches their highest literacy and learning potential when they are led by such knowledgeable and passionate leaders. Angela presents breakout sessions on February 9.