NNPS+Symposium

**International Panel Members** = = =Caroline Novak- Alabama, USA= http://www.aplusala.org/ http://www.abpc21.org/

Caroline Novak is co-founder and president of the A+ Education Partnership, an independent statewide organization working to shape policy, improve teaching and learning, and engage communities in on-going conversations about the best ways to create great schools for every child. A+ was founded in 1991 to address the unequal educational opportunities for Alabama students.

A+ works in partnership with business leaders, educators, policymakers and communities and is comprised of three divisions: A+ promotes improvement through advocacy, communications and policy development: The Alabama Best Practices Center helps teachers and administrators develop the competence and commitment to do whatever it takes to improve student learning with an emphasis 21st Century Learning: and A+ College Ready increases the number of students in Alabama prepared to take rigorous college courses in math and science. Through a network of local community engagement initiatives - Yes We Can! Alabama - A+ promotes graduation of all students ready for college, work and life.

Caroline serves on the Steering Committee of the Education Commission of the States and the board of the Southern Regional Education Board. She is a native Alabamian and graduated from Hollins University with a B.A. in Economics.

=John Connell- Lauder, Scotland= http://www.johnconnell.co.uk/blog/

John Connell is an Education Strategist and Business Development Manager working for Cisco in the Emerging Markets, covering Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia/CIS. He worked for 25 years in the public sector in Scotland, at all levels of education from teacher and head teacher to national policy adviser and national project Director.

For 6 years, John led the world-class Scottish Schools Digital Network project, now known as Glow (see [|www.glowscotland.org.uk].Glow is the national schools intranet, digitally linking Scotland's 800,000 educators and pupils, and comprises a national broadband network, national content delivery network and a national learning platform. The learning platform is entirely web-based and includes a virtual learning environment, collaborative environment and national identity management system.

John has spoken at many events and conferences across the world about the conjunction of education and technology. Most recently, he spoke in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Costa Rica, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, and the UK. He is also a well-known voice in the world of educational blogging (see: [|www.johnconnell.co.uk/blog/]).

John has an MBA and an MA (Politics) from Edinburgh University and an M.Ed (Educational & Information Technology) from Aberdeen University. John is also a qualified teacher with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education from Craigie College, Scotland.

=David DeSchryver- Washington DC, USA= =  = David DeSchryver has been an attorney with [|Brustein & Manasevit] since 2006. Mr. DeSchryver analyzes and writes about the federal budget process, education legislation, and important administrative actions to keep clients informed of activities in Washington that can affect their federal programs. He works with clients to develop their federal legislative strategies and facilitates their representation before Congress and administrative agencies.

Mr. DeSchryver worked in education policy and practice for over 10 years. As a policy director for The Center for Education Reform, he worked with state and federal legislators to develop a wide variety of school improvement legislation. As a managing editor and academic services manager at SchoolNet he wrote many articles on school reform and technology and has used that work to help him to implement comprehensive instructional management systems in urban schools and districts. Finally, as an NCLB program manager for the DC Public Charter School Board, he worked with schools to understand NCLB and to facilitate their school improvement processes. Mr. DeSchryver brings these experiences to his current position at Brustein & Manasevit.

Mr. DeSchryver received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Kenyon College (OH) in 1995, a J.D. from the George Washington Law School in 2003 and is a member of the Maryland Bar Association.

=Will Richardson- New Jersey, USA= http://weblogg-ed.com/

Will Richardson is known internationally for his work with educators and students to understand and implement instructional technologies and, more specifically, the tools of the Read/Write Web into their schools, classrooms and communities. A former public school educator for 22 years, Will’s own Weblog ([|Weblogg-ed.com]) is a leading resource for the creation and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies on the K-12 level, and his is a leading voice for re-envisioning learning and teaching in the context of the fundamental changes these new technologies are bringing to all aspects of life. His critically acclaimed, best-selling book __Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms__ (March 2006, Corwin Press) has sold over 50,000 copies and is already being used by tens of thousands of teachers to reinvent their practice, and his keynotes, presentations and workshops to audiences in China, Australia, Europe and throughout North America communicate a fresh and inspiring vision of what schools can and must become. Through the [|Powerful Learning Practice Network] which he co-founded with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, he works with schools and teachers around the world to re-envision their learning cultures and communities

He is also a national advisory board member for the George Lucas Education Foundation, a columnist for District Administration Magazine, and has published dozens of articles in various professional and mass market journals and magazines. Will lives along the Delaware River in beautiful Western New Jersey with his wife Wendy and his children Tess and Tucker, all of whom are bloggers.

=Jeff Utecht - Bangkok, Thailand= http://jeffutecht.com = = Elementary Technology & Learning Coordinator Consultant to schools and organizations Presenter to teachers, parents and students. Jeff Utecht is an international educator and educational technology consultant. Currently Jeff is working as the Elementary Technology and Learning Coordinator for the [|International School Bangkok]. Additionally, Jeff is collaborating with [|EARCOS] (East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools) as a technology consultant and with the Wiki company, [|Wetpaint.com]. Jeff is an adjunct professor for [|Plymouth State University] in their Technology Education program. Jeff is a main coordinator for the [|Learning 2.0 Educational Technology Conference] in Asia. Jeff regularly shares his thoughts on education and technology on his blog, [|thethinkingstick.com]. Jeff and his blog have recently been mentioned in the books [|Reinventing Project-Based Learning] as an avenue for “free online professional development” and [|Web 2.0, New Tools, New Schools].
 * International School Bangkok**
 * Certified K-12 Administrator
 * Master's of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with a Focus on Technology
 * Certified K-8 Elementary Teacher