Keynote Speakers




Tuesday, March 22
Keynote Speaker: Marc Prensky, Global Future Education Foundation and Institute, USA
“PLAN B”: Education to Improve the World

ABSTRACT: Today, what the world offers our kids as education is pretty much the same everywhere — albeit with a wide range of quality and success. I call it “Plan A” education — it’s what all of us experienced. It is based on an “academic model” with the goal of “learning now, so you can accomplish later.” The curriculum is a narrow range of subjects — math, English/local language, science and social studies (“The MESS”).
Today, everything that goes on under the name of “education reform,” is about doing “Plan A” better — by by including more underserved kids, by adding STEM and the arts, by adding more and more technology, by adding new types of schools (e.g. charters), and by adding so-called “21st century skills.”
Unfortunately, “an improved Plan A”, is not what today’s and tomorrow’s empowered kids need — Plan A no longer fits the world in which our kids live. Tomorrow’s kids need — and want — a new “Plan B” education — one that further empowers them to make the world a better place by continuously accomplishing world-improving projects while they are still students, through a process of “accomplish now, learn as you do so.” Plan B education has NEW ENDS: (improving the world and becoming good, effective world-improving people), NEW MEANS: (real-world projects all through school), and NEW SUPPORT: (a new, broader curriculum, of Effective Thinking, Effective Action, Effective Relationships and Effective Accomplishment.) We are just beginning to see elements of “Plan B” emerging, in pockets, around the globe. This talk is about why “Plan B” is a far better education for tomorrow’s kids, what it looks like, and how to get there.
Q&A FOLLOWING KEYNOTE WITH STUDENT PANEL: http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008
BIOGRAPHY: Marc Prensky — coiner of the term “Digital Native” 15 years ago — is an internationally acclaimed speaker and author in the field of education. He is currently the founder and Executive Director of the Global Future Education Foundation and Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting “Plan B” — a new educational paradigm of kids’ Improving the World and Becoming good, effective and world-improving people, through the means of Real-world Accomplishment supported by a curriculum based on Effective Thinking, Effective Action, Effective Relationships and Effective Accomplishment. (See global-future-education.org)
Wednesday, March 23
Keynote Speaker: Larysa Nadolny, Iowa State Univ., USA

EPIC WIN: Designing for success with game-based learning
ABSTRACT: Throughout history, games have engaged players of all ages in a shared experience of persistence, challenge, failure, and success. This has been achieved through a wide variety of gaming strategies and structures, from role play to puzzle and digital to paper. The recent popularity of designing curriculum with games in mind has shown that some game structures translate well to academic environments (EPIC WIN) while some are an EPIC FAIL. Larysa Nadolny will share her experience with designing and teaching in game-based learning environments and practical steps to get started with your own course. @GBLedu
BIOGRAPHY: Larysa Nadolny is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Iowa State University. Her research includes immersive technologies and design methodologies for education, particularly game-based learning, virtual reality, and augmented reality applications. She was recently awarded a Blackboard Catalyst Award and Director’s Choice for Courses with Distinction Award for the game-based learning design of a large undergraduate educational technology course. Dr. Nadolny’s teaching experience began as a middle school science teacher in Texas and has continued in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Iowa in guiding current and future teachers with innovative technologies in the classroom. In 2014, Dr. Nadolny received an Early Achievement in Teaching Award at Iowa State University. You can read about her recent research and project with game-based learning at www.drnadolny.com.
Thursday, March 24
Keynote Speaker: Bob Hirshon, American Assoc. of the Advancement of Science, USA
Using Technology and Universal Design Principals to Reach Diverse Audiences

ABSTRACT: Technological innovations intended to make learning activities more accessible for children with disabilities can also make them better able to meet the needs of other children, with and without disabilities. In a recent study funded by the National Science Foundation, Hirshon et al examined a suite of learning activities, including computer games, hands-on demonstrations, art and creative writing challenges, and found that UDL-inspired changes improved effectiveness regardless of whether children had the disability being addressed. This presentation will share findings and ideas from the research, followed by a lively discussion of implications for education professionals and suggestions for future study.
BIOGRAPHY: Bob Hirshon is Program Director for Technology and Learning at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and host of the daily radio show and podcast Science Update. He is Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded project KC Empower, which examines how informal science activities can be made more accessible to children with disabilities. He oversees the Science NetLinks project for K-12 science teachers, providing free lessons, apps and other resources. Science NetLinks hosts over 400,000 user sessions per month. Hirshon’s Qualcomm Wireless Reach project, Active Explorer, allows educators to create mobile phone and tablet explorations for children, called Quests. Media that children collect on Quests download to their Active Explorer webpage, where they use creative tools to make SmartWork projects to share what they’ve learned. Hirshon also heads up Kinetic City, including the Peabody Award-winning children’s radio drama, McGraw-Hill book series and Codie Award- winning website and education program. He is a member of the Education and Public Outreach team for NASA’s MESSENGER project to planet Mercury, for which he developed planetary exploration tools that play within Google Earth. He curates and hosts the annual AAAS Science Film Showcase event, featuring the year’s best science films and videos and the producers who created them. He can be heard on XM/Sirius Radio’s Kids Place Live as “Bob the Science Slob,” where he discusses science and answers call in questions from kids. Hirshon is a Computerworld/ Smithsonian Hero for a New Millennium laureate.
Friday, March 25
Keynote Speaker : Yuhyon Park, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
An Innovative Digital Citizenship Initiative in Singapore and Korea

ABSTRACT: The meteoric and unabated growth of technology’s impact on society has led to a fast-changing, volatile, and uncertain 21st century global landscape. It is predicted that, within 10 years, many current jobs will disappear and new types of jobs will emerge, especially in increasingly digital-oriented economies. Our children are at the center of this shift, and are starting to use digital technologies at increasingly younger ages. While digital technologies play a widespread role in children’s lives, there are serious risks to early usage of digital technologies. Many studies show that children’s exposure to digital technologies and media can also bring worrisome harmful effects including cyberbullying, technology addiction, inappropriate contents, and privacy concerns among others.
Korea and Singapore are two of the world’s most technologically advanced countries and have witnessed first-hand the harmful effects of digital technologies on children. The seriousness of these issues has caught the attention of society at large, and there are growing calls to prepare our children for success and safety in the digital world. In particular, the importance of teaching children about digital citizenship when they start using digital technologies and media is becoming a key priority in order to minimize risks and maximize potential.
In this talk, I will introduce the iZ HERO project, which is an innovative digital citizenship initiative for primary school children in Singapore and Korea. Research findings indicate that its interactive, transmedia approach effectively teaches young children about digital citizenship with improved outcomes. From a strategic perspective, the iZ HERO project in Singapore and Korea also provides a successful example of how multi-stakeholders including schools, ICT companies, NGOs, governments and universities can work together to enhance digital citizenship among young children through holistic online and offline tools including a school engagement programme, interactive exhibition, games and an online platform.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Yuhyun Park is a social entrepreneur and university researcher who founded infollutionZERO, a non-profit organization in Korea that is focused on raising public awareness of infollution (information pollution) such as cyberbullying and technology addiction, providing digital citizenship training for children, and shaping public policy on internet governance and safety.
In 2013, she was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow (Multi-National Program) as well as the first Ashoka Fellow representing Korea in recognition of her leadership in the social entrepreneurship sector. She has twice won international awards from UNESCO, including the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for Use of ICT in Education in 2012 and the Wenhui UNESCO Award for Educational Innovation in 2013, for her development of the iZ HERO program. iZ HERO is an innovative research-based educational program that teaches digital citizenship to children by using interactive digital media and comprehensive school engagement programs. She was also selected as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2015) and was named a member of the Steering Committee of the World Economic Forum’s project Shaping the Future Implications of Digital Media for Society.
Tuesday, March 22
Invited Speaker : Michael Spector, Univ. of North Texas, USA

Smart Learning Environments: Concepts and Issues
ABSTRACT: There are two new journals in our field that involve the emerging notion of smart educational technologies. Earlier this year, the Smart Learning Institute at Beijing Normal University sponsored the Smart Education Conference. Related efforts in recent years involving adaptive technologies and personalized learning are also noteworthy. Given such interest in this area, it seems reasonable to consider what constitutes a smart learning environment or a smart educational technology. It is then interesting to see what is being done, what issues are emerging, and what successes in this area are likely to occur in the next few years. Rather than engage in exaggerated claims and predict dramatic transformation of learning and instruction, the emphasis will be on the potential, as yet largely unrealized, and the challenges confronting significant and sustained progress.
BIOGRAPHY: Michael Spector is Professor and Former Chair of Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. He was previously Professor of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. Prior to that, he was Associate Director of the Learning Systems Institute and Professor of Instructional Systems at Florida State University. He served as Chair of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation at Syracuse University and was Director of the Educational Information Science and Technology Research Program at the University of Bergen in Norway. He earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on intelligent support for instructional design, assessing learning in complex domains, and technology integration in education. Dr. Spector served on the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi) as Executive Vice President; he is a Past President of the Association for Educational and Communications Technology as well as a Past Chair of the Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning Special Interest Group of AERA. He is editor of Educational Technology Research & Development and serves on numerous other editorial boards. He edited the third and fourth editions of the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, as well as The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.