Speakers

=Looking Up and Out Speakers=

**[|Donald J. Leu, PhD]**, is the John and Maria Neag Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology and holds a joint appointment in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. He directs the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association and the Reading Hall of Fame. He is a past President of the National Reading Conference. A graduate of Michigan State, Harvard, and Berkeley, Don’s work focuses on the new skills and strategies required to read, write, and learn with Internet technologies and the best instructional practices that prepare students for these new literacies. He has more than 100 research publications and seventeen books on topics that range from phonics and phonemic awareness to teacher education and the new literacies of online reading comprehension.

__**Steven W. Anderson**__ is a District Instructional Technologist with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in Winston-Salem, NC. He also regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom. Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD and NCTIES, as well as served as a panelist at the #140 Conference in Los Angeles, New York and will be a featured speaker at the first ever #140Edu Conference, focusing on the real-time web in education. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven holds a Bachelors of Science in Middle Grade Mathematics and Science Education from Western Carolina University and a Master of Arts in Education in Instructional Technology from East Carolina University.


 * __[[image:Cary_Speaker_2011.PNG align="left"]]Meredith Stewart__** teaches middle and high school history at Cary Academy in Cary, NC, where she developed the school's first blended learning class . She previously taught middle school English and designed a Local Foods Camp and Local Foods Club at Cary Academy. In addition to her class blog, she maintains a reflection blog on her experiences with teaching and learning. She's also written about her work in the classroom for //[|Edutopia]//and //[|Ed Leadership]//. In addition, she posts regular updates about life and her work @ msstewart on Twitter and has guest moderated # engchat , a weekly Twitter discussion for English teachers. Meredith serves as an administrator for the English Companion Ning , an online professional network of over 28,000 educators. In the past year, she presented at the National Association of Independent Schools , EduCon , NC Association of Independent Schools , National Council of Teachers of English , and ASCD annual conferences. Meredith holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond and graduate degrees from Duke University School of Law and Duke University Divinity School.


 * __[[image:Adam_2011.PNG width="172" height="188" align="left"]]Adam Garry__** is a former elementary school teacher. He has presented at conferences around the world, including ISTE, and keynotes in over ten states and Trinidad. He has published many articles on technology integration for several education magazines and authors his own blog. Over the past ten years he has consulted in school districts across the United States on school reform, professional development, 21st century skills, technology integration, curriculum and instruction, and leadership. He was also one of the facilitator for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills professional development affiliates program and ISTE’s School 2.0 workshops. In July 2010 his book titled, “Teaching the iGenearation: 5 Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools” was published. Adam received a BA in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Teaching and Learning with a Technology emphasis, and a Certificate in Administration and Supervision from Johns Hopkins University. He is currently the Manager of Global Professional Learning for Dell and he resides in Raleigh, NC.

"Thursday night guest speaker!"
=Digging Deeper Speakers=


 * [|Dr. John K. Lee]**, is an associate professor of social studies and middle grades education. He conducts research on digital history, and is specifically interested in the development of innovative ways for supporting teachers and students as they make use of online historical resources. He is author of the book Visualizing Elementary Social Studies Methods and co-author of the book Guiding Learning with Technology. He is also involved in efforts to theorize and develop tools and materials related to new literacies. For more see http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jkleeand @http://dhpp.org/.

**Dr. Hiller Spires,**is a Professor of Literacy and Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; she received her Ph.D. in literacy education from the University of South Carolina. She served as the founding director of The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovationfrom 2002-2006 and currently serves as FI Senior Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the effects of digital literacies on learning, including emerging literacies associated with gaming environments. She is co-PI on the NSF-funded projects, Crystal Islandand Narrative Theatre. She has published in Journal of Educational Psychology, Cognition & Instruction, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Literacy Research & Instruction, Journal of Computing Education Research, among other journals. She coordinates the New Literacies & Global Learning graduate program and co-directs the Friday Institute’s [|New Literacies Collaborative]. Check out her [|website].

**[|Carl A. Young]**, a former middle grades and high school English teacher, is associate professor of English education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. At NC State, he teaches courses in English methods, teaching composition, content area reading and writing, and new literacies and emerging technologies. He conducts research on new literacies, participatory media, eportfolios, and other technology applications in English education. In addition, Dr. Young serves as chair of the CEE Commission on Technology and Teacher Education and as co-editor for the English language arts section of //Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education// //(//[|//http://www.citejournal.org//]//).// He is a member of the New Literacies Collaborative ([|http://www.newlit.org]) and co-facilitator for the annual New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute ([]), a summer professional development initiative. Selected publications have appeared in //English Education, English Journal, Journal of Literacy Research,// and //Learning & Leading with Technology//. He is currently co-editing a book highlighting research in technology and English education.

__**L. Manning Pruden**__, is a graduate research assistant at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, working on a NSF grant to develop a web-based writing tool for middle school students. She recently presented this research at the ED-MEDIA Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Manning recently earned her master's degree in the New Literacies & Global Learning program from North Carolina State University. Prior to obtaining her degree, Manning worked as a literacy coach, an elementary teacher in South Africa, and a literacy outreach coordinator for an educational non-profit organization.

=Cool Tools Speakers=

**[|Dr. Jill Castek]** will be a facilitator for the //Online Reading Comprehension// area of the Digging Deeper Breakouts. Jill is a trained reading specialist and curriculum leader with a decade of experience working with students in grades K-12. Her work examines the challenges and opportunities for reading, writing, and learning on the Internet. She is particularly interested in inquiry approaches across the curriculum and the instructional contexts that facilitate acquisition of the new literacies of online reading comprehension. Her classroom-based research integrates a wide-variety of strategies to support students in developing the skills and strategies needed to read, write, and collaborate on the Internet. Jill earned her Ph.D in 2008 at the University of Connecticut in the area of Cognition and Instruction. She currently holds a post-doc position with the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading project at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley.

__**Andrea Gambino**__ received her Bachelor’s Degree in Middle Grades Education in 2008. She is completing her fourth year at Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School as a 7th grade social studies’ teacher and has previously taught English. She has presented at NCTE and MEGA in the area of digital narratives, student produced video, and the implementation of web tools to support literacy in the classroom. She completed her Master’s Degree in Middle Grades Education with a specialization in English and New Literacies and Global Learning in May 2011. She is currently focusing on a global partnership project with students from CCMMS and students in Victoria Falls, Australia through Lenovo, SAS, and Bastow Institute. She hopes to continue to pursue a Ph.D. to further her studies of new literacies and technology in the classroom.


 * [[image:Jlist.jpg width="174" height="174" align="left"]]__Jonathan List__**, is a Graduate Research Assistant who works on enhancing the utility of the New Literacies Collaborative Ning Page. He is currently engaged in research with Dr. Lee, investigating how students interact in Historical Thinking in an Online Setting. Jonathan is also working on developing a meaningful definition for the New Literacies / new literacies framework. His research interests are focused in the area of interaction between New Literacies and Social Studies.


 * __[[image:Megan_2011.PNG align="left"]]Dr. Meghan Manfra__** is the coordinator for the undergraduate and graduate secondary social studies programs at NC State. She serves as co-editor for the instructional technology section of Social Education and is an active member in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies (NCCSS), the Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education (AACE), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA).




 * __Greg McVerry__** is a Neag Fellow, researcher, and doctoral student with the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut. Greg, a former math and language arts middle school teacher, received a Masters of Education from the University of Hartford. His research interests include: online reading comprehension, investigating how student flexibly apply learning strategies in digital environments, and the use of multimodal texts to support digital composition. His work has been published in Reading Teacher, Educational Researcher, and Educational Leadership.

**Ian O'Byrne** is a Neag Fellow, doctoral student, and researcher with the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut. He received his Masters of Education from the University of Massachusetts. He has been involved in initiatives in his school districts ranging from online coursework, integrating technology in the classroom, school to career, and acting as department leadership. His research interests examine the reading and content creation practices employed by adolescents in online spaces.

__**L. Manning Pruden**__, is a graduate research assistance at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, working on a NSF grant to develop a web-based writing tool for middle school students. Manning recently earned her master's degree in Education from North Carolina State University. Prior to obtaining her degree, Manning worked as a literacy coach, an elementary teacher in South Africa, and a literacy outreach coordinator for an educational non-profit organization.




 * __April Scott__**, is a doctoral student in the College of Education at North Carolina State University, where here focus is literacy. She has served as a teaching and research assistant while at NCSU. She has eight years of K-12 teaching experience as well.


 * [[image:bvsmith2_square.jpg width="185" height="185" align="left"]]Bethany Smith,** is the Asst. Director of Learning Technologies for the College of Education at NC State University. She has worked in Middle School & High Schools, as well as Industry, before coming to work at the College of Education. Bethany has her undergraduate degree in Technology Education, and her Master's of Science in Instructional Technology, both from NC State University. Bethany conducts technology integration training both at the university and state-wide level.

**Dr. Hiller Spires,**is a Professor of Literacy and Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; she received her Ph.D. in literacy education from the University of South Carolina. She served as the founding director of The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovationfrom 2002-2006 and currently serves as FI Senior Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the effects of digital literacies on learning, including emerging literacies associated with gaming environments. She is co-PI on the NSF-funded projects, Crystal Islandand Narrative Theatre. She has published in Journal of Educational Psychology, Cognition & Instruction, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Literacy Research & Instruction, Reading Psychology, among other journals. She coordinates the New Literacies & Global Learning graduate program and co-directs the Friday Institute’s [|New Literacies Collaborative]. Check out her [|website].

__**Nathan Stevens**__ is the Assistant Director of the College of Education Media Center at North Carolina State University. He holds a dual Bachelor's Degree in Manufacturing and Design and a Master's in Digital Communication from East Carolina University. He was part of Project OWLS (Online Wireless Learning Solutions) at ECU to develop alternative means of learning in an anytime, anywhere environment. Nathan has worked for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine looking at new ways to improve teaching of nurse's in the classroom and in the field. He main focus is on Mobile device initiatives from the Palm/Handspring device to the iPAD. He is the author of two ebooks on Palms, The Internet Toolchest ( a site for web 2.0 tools), and is the creator of http://teachwithyouripad.wikispaces.com. Nathan is working with several institutions on the implementation of iPADs and has held several classes on who to use the devices.


 * [|Dr. Angela Wiseman]** is an assistant professor of literacy education and teaches reading and language arts methods courses in the elementary education program. Her research interests focus on two interrelated strands: 1. Understanding classroom practices that promote an expanded view of learning by bridging the gap between in and out of school literacies and focusing on student strengths and 2. Supporting inservice and preservice teachers’ understanding of diversity in the classroom.