- Featured Speakers -

Michael Angst is the Founder and CEO of E-Line Media, a publisher of digital entertainment that engages, educates and empowers. E-Line works with leading foundations, academics, non-profits and government agencies to harness the power of games for learning, health, and social impact. E-Line is currently in development on two MacArthur Foundation funded game-based learning projects: Gamestar Mechanic, which empowers youth to design games as a pathway to developing key 21st century skills and Talkers and Doers, a social game that empowers teens and young adults to learn entrepreneurship. Angst currently serves as the Chairman of FilmAid International, an international relief organization uses the power of film and video to bring important information regarding health, security, and other issues to more than 1 million displaced people. Angst is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. He also studied in the graduate film program at NYU.

Anita R. Brown-Graham is the Director of the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University. Brown-Graham leads IEI in galvanizing leaders around the biggest public policy issues in North Carolina. Before joining IEI, she served as a Professor of Law and Government at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government. In 2005, she earned an Eisenhower Fellowship in recognition of leadership activity to travel to South Africa for comparative examination of issues of race and class. Brown-Graham has authored and contributed to numerous publications including: Best Practices in Small Town Economic Development: 50 case studies, Affordable Housing for North Carolina Local Governments, and Creating Effective Community Economic Development Partnerships. Brown-Graham received a B.A. in criminal justice and a graduate study in Criminal Justice from Louisiana State University. She received a J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.

Adam Garry is a former elementary school teacher. He has presented at conferences around the world, including ISTE, and keynotes in Jamaica 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 a 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 iGeneration:  5 Ways to Introduce Essential Skills With Web 2.0 Tools” was published.  Adam received a B.A. 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 at Dell. 
Teaching the iGeneration - go.solution-tree.com/technology
Balancing Act TV Show - www.thebalancingact.com/story/?id=2076

William Gaudelli is associate professor of social studies and education at Teachers College of Columbia University in New York. His research areas include global citizenship education, media as curriculum tools, and teacher education/development.  He is currently engaged in research projects related to how students and teachers employ visual media to make-meaning of global issues and case studies of global citizenship education. He recently served on the executive board of Theory and Research in Social Education and currently serves as an executive board member for the John Dewey Society and the College and University Faculty Association of NCSS. He has published multiple scholarly journal articles and two books, World Class: Teaching and Learning in Global Times and Social Inequality in the Global Culture. Gaudelli is involved with a variety of international projects, including collaboration with the Global Education Leadership Foundation in India and received a US-DOE FIPSE grant for an international exchange project.

Bobby Hobgood has been involved with LEARN NC since its beginning in 1996, when he represented Chatham County Schools on LEARN's Central Region Pilot Team. Hobgood, as director of Research & Development/Online Curriculum & Instruction, is responsible for the content and design of LEARN's professional development programs. He also coordinates teacher training and works to build partnerships with other educational organizations. A former high school French teacher, Hobgood has conducted workshops on the integration of technology into the foreign language classroom. He holds an M.A.T. in French from the School for International Training and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Hobgood's dissertation research focused on high school students' perceptions of motivation, enjoyment, and learning from online discussions in online courses.

Carolyn McKinney serves as the Executive Director of the NC Professional Teaching Standards Commission. She came to this position four years ago after 25 years of classroom experience and six years as the president/vice president of NCAE. As a math teacher at Sedge Garden School of Mathematics and Science, she embedded professional development for the entire faculty during the school day. It focused on Cognitively Guided Instruction: how children think and learn mathematics. She received the NCAE Terry Sanford Award for Excellence in Education in 1997 and was named Elementary Mathematics Teacher of the Year for Forsyth County in 1998-99. Mrs. McKinney’s service on commissions and committees also includes the NC Teacher Academy, the Governor’s Teacher’s Advisory Committee, the Science Math Technology Center Board, the NC Public School Forum, the NC Teacher Working Conditions Advisory Board, and the NCAE Board of Directors. Special recognitions include the NCAE Inclusive Leadership Award in 2005 and the UNC-G Distinguished Career Award in 2008.