Brad took ISTE 2013 by storm by captivating audiences with his demonstrations and applications of Augmented Reality! By the time the conference was over, he had created such a buzz about Augmented Reality in Education he was already being sought after by companions and school districts all over the country. While at ISTE2013 Brad was interviewed by the EdReadch network about his work on Augmented Reality in Education and since then, he has been offered his own show, along with Drew Minock to share their message and the power of educational technology. Their Show, the “Two Guys Show” is extremely popular, has an international following and is the number one rated show on the EdReach Network.
After ISTE, Brad was one of the closing speakers for Podstock 2013 in Wichita Kansas where he delivered his passionate message about using Educational Technology and Augmented Reality in education to a packed house!
Brad is a veteran teacher who has stayed energized and passionate about educating kids through his knowledge of technology and his vision on how to implement it into the educational system.
He started the blog, Two Guys and Some iPads with Drew Minock as a way to share their message of educational change and the power of educational technology! Their blog had over 100,000 visitors in the first 4 months and is viewed by over 100 countries around the world. It a place educators from around the world go, to learn about educational technology and how to apply it into their classrooms, building and districts.
In addition, he is one of the Co-Founders of AR Detroit. AR Detroit is a monthly meet up where industry leaders and visionaries come together to talk about the application and future of Augmented Reality. It has become a place where companies from around the country come to share their technologies, visions and where they can get feedback about their products.
Brad has created amazing relationships with companies all over the country where he is able to share his vision and understanding of the educational landscape and work with them on educational and related technology projects. Some of these companies are; DAQRI, Aurasma, Three Ring, Remind 101, Mitchlehan Media, Geo Media, Non-Linear Creative, Study Blue, EdReach Network and more.
Be sure to join Brad for his sessions on "Game Changing Apps!", "The Future of Story Telling", "Augmented Reality: Engaging a Minecraft Generation" and his inspirational closing keynote session at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Brad has a great closing session entitled, "Engaging the “Globally” connected student of today. A look at emerging technology, gaming and digital citizenship."
Website: bestkeynote.com Twitter: @Techbradwaid
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. She grabbed her 300 baud modem, jumped on the Internet (before anyone really called it the internet) and started looking for music resources. She soon realized she was spending more time discovering technology than playing music so she changed her major and tried to figure out what geeky thing she could do for the rest of her life.
After graduating from USC with a Business and Marketing degree in 1989 and a quick stint as a Trainer, Leslie joined Apple Computer in 1992. When the Internet took off in 1994, Leslie was one of the first Apple employees assigned to study Internet growth and implementation.
In 1997, Leslie was roadkill on Apple's road to recovery and part of their massive lay off. Leslie planned to spend most of her huge severance package golfing and waiting a few months to look for a job. The day after her layoff, her phone began to ring with Apple customers requesting consulting, training and presentation services. Before she could say fore, Fisher Technologies Inc. was created to help educators with their technology implementations and decisions.
Fisher Technologies Inc. is now a worldwide company (meaning one employee named Leslie gets to travel the world teaching) specializing in presenting emerging and exciting technology solutions to educators all over the world.
Website: lesliefisher.com Twitter: @lesliefisher
Steve Dembo served for ten years as Discovery Education’s Director of Learning Communities and led their Innovation and Strategy team. He is the co-author of the book Untangling the Web: 20 Tools to Power Up Your Teaching. The National School Board Association named him one of 2010’s “Twenty to Watch,” a list honoring individuals finding innovative ways to use technology to increase classroom learning. In 2013 he began serving the Skokie/Morton Grove District 69 as a member of the School Board. Dembo is a course designer and adjunct professor for Wilkes University where he serves as class instructor for the Internet Tools for Teaching course within the Instructional Media degree program.
Steve Dembo is also a dynamic speaker on the capabilities of social networking, the power of educational technologies and Web 2.0 tools, and the ability of digital content to empower teachers to improve student achievement. He has delivered keynotes and featured presentations at dozens of conferences globally including ISTE, TCEA, FETC, MACUL, GaETC, METC, CUE, ICE, TEDxCorpus Christi, #140Edu, EduWeb, .EDU and the Social Media Masters Summit. Dembo was also a featured panelist at Nokia Open Labs as an expert on mobile device integration in education.
Website: teach42.com Twittter: @teach42
John Sowash is a Google Apps Certified Trainer and Google Certified Teacher who provides training and support for business, schools, and universities. John strongly believes that the Google Apps suite represents the single most innovative, secure, and affordable cloud-based productivity tool on the market.
As a classroom teacher John has seen the benefits that the Google Apps suite brings to students. As a school administrator, he has seen how implementing Google Apps can increase communication and collaboration between staff and faculty members.
John and his fellow trainer from Sowash Ventures will be offering eight exciting sessions for participants to choose from at the fall conference with topics such as: "Developing Your Chromebook Classroom", "Mapping Your World", Google Expeditions and Virtual Reality", etc. Copies of John's book, The Chromebook Classroom will be available at the conference as well.
Website: sowashventures.com Twitter: @jrsowash
Phil Marrah is the Technology and Design Coordinator for the Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA). Phil is responsible for managing the technology initiatives, including websites, for MASA, MAISA, and Michigan ASCD. He handles the layout and production of newsletters as well as the design for other printed and digital material. He is the technical administrator for digital communications, including all listservs and social networking tools. This is Phil's third year at the BAISD Conference!
Website: gomasa.org