ISTE 2011 > Program > Keynotes

program      Keynotes

Unlocking Potential

Each of our three keynote sessions features a unique perspective on the different ways educators can unlock the potential of their students, including:

• Creating research-based learning environments that stimulate and engage
• Developing a leadership culture and digital citizens
• Providing students with skills and tools that empower their own learning

Dr. John Medina

Author and developmental molecular biologist Dr. John J. Medina wrote the New York Times bestseller Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Presenting a unique and passionate perspective on how different physiological factors of the human brain embrace and shape student potential, Dr. Medina will lead an engaging, dynamic conversation about how knowledge of simple “brain rules” can awaken the educational process and improve learning.

He holds joint affiliate faculty appointments at the University of Washington School of Medicine and at Seattle Pacific University, where he is the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research. Winner of numerous teaching awards, Medina speaks and writes often about the relationship between neurology and education.

Participants are encouraged to Tweet (ISTEkeynote#) specific questions to Dr. Medina for onstage answers. Dr. Medina will be available in the Terrace Ballroom Foyer to sign copies of his book immediately following the session. Purchase your copy at ISTE Central in the Grand Hall.

After the Sunday Keynote and Opening Reception, don't miss the Mural in Motion student-created projection mural. Find out more.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey

World renowned leadership expert, Stephen R. Covey, unites with Muriel Summers, principal of a top-rated magnet school, to demonstrate ways to engage students in learning while preparing them for a world that none of us can fully predict. They will discuss findings from Dr. Covey’s recent book, The Leader in Me, which portrays how more than 400 schools across the globe are transforming their cultures with very promising results.

Central to their theme will be the reality that students need not only relevant skill-sets and tool-sets to navigate 21st century demands, they need relevant mindsets. Find out how technology and you can be catalysts in that process.

ISTE’s particular focus with this session connects The Leader In Me principles with ISTE’s specific NETS-S standard for Digital Citizenship. The session will be moderated by Franklin Covey’s Boyd Craig, with Dr. Covey’s video participation provided courtesy of Polycom. Participants are encouraged to Tweet (ISTEkeynote#) specific questions for Principal Summers and her students to address during their presentation.

Muriel Summers

This session is a follow-up to the Stephen Covey and Muriel Summers keynote. It will give opportunity for additional Q & A, and provide practical applications for using technology to teach leadership principles to students. Learn why teachers are saying, “This is not one more thing we have to do, it is a better way of doing what we are already doing.”

Chris Lehmann

“School reform” has taken its place at the front of the national political debate. Close your 2011 conference experience by joining us for an upbeat and inspiring look at how the educational technology community can help to create more empowering, progressive and caring schools.

Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy (SLA), an award-winning, progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia that is pioneering the School 2.0 movement. He has received many honors including being named as one of the “30 Most Influential People in Ed Tech” by Technology & Learning magazine in June 2010. He has spoken at many conferences including TEDxNYED, and has been published in Principal Leadership magazine. Chris is the author of the edu-blog “Practical Theory” and is father to Jakob and Theo.