ISTE Ignite Session

Laura is a NYC Public Schools alumna and educator with 20+ years of experience as a teacher of Career and Technical Education, Art, and English. As an Instructional Technology Specialist in the Division of Instructional and Information Technology for the past six years, Laura is involved in multiple ed tech initiatives supporting educators and school leaders to build capacity. Laura has a background in media production and media literacy, and collaborates with global educators through knowledge exchanges and intervisitations.

Amanda Dills has been working in the fields of online teaching and faculty development since 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Education, a master’s in Music Composition, a master’s certificate in Online Teaching, and classroom experience that includes in-person and online teaching. She has presented trainings on topics ranging from discussion boards to digital escape rooms, both as part of her current and previous jobs in faculty support and as a featured presenter at national and international conferences, including POD, D2L Fusion, ISTE, and the D2L Asia-PAC Conference in Gold Coast, Australia.

Katie Fielding is an educational consultant with 20 years of public school experience. She champions digital accessibility, creativity, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in classrooms. Specializing in technology and STEM integration, Katie creates interdisciplinary instructional experiences and shares her expertise through presentations and workshops. Recognized as VSTE Coach of the Year in 2018 and a featured voice at ISTELive 2024, she holds multiple certifications, including ISTE, Google Innovator, and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert. Currently, Katie is the Educational Content Manager at Book Creator. Outside work, she enjoys cheese and exploring Scandinavia.

Learn21’s Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Stacy Hawthorne, has over a decade of experience designing, implementing, and supporting digital learning. In recognition of her work in the field she was recognized by CoSN with an Impact 30 Award in 2023. She has experience as a teacher, online school director, district technology leader, and on the industry side of education. Stacy serves as an ISTE Community Leader and on CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board.

Tim Needles is an artist, educator and author of STEAM Power. He’s a TEDx Talk speaker, technology integration specialist, and teaches art and emerging media at Smithtown Schools and Five Towns College. His work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Columbus Museum of Art, and the Norman Rockwell Museum. He’s the recipient of ISTE’s Technology in Action and Creativity Award, NAEA’s Eastern Region Art Educator Award & ArtEdTech Outstanding Teaching Award, and The Rauschenberg Power of Art Award. He’s also a board member of NYSCATE and NYSATA, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, an ISTE Community leader and NAEA ArtMediaTech chair.

Carrie Rogers-Whitehead is the founder of Digital Respons-Ability, a mission based company providing digital citizenship education to tens of thousands of parents, students and educators in-person and online around the world. Carrie is an award-winning author of numerous books including The 3Ms of Fearless Digital Parenting and recently co-authored the ISTE title Deepening Digital Citizenship: a Guide to Systemwide Policy and Practice. A former librarian, she continues to consult with libraries and also works as an adjunct instructor. She lives in Utah with her family.

As the Director of Teaching and Learning in Upstate NY, Alyssa oversees and co-creates academic and social-emotional curricula rooted in differentiation, visible learning, and student-centered strategies for grades PreK-12. In her educational career, Alyssa has served as a Professional Development Leader and Consultant throughout the Northeast, specializing in Instructional Technology, Restorative Practices, Trauma-Informed Care, Social Emotional Learning, Classroom Management, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and Curricular Development.

Recognized this year by ISTE as an ISTE 20 to Watch winner, Debbie Tannenbaum is an ISTE Certified Educator, an ISTE Community Leader, an ASCD Emerging Leader, an author, a blogger, and a speaker. She offers schools and districts a wealth of expertise. With over 20 years of experience, she advocates starting with pedagogy first and then transforming learning experience by using technology tools. Debbie empowers educators with practical strategies, innovative ideas, and insightful guidance for leveraging technology to amplify student learning and success. Connect with Debbie at TannenbaumTech.com

An experienced and certified International Information Technology educator with 30+ years in classrooms who is passionate about developing self-efficacy in students through teaching Technology across the grade levels .I am skilled in instructing using the knowledge requirements of a variety of curriculum. I believe in collaborative, tech-powered and blended teaching. I am a member of AI Task Force in my School. Planning to dig deep into the ways the Educators can use it to the enhance student learning outcomes. I am quoted in the recent guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom.