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Sousan Arafeh, Ph.D - Sunday, July 13, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and Monday Breakout Sessions
Dr. Arafeh is the former Deputy Director of the National Center for Technology Innovation - a U.S. Department of Education Technical Assistance Center connecting researchers, developers, and users of assistive technology for students with disabilities, in special education programs, and in general education programs. Having begun her career in education as a middle-school, then high-school teacher of Latin, English, and Technology, she has also served as faculty teaching undergraduate, graduate, adult education and teacher education preservice and inservice courses. In addition, Dr. Arafeh testified for the Congressional U.S. Web-Based Education Commission, has served as a program evaluator of key national programs such as the National Science Foundation's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Science Education (GK-12) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's National School District and Network Grants Program. She has assisted the U.S. Department of Education with a range of activities including its 2005 National Education Technology Plan, Strategic Plans, and GPRA reporting database and was a key member of the consulting team that developed the District of Columbia's Master Education Plan (MEP). Dr. Arafeh currently sits on the American Association of University Women's (AAUW) Research Advisory Council.
Sousan Arafeh, Ph.D. loves people, technology, research, education and business - and has spent her life building bridges among these areas to encourage positive growth, collaboration, and results. She is a researcher, classroom teacher, entrepreneur and visionary. She shares her expertise via Research Images, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, research, and evaluation for the improvement of education domestically and abroad.
Scott Klososky  - Monday, July 14, 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. and Monday Breakout Sessions
Scott Klososky, a former CEO of three successful startup companies, has no fear about shaking up the status quo around the way we build teams and set powerful directions. His programs are known for delivering fresh observations, ideas, and practical steps that organizations can use to restructure groups, create effective strategy, and apply technology that's full of impact. His keynotes are riveting and his workshops instill new concepts that can be applied immediately to maximize results. Scott hit the ground running fresh out of high school, where his job as a delivery boy was a spring board into the world of technology. He became division head of computer sales, and then purchased that division as his own company. It was eventually built into a twelve store operation in three states. His next endeavor was as Founder and CEO of Paragraph, Inc., a Soviet/American joint venture founded in 1988, despite international tensions. Half of the company was sold to Silicon Graphics and the other half is still expanding today (Parascript, Inc.). Scott then collaborated with H.R. Haldeman to publish his diaries of his years as an aide to President Nixon, which was a bestseller (Putnam Publishing) and involving Sony Interactive in the release of a companion CD-ROM.The evolving internet ushered in a world of opportunity for inspiring pioneers, and Scott was not left behind. He was Founder and CEO of webcasts.com, an early producer of webcasted media ranging from corporate and government communications, to sporting events and entertainment. His expertise in leadership and his creative approach to business direction, inspired Critical Technologies to hire him as a turnaround CEO, where he completely rebuilt the underlying products and brought the company to profitability. Today, Scott shares his unique perspectives on technology, business culture, and the future, with audience.
Scott is currently developing a company now with a great group of entrepreneurs to build a world class online banking platform for kids. The goal is to use real accounts and banking transactions to teach financial literacy to kids. Scott is going further and offering a free version of the platform to schools and teachers so they can use it to teach financial literacy in the schools and organizations all over the globe. In addition, he has developed courses on both Computer Security, and Entrepreneurism.
Gary Stager - Monday, July 14, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. and Monday Breakout Sessions
 For 25 years, Gary Stager, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world's first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s and is a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab's Future of Learning Group. Mr. Stager's doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. Recent work includes teaching and mentoring some of Australia's "most troubled" public schools. Gary is Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine, Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate, Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development. Dr. Stager is also the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium. In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a "shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny." The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of "20 Leaders to Watch" in 2007.
Most recently, Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year.
Deneen Frazier Bowen - Tuesday, July 15, 8:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m. and Tuesday Breakout Sessions
For more than a decade, Deneen Frazier Bowen has been applying her acting, teaching and technology experience to help teachers and schools expand students- learning opportunities through harnessing new technologies. She has traveled the country consulting with and speaking to schools, school districts, foundations and organizations. In 1995, she co-authored The Internet for Your Kids, an at-home exploration of the Internet by young students. To date, 30,000 copies have sold. In addition she was a frequent columnist for Multimedia Schools magazine, and has authored several major technology leadership studies, including projects for the National School Boards Association and the BellSouth Foundation.
Deneen began her career as an educational software design consultant with Educorp Consultants Corporation in Roanoke, VA. She later spent several years working first as an elementary and then as a high school academic technology coordinator. In 2000, she designed and directed the Catalyst Communities program for bigchalk.com, a $1 million partnership with 150 U.S. schools to explore how online communities can strengthen local schools. In 2001, she moved to Austin where she directed the online learning community for Teachscape, a developer of online professional development courseware for teachers. Since 1992, Deneen's consulting business, formerly named NRG Consulting, has provided technology-based professional development consulting services to educators nationwide. She holds a bachelors in communication from the University of California-San Diego and masters in secondary education from George Mason University.
In her "spare" time, Deneen is an accomplished and versatile actress who loves to bring life to the characters she portrays. With ActWith, Deneen masterfully weaves together her insights as an educator, talent for engaging audiences and technology expertise.
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