Registration / Morning Refreshments / Exhibit Area Open

Opening Remarks

Stacey Pasquel, President, AzTEA

Keynote

RESTORE: Maintaining Balance in A Digitally Evolving World

We live in an Age of Disruption. Technology is changing the fabric of society as we know it, driving historic levels of transformative change and creating mind boggling opportunities for a new generation of learners. But what are the consequences of this disruption on the lives of our children? The ramifications run deep, and it’s time to shift our focus from the technology itself to its effects on human behavior and mindset. We’ve long passed some serious tipping points. This provocative session explores new communication paradigms, runaway device infatuation, radical education reforms and creative ways to find a balance with the technology in our lives.

Michael Hakkarinen, Instructional Technology Specialist, Utah Education Network (@edtechakk)

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Break

Concurrent Sessions 1

The Journey to Blended Learning

“These kids are so different from the kids five to ten years ago.” Yes, they are! Instead of trying to bend our students to “the way we’ve always done it,” let’s move our teaching skills and strategies to the 21st century and have our students reach levels higher than we thought possible. Engagement/deeper learning is the goal, not compliance/surface learning.

Shelly Cervantez, Director of Instruction & Technology, Morenci Unified School District

WIT Cybersecurity Students/Interns

Six high school girls from PV’s WIT initiative have been preparing for the Air Force Association’s 19 to 20 CyberPatriots competition. They were also the first U.S. K-12 students to participate in The CyberDefense Lab, a multi-million-dollar secure cloud by Cisco, simulating authentic attacks and defenses. They were requested and presented this past summer at Cisco Live in San Diego. Come hear their stories and how your district can build out CyberStudents.

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Students, Paradise Valley Unified School District

MOOCs in K-12

Different use cases of massive open online courses (MOOCs) are in use at PV Schools. Most are in the topical domains of programming, digital skills, computational thinking, cybersecurity, mathematics and artificial intelligence. From hundreds of course completions by teachers, to high school course credit, to clubs and internships, to professional development of support staff, to technical advancement by IT department staff. Come see how PV Schools leverages MOOCs for student and staff learning.

Jeff Billings, IT Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District

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The Digital and IT Skills of Tomorrow

Digitization and modernization are impacting educational organizations of all kinds and are improving experiences and efficiencies. Success requires the right combination of people, process and tools. There are no shortages of tools and technologies available. Process requires changes in policies and behavior. People require training and enablement for new skills and responsibilities. This session will focus on these new technical skills for today and tomorrow. We will focus on programmability, automation, integration and hybrid designs with modern frameworks, languages and software. We will also cover how we get closer to, and understand, our end customer as an IT practitioner.

Bill Evans, Director of Architecture, IoT and Analytics, Logicalis U.S.

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AI and ML in K-12: Are You Prepared?

Artificial intelligence is one of the most hotly tracked technologies in education, and K-12 districts are forecast to account for nearly 20 percent of worldwide growth in AI deployment over the next six years. From the “deep-learning” model that helps teachers understand and motivate students better to the “domain” model which informs how students learn subjects, AI adoption rates in K-12 are rapidly growing. But, like with all new technologies, significant obstacles can hinder deployment. This session dives into the drivers of AI growth in K-12, looks into the most promising applications and offers suggestions to prepare for AI in the classroom.

Jacob Cross, Senior Channel Sales Associate, Ciena

Lunch

General Session

State of the State in CS

This session will dive into how ADE and CSTA-AZ have worked with multiple partners across the state and nation to create Arizona’s very first AZ Computer Science Professional Development Week. Learn about how these types of professional learning connect with Arizona’s new CS endorsement for teachers that includes opportunities for competency-based, flexible pathways of learning and integration with ISTE and CSTA’s Computational Thinking Competencies, another project underway to release a set of Computer Science Educator Standards by December 2019.

Janice Mak, President, Computer Science Teachers Association

Kate Wright, Associate Superintendent of High Academic Standards for Students, Arizona Department of Education

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Break

Concurrent Sessions 2

Design Thinking for Educational IT Leaders

You may have heard about design thinking being used as a problem-solving process by teachers and students, but how can design thinking provide a unique process for solving complex problems faced by educational IT leaders? Come learn how your team can apply design thinking techniques to identify innovative solutions to wicked problems that will delight your stakeholders!

Michelle Benham, Director of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Dysart Unified School District

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A Multilayered Approach to School Security

Avondale Elementary School District uses a combination of physical control points, access controls, cameras with analytics, panic buttons, visitor management and other ideas from our safety committees to provide a multilayered security environment for our students, staff and visitors.

Mark Gresko, Director of Technology, Avondale Elementary School District #44

Administrator and High School Students Perspective on AI/ML, Highlighting K-12 Uses

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are emerging in K-12. From our first curricular/adaptive application, to predictive analytics of student achievement, to cyber protection of our resources, to teaching students the computational approaches, PV Schools is exploring this new field. Come learn what it is, what it isn’t and why it will likely shake IT in K-12 within five years.

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Jeff Billings, IT Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District

Students, Paradise Valley Unified School District

E-Sports in EDU: Career Pathways, Scholarship Opportunities and Student Development

Competitive video gaming has become a mainstream consumer activity, a nearly billion-dollar industry by itself. Did you know there is over sixteen million dollars in scholarship funds available for students to play e-sports in college? Hear how the NCAA, higher education and school districts are supporting these programs and what goes into starting one.

Joe McAllister, CDWG E-Sports Strategist, CDWG

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Breaking Down Silos to Improve Student Success

Student success is powered by interwoven communities – educators, parents and staff all collaborating to support students. Yet, many K-12 schools and districts have systems that keep data and people stuck in silos. Join this session to learn how public institutions – from ASU Prep to Denver Public Schools to San Diego County Office of Education – are streamlining systems and processes. We’ll share how they leverage technology to bridge college and career pathways, better communicate with families and improve outcomes for thousands of students.

Tim Barnes, K-12 Industry Solutions, Salesforce.org

Break

Concurrent Sessions 3

Where Teaching and Learning Meets Technology

Oftentimes, technology and curriculum are disconnected in the bigger picture of classrooms. This session will look at how to bridge IT and EdTech to help teachers, administrators, curriculum staff and technology staff work closely together in order to bring robust and effective technology to classrooms.

Emily Marshall, EdTech Coordinator, Vail School District

Elaine Murphy, Site Technology Coordinator, Vail School District

Jennifer Porter, Site Technology Coordinator, Vail School District

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For the LOVE of Computer Science – Helping Students Find Their Love of CS

Meet exceptional educators from Gilbert Public Schools who are helping students follow their passion for design, coding, “imagineering,” entrepreneurism, robotics, real-life problem solving and computer science-based applications to real-world situations. These CS classroom activities have application to biomedical and electrical engineering, sustainability, cooperative productivity, adaptations and iterations and environmental solutions. See examples of FUSE Lab, Make and Take projects, Game design, Spheros, Ozbots, coding drones, robotics, Makey Makey, programmed light shows and more.

Shawn Abele, Technology Integration Educator, GPS Tech Services, Gilbert Public Schools

Tanecia Cornwall-Elysee, Resource Teacher, Gilbert Elementary, Gilbert Public Schools

Kathleen Foley, Eighth Grade Science/Honors Science Eighth Grade STEM Teacher, Highland Junior High School, Gilbert Public Schools

Leanne Lacey, Instructional Technology Coordinator, Technology Services, Gilbert Public Schools

April Lesher, Librarian/Media Specialist/7th Grade Elective Teacher, Highland Junior High School, Gilbert Public Schools

Alexis Mason, FUSE/EPICS/STEM, South Valley Junior High, Gilbert Public Schools

Brandi McMahan, STEM 8/Project Lead the Way, Greenfield Junior High, Gilbert Public Schools

Jim Pacek, Technology Integration Educator, GPS Tech Services, Gilbert Public Schools

Ana Parra, Dual Language Teacher, Gilbert Elementary, Gilbert Public Schools

Jim Preble, Technology Integration Educator, GPS Tech Services, Gilbert Public Schools

Penny Sedlak, Fourth Grade Teacher, Patterson Elementary, Gilbert Public Schools

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Custom Software in a K-12 World

When should you create your own custom software and when should you purchase off-the-shelf? In the K-12 world where budgets are tight and software developers aren’t always on staff, find out how Vail School District partnered with third-party developers to address this issue. Get perspectives on how they work together to create solutions to meet the needs of the district.

Mark Breen, Director of Technology, Vail School District

The State of AZ Moved to the Cloud – Learn Why!

In 2018, the Arizona Department of Administration – Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology office – signed a statewide cloud-first policy for server, infrastructure and software application technologies. Business units across the state are now required to use cloud computing services and commercial cloud-based applications for any new IT investment. Over 80 state agencies have moved to Google Cloud and the primary driver wasn’t cost, but security. Come learn more about what they discovered and how it can help your organizations.

Jeff Billings, IT Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District

Ned Lindau, Program Manager, Google

Sean Maday, Customer Engineer, Google Cloud

Britton Picciolini, Regional Manager, Google for Education

Amy Yu, Program Manager, Google

Adjourn

Conference times, agenda and speakers are subject to change.