Name: Arizona CIO/CTO Forum 2023
Start: 2023-10-26T08:00
Location: Desert Willow Conference Center

Overview

This can't-miss event is designed to specifically address the unique interests and needs of Arizona's educational IT community. In addition to networking and professional development, this NO COST event is perfect for CIOs, CTOs and their teams from all around the state.

Comments from 2022 attendees:
“This is the best conference year after year!”
“Always the best conference!”
“A very meaningful conference!”

A message from our Keynote Speaker

Speakers

John Register

Paralympic Games Silver Medalist, Persian Gulf War veteran, TEDx Motivational Speaker

John Register is a two-time Paralympian, Paralympic Games Silver Medalist, Persian Gulf War veteran, and TEDx Motivational Speaker. He embraced a “new normal mindset” in becoming an amputee following a misstep over a hurdle while training for the 1996 Olympic Games, after participation in two consecutive Olympic trials.
An Oak Park, Ill. native, Register discovered how to “amputate his fear of disability” and founded the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Military Sport Program in the early 2000s. He launched a book titled: 10 Stories to Impact Any Leader: Journal Your Way to Leadership Success, as business leaders return to work with their staff amid stressful circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic and the recent unrest in our urban cities.
Register teaches business professionals through his “Hurdling Adversity” speeches and podcasts to “amputate fear and embrace their new normal,” as they discover “stories within themselves.”
He finds that “it is the personal stories that inspire teams more profoundly with greater impact.”
Register is a four-time All-American graduate of University of Arkansas. He served six years in the U.S. Army—including in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and in active-duty with the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program—winning nine gold medals in the Armed Services Competition and two World Military Championships.
Register had his left leg amputated after a misstep over a hurdle changed his life. Register hyperextended his knee and severed the popliteal artery. He started swimming to aid in his recovery, made the U.S. Paralympic Team in 1996, and later won a silver medal in the long jump—as he set an American record—and sprinted to fifth in the 100 meters and 200 meters at the U.S. Paralympic Games in Sydney.
Register resides in Colorado Springs, CO with his wife Alice. The couple have three children - John Jr., Ashley, and Ronald.

Thursday, October 26
8:00 am Pacific	Registration / Morning Refreshments / Exhibit Area Open
9:00 am Pacific	Opening Remarks Monica Goldson, Senior Fellow and Education Strategy Advisor, Center for Digital Education Lindsey McCaleb, President, AzTEA
9:15 am Pacific	Keynote Transform Adversity into Advantage: How to Conquer Life's Hurdles The world has become more difficult, and the challenges are bigger than ever. Adopting a “new normal mindset” is necessary to empower your team to navigate the challenges and opportunities through a contextual model to overcome adversity. How will you manage uncertainty? Is your team ready to embrace change? This session will provide a powerful and interactive message of resilience and perseverance that will inspire you to see change as an opportunity for growth. John Register, Inspirational and Motivational Speaker, Author and Two-Time Paralympic Silver Medalist
10:15 am Pacific	Break
10:45 am Pacific	Concurrent Sessions 1 RTI in Action: Infrastructure and Application Learn how Agua Fria school district designed and built an in-house digital solution for RTI, allowing teachers and students to make the most of Tier 2 Intervention. You will hear our design process, what went well (and what didn’t) and how our human-driven model gets 9,600+ students matched with intervention. Luke Allpress, Technology Integration Specialist, Agua Fria High School District Lauren Owens, Executive Director of Technology, Agua Fria High School District Austin Wren, IT Programmer, Agua Fria High School District Becoming a Human Firewall In this session, attendees will learn how to become a first line of defense against cyberattacks. The session will focus on raising cybersecurity awareness and discussing practical skills to protect against social engineering, phishing and other common attack vectors. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the role they can play in maintaining their organization’s security posture and will be equipped with the knowledge to identify and respond to potential threats. Jon Castelhano, Executive Director of Technology, Gilbert Public Schools Deep Learning, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in K-12 First introduced to AzTEA in 2018/19, this session will give technical, operational and ethical considerations as the technology enters its disruptive phase! Jeff Billings, Information Technology Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District WIT Interns, Paradise Valley Unified School District The Intersection of School Safety and Technology Join us for a session that examines how technology and school safety work together to keep students safe. The session is taught by two nationally known school safety experts who have combined over 50 years of experience in school safety and crisis response. Their unique perspective and storytelling should provide for an informative and useful session where you can bring back actionable items for your school district. Bryan Krause, K-12 Education Strategist – West, CDW John McDonald, Chief Operating Officer, Council for School Safety Leadership The Opportunity of Technology Technology has become integral to our lives, impacting how we teach and learn. It’s revolutionizing how companies operate and work and how we educate learners from transitional kindergarten to advanced studies. The technologies that are catalyzing this shift were things of science fiction not too long ago. These emerging technologies are transforming the world of work. Employers are now looking for employees with analytical, design, collaboration, leadership and creative skills – attributes that distinguish humans from machines. This session explores how technology can engage and accelerate learning, helping students and educators interact with content and get future-ready skills. Dr. George Cheung, Education Leadership Executive, Apple Inc.
11:45 am Pacific	Lunch Please go through the Dining Room buffet and go to Cottonwood Ballroom for seating. The Dining Room seating is reserved for other groups at the facility.
12:30 pm Pacific	Lunch and Learn General Session To ChatGPT or Not to ChatGPT ChatGPT is the latest cutting-edge AI model to hit K-12 education technology. Join us for an informative and interactive session that will showcase how ChatGPT can revolutionize K-12 education and enhance learning outcomes for students and staff. This session will also address the ethical considerations of using ChatGPT in K-12 education, including privacy, bias and transparency. Moderator: Jeff Billings, Information Technology Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District Jon Castelhano, Executive Director of Technology, Gilbert Public Schools Colleen Flannery, Chief Technology Officer, Chandler Unified School District WIT Interns, Paradise Valley Unified School District
1:15 pm Pacific	Break
1:45 pm Pacific	Concurrent Sessions 2 Cyber Patriots Vail’s goal is to bring cybersecurity to students of all ages! Vail’s students are provided with the opportunity to learn during school, as well as with partners within the community. In this session, you will see how Vail has developed a curriculum that allows students to dive into cybersecurity starting as young as elementary and follows the pathway to high school in the cybersecurity field. Melissa Matias, Site Technology Coordinator, Vail School District Elaine Murphy, Technology Coordinator, Vail School District Speaking Cloud with K-12 Business Departments Getting to the cloud is part vision, economics, technical and a fair amount of translation. Business positions cloud using vocabulary and approaches not commonly understood or embraced in K-12 “business” operations. Part of IT’s job is to listen, translate and develop the business case. An Arizona IT director whose district uses all three major cloud providers (Azure, GCP and AWS) for differing uses will discuss and provide tips. Jeff Billings, Information Technology Director, Paradise Valley Unified School District Help Us Help Arizona Educators Join us for a fast-paced, interactive session to identify and prioritize current issues in Arizona education. Through quick conversation bites, we will discuss today’s challenges, what we anticipate in the future and discuss what’s needed to address these opportunities. Don’t know us yet? We are AzTEA/CoSN – here to help foster connections, solve problems and provide space for Arizona educators to support each other in doing their best work. Laura Boone, Secretary, Arizona Technology in Education Association Diana Hawari, Chief Information Officer, Dysart Unified School District Implementing a Sustainable Technology Initiative Join this session to discuss device life-cycle management and total cost of ownership considerations for building a sustainable refresh plan. Dale Ponder, Crane School District CFO and current president of the Arizona Association of Business Officials, will share the roadmap for technology purchases that empower teachers and support student-centered learning. Explore funding sources, state procurement guidelines, total cost of ownership analysis and how learning spaces look different today in the district. Dale Ponder, Chief of Finance and Operations, Crane Elementary School District Cyber Learning Labs and e-Sports Facilities: Transforming Education Through AV With the rapid growth of e-sports and cyber education programs, effective audio visual system integration is paramount in creating engaging and interactive environments. This workshop explores fundamentals of AV system design, implementation and the range of AV technologies utilized in these modern hubs. Discover how AV over IP enhances and streamlines signal routing, cable management, control systems and network infrastructure. Learn about the importance of annotation and touchscreen interaction, plus discover the crucial role collaborative spaces play for post-game reviews, coaching and complementary activities. Explore strategies for designing future-proof systems that scale and adapt to evolving requirements and emerging technologies. Joseph Frotton, Education Technology Supervisor / Systems Design Engineer, Extron Safer Digital Learning with ChromeOS and Google Workspace Join us to learn the basics of how Chrome and Workspace can keep your users safe online and your organization out of the headlines. We'll demo key security features to enable in the admin console and walk you through best practices to set up your domain securely and manage your devices. We will also have a live Q and A with Google’s solutions engineer. You won’t want to miss it! Jess Cola, Program Manager, Google for Education Jack Cupples, Solutions Engineer, Google for Education Danielle Pinta, Program Manager, Google for Education Birds of a Feather Roundtable Tech Talks Staffing a Modern Tech Department to Address Modern Challenges: A Collaborative Discussion Arizona school districts do not have enough funding to compete with private sector salaries for tech staff. Post-COVID, districts also have to deal with other companies and organizations offering remote work, shorter work weeks and other employee-friendly initiatives. How do districts handle these challenges and still staff a highly functioning tech department? This session will be a collaborative discussion about remote work, outsourcing and creative benefits. Troy Harris, Director of Technology, Flagstaff Unified School District The Journey to MDR: Manage, Detect, Respond With the growing cybersecurity challenges that K-12 school districts have faced, districts in Yuma embarked on a multiple-years-long journey to partner with security experts to provide services to manage, detect and respond to cybersecurity events. Join this session to learn more about the work that is being done! Dean Farar, Chief Information Officer, Yuma Educational Technology Consortium Brandan Krizay, Director of Technology, Yuma Educational Technology Consortium Tech Talks Help Desk The help desk will be available to answer technical questions attendees may have.
2:45 pm Pacific	Break
3:00 pm Pacific	Concurrent Sessions 3 Breaking It Down to Build It Up: Developing the EdTech Culture This session will showcase key shifts Flagstaff and Yuma School Districts are implementing to return to the established vision of 1:1 to foster a culture of creativity. Attendees will learn how to build buy-in from stakeholders, create a shared vision and develop a plan for implementing EdTech initiatives. Beginning with data-driven strategic planning work with the school site administrators, intentional professional development structures to support teachers and, finally, by preparing students for their future by generating opportunities for them to explore, innovate and create. Ashley Esparza, Technology and Innovation Coordinator, Flagstaff Unified School District Renda Fisk, Learning, Technology and Innovation Coordinator, Flagstaff Unified School District Bibi Frazine, Director of Educational Technology and Learning Management Systems, Yuma Union High School District Heather Zeigler, Assistant Director of Learning, Technology and Innovation, Flagstaff Unified School District Sharpening Your Cybersecurity Superpowers – An Interactive Chat with Colleen Flannery Hosted by Bob Turner, field CISO for education at Fortinet, this fireside chat will highlight the superpowers of Colleen Flannery, CTO at Chandler Unified School District. The chat will include best practices for promoting technology for achieving business focus, maintaining cyber liability insurance, data governance and best practices for improving cybersecurity by engaging administrators and educators in tabletop exercises. Colleen Flannery, Chief Technology Officer, Chandler Unified School District Mike Lauer, National Director of Public Sector Programs, Fortinet Best Practices for Strengthening Your Data Security and Cyber Resiliency Ransomware attacks are increasingly sophisticated and costly, while their velocity is increasing. The average cost of rectifying an attack is over $1.85 million (without paying the ransom). Can you risk not strengthening your organization’s cyber resiliency? Join Mike Bottomley, where he will share best practices to help empower your organization against ransomware attacks. Mike Bottomley, Senior Sales Engineer, SLED Arizona, Cohesity Birds of a Feather Roundtable Tech Talks Staffing a Modern Tech Department to Address Modern Challenges: A Collaborative Discussion Arizona school districts do not have enough funding to compete with private sector salaries for tech staff. Post-COVID, districts also have to deal with other companies and organizations offering remote work, shorter work weeks and other employee-friendly initiatives. How do districts handle these challenges and still staff a highly functioning tech department? This session will be a collaborative discussion about remote work, outsourcing and creative benefits. Troy Harris, Director of Technology, Flagstaff Unified School District The Journey to MDR: Manage, Detect, Respond With the growing cybersecurity challenges that K-12 school districts have faced, districts in Yuma embarked on a multiple-years-long journey to partner with security experts to provide services to manage, detect and respond to cybersecurity events. Join this session to learn more about the work that is being done! Dean Farar, Chief Information Officer, Yuma Educational Technology Consortium Brandan Krizay, Director of Technology, Yuma Educational Technology Consortium Tech Talks Help Desk The help desk will be available to answer technical questions attendees may have.
4:00 pm Pacific	Adjourn Conference times, agenda and speakers are subject to change.