Speaking & Training

As school systems around the world race to become “future ready,” one critical question often gets skipped: ready for what, and on whose terms?
This keynote begins where all meaningful educational change must begin — with clarity. What does it mean to be literate in an age shaped by artificial intelligence? What does learning actually require, and who gets to participate fully in it? Before schools can design for the future, they need a foundation that centers participation and empowerment, not just access and efficiency.
Drawing on research, practice, and a diagnostic lens on how AI is reshaping educational systems, this keynote challenges leaders and educators to move from reactive adoption to intentional design. Participants will examine the often-blurred distinctions among experience, feedback, assessment, and evaluation, and understand why those distinctions are not merely semantic but consequential. They will explore how learning design principles can ensure that technology amplifies instructionally effective, accessible practice rather than distort or replace it. Being future-ready is not about having the right tools. It’s about making the right choices, by design, not by default.

This interactive keynote will address how to navigate one of the biggest challenges educators face today—providing students with equitable and culturally inclusive learning opportunities. This talk will include a detailed analysis of the varying levels of culture, addressing our social-emotional needs and why we must ensure our students are provided a diverse and equitable educational experience.

Further expanding on the primary purpose will be a look at how technology serves as both a needed and critical component to that end. Embedded within the keynote are personal narratives aligned with the central theme of incorporating both a culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogy into any content area.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in educational practice, the question is no longer whether students or educators will use AI; it’s whether they will think with it or simply through it.
This keynote explores literacy, including digital and artificial intelligence, as a practice of participation, empowerment, and meaning-making. At the center of that exploration is computational thinking: not as a coding skill or a technical prerequisite, but as a bridge between what it means to be truly literate and how we design learning experiences that are both meaningful and transferable. Drawing on metacognitive strategy and intentional learning design, this keynote examines how AI can create genuine opportunities for deeper thinking, while also raising urgent questions about cognitive offloading and intellectual responsibility. When AI can produce the output, what becomes the educator’s role in protecting the process? What does it mean to learn when the thinking can be delegated? Through reflection, structured discussion, and practical connections to real classroom and institutional contexts, participants will explore how bold, human-centered learning design can ensure AI strengthens, rather than substitutes for, the intellectual development of every learner.

This talk/workshop weaves together the core themes of computer science and effective models of practice. The primary focus is on deeper thinking, equity-driven design, and bold experimentation that must define computer science education moving forward. Through reflection, interactive prompts, short discussions, and a call to action, attendees will be invited to look beyond code to the real work: reimagining practice, centering learners, empowering educators, and designing a future where computational thinking and AI serve as tools for empowerment, curiosity, and creativity.

As school systems around the world race to become “future ready,” one critical question often gets skipped: ready for what, and on whose terms?
This keynote begins where all meaningful educational change must begin — with clarity. What does it mean to be literate in an age shaped by artificial intelligence? What does learning actually require, and who gets to participate fully in it? Before schools can design for the future, they need a foundation that centers participation and empowerment, not just access and efficiency.
Drawing on research, practice, and a diagnostic lens on how AI is reshaping educational systems, this keynote challenges leaders and educators to move from reactive adoption to intentional design. Participants will examine the often-blurred distinctions among experience, feedback, assessment, and evaluation, and understand why those distinctions are not merely semantic but consequential. They will explore how learning design principles can ensure that technology amplifies instructionally effective, accessible practice rather than distort or replace it. Being future-ready is not about having the right tools. It’s about making the right choices, by design, not by default.

This interactive keynote will address how to navigate one of the biggest challenges educators face today—providing students with equitable and culturally inclusive learning opportunities. This talk will include a detailed analysis of the varying levels of culture, addressing our social-emotional needs and why we must ensure our students are provided a diverse and equitable educational experience.

Further expanding on the primary purpose will be a look at how technology serves as both a needed and critical component to that end. Embedded within the keynote are personal narratives aligned with the central theme of incorporating both a culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogy into any content area.

Among the many factors that play a role in our experiences, being seen, being heard, and being included are critical to those. School is no different as these are aligned with some of our basic needs, yet how often do we look at our own habits of mind and cultural norms to ensure that we are mindful of our actions/interactions and ensure we are truly being inclusive and mindful?

In this interactive session, we will take a macro perspective on school culture and develop strategies for consistent examination of our habits of mind and cultural norms. We will look at the norms that can lead to a lack of inclusion and how we can make mindfulness a norm instead.

Participants will be taken through design and problem-based protocols that will serve as the basis for sustainable, restorative practices as well as be the catalyst for developing a sustainably inclusive culture.

We have an unprecedented level of accessibility to information. This information can be research, news, stories, and data. In many cases, our access to that information can, and often does, occur across various technological devices, including a computer, a tablet, and a smartphone.

Given the mass quantities of information available, it is vital for us to develop strategies for curating, analyzing, critiquing, and using this information. Part of this is discerning what is useful versus what is not. What is reliable versus what is not?

This keynote will focus on identifying appropriate strategies and methodologies for developing literacy around information, media, and technology. The keynote also examines why these skill sets are critical for our students and ourselves.

This talk explores the promises and perils of leveraging AI in education. On one hand, AI holds the potential to create more personalized learning experiences. On the other hand, issues such as bias, problematic data, flawed design, and over-reliance on AI risk deepening existing pitfalls. We’ll delve into strategies to maximize AI’s benefits while addressing its risks, ensuring AI becomes a tool for true empowerment in education. AI can be used and designed for good, and we have to lead the way.

This interactive keynote will address how to navigate one of the biggest challenges educators face today—providing students with equitable and culturally inclusive learning opportunities. This talk will include a detailed analysis of the varying levels of culture, addressing our social-emotional needs and why we must ensure our students are provided a diverse and equitable educational experience.

Further expanding on the primary purpose will be a look at how technology serves as both a needed and critical component to that end. Embedded within the keynote are personal narratives aligned with the central theme of incorporating both a culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogy into any content area.

Among the many factors that play a role in our experiences, being seen, being heard, and being included are critical to those. School is no different as these are aligned with some of our basic needs, yet how often do we look at our own habits of mind and cultural norms to ensure that we are mindful of our actions/interactions and ensure we are truly being inclusive and mindful?

In this interactive session, we will take a macro perspective on school culture and develop strategies for consistent examination of our habits of mind and cultural norms. We will look at the norms that can lead to a lack of inclusion and how we can make mindfulness a norm instead.

Participants will be taken through design and problem-based protocols that will serve as the basis for sustainable, restorative practices as well as be the catalyst for developing a sustainably inclusive culture.

In today’s age, the terms learning and classroom (learning space) have taken on a myriad of different and newer meanings. Both regularly occur and are associated with physical and digital environments. Oftentimes, the design of these environments can be a determining factor in the desired outcomes. In both cases, the designs of each can influence not only the learner but also the breadth and quality of their learning experience.

It is this experience that can mean the difference between successful engagement in learning and disengagement. During this keynote, we will examine ways in which we can leverage the designs of physical and digital space to create a unique learner experience, as well as strategies for the effective design of learning environments. Because Design Matters.

We have a startling level of accessibility to information and resources. Today’s learner is not only conditioned for immediate feedback, but in many cases, the desire for immediate results is also expected. Adding to this is the competition for attention, The Attention Economy.

As a result, one of the more significant challenges we face is how to appropriately engage and connect with today’s learners. When it comes to technology and digital resources, many of these forms of engagement can occur at varying lengths of time, from seconds to semesters.

Whether it be teaching, learning, or creating, we have a plethora of resources available, literally at our fingertips. During this interactive keynote, we will explore ways in which these resources can foster increasing degrees of engagement from a teaching, learning, and creating perspective.

As artificial intelligence continues to be more integrated into education, educators must move beyond technical proficiency and functional skills to cultivating computational thinking rooted in ethical leadership, systems awareness, and responsible use. In this highly interactive session, we’ll explore how AI tools—including prompting techniques—can be used not just functionally, but thoughtfully. Participants will engage with real-world examples and practice applying computational thinking principles to AI usage in ways that surface bias, expand learner agency, and support equity-driven innovation. This session provides an experiential framework for educators to lead with purpose in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

As school systems around the world race to become “future ready,” one critical question often gets skipped: ready for what, and on whose terms?
This keynote begins where all meaningful educational change must begin — with clarity. What does it mean to be literate in an age shaped by artificial intelligence? What does learning actually require, and who gets to participate fully in it? Before schools can design for the future, they need a foundation that centers participation and empowerment, not just access and efficiency.
Drawing on research, practice, and a diagnostic lens on how AI is reshaping educational systems, this keynote challenges leaders and educators to move from reactive adoption to intentional design. Participants will examine the often-blurred distinctions among experience, feedback, assessment, and evaluation, and understand why those distinctions are not merely semantic but consequential. They will explore how learning design principles can ensure that technology amplifies instructionally effective, accessible practice rather than distort or replace it. Being future-ready is not about having the right tools. It’s about making the right choices, by design, not by default.

Among the many factors that play a role in our experiences, being seen, being heard, and being included are critical to those. School is no different as these are aligned with some of our basic needs, yet how often do we look at our own habits of mind and cultural norms to ensure that we are mindful of our actions/interactions and ensure we are truly being inclusive and mindful?

In this interactive session, we will take a macro perspective on school culture and develop strategies for consistent examination of our habits of mind and cultural norms. We will look at the norms that can lead to a lack of inclusion and how we can make mindfulness a norm instead.

Participants will be taken through design and problem-based protocols that will serve as the basis for sustainable, restorative practices as well as be the catalyst for developing a sustainably inclusive culture.

In today’s age, the terms learning and classroom (learning space) have taken on a myriad of different and newer meanings. Both regularly occur and are associated with physical and digital environments. Oftentimes, the design of these environments can be a determining factor in the desired outcomes. In both cases, the designs of each can influence not only the learner but also the breadth and quality of their learning experience.

It is this experience that can mean the difference between successful engagement in learning and disengagement. During this keynote, we will examine ways in which we can leverage the designs of physical and digital space to create a unique learner experience, as well as strategies for the effective design of learning environments. Because Design Matters.