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Anita Givens
Associate Commissioner, Standards and Programs
Texas Education Agency

Anita Givens was named Associate Commissioner for Standards and Programs at the Texas Education Agency, March 12, 2009. She served as acting Associate Commissioner since October 2008 as well as the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Standards and Alignment. Anita oversees a number of policy development areas including curriculum, textbooks and educational technology as well as program coordination for IDEA and NCLB. Previously, she served as the Senior Director for Instructional Materials and Educational Technology at the Texas Education Agency and was responsible for the review, adoption and distribution of electronic instructional materials as well as traditional textbooks for Texas schools. Anita has also led the educational technology efforts in Texas for over sixteen years. She provides leadership for the integration, utilization, evaluation and expansion of educational technologies through the on-going implementation of the State Board of Education’s Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020.  She serves on a variety of boards and committees at the state and national level. Anita served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) for three years. Anita also served on the Executive Oversight Committee of the Hurricane Education Leadership Project (HELP) and as an Education Advisor to the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills.  In June 2007, Anita was recognized for serving on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Board of Directors from 2002-2007 and for her work with the HELP team. 

Anita received the 2002 NCTET Community Builder Award for her efforts to advance the cause of educational technology nationally. She was also named one of the 25 “Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers of Information Technology” for 2002 by Government Technology Magazine and the Center for Digital Government. In June 2004, Anita was presented the Pioneer Award by the State Educational Technology Directors Association for her work as a founder of SETDA and continued national leadership to support student achievement through technology. In November, 2004 she received the SETDA State Leader of the Year (SLY) award. Anita makes presentations to many national audiences and at state and national conferences on curriculum, educational technology and instructional materials. Anita has taught Kindergarten and 2^nd grade and educational technology classes from elementary through graduate school. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Houston Baptist University and a Master of Science Degree in Educational Management from the University of Houston – Clear Lake.

Marco Antonio Torres has taught high school for ten years, and has been media coach and education technology director for San Fernando High School, one of the nation’s largest urban schools in Los Angeles.  In addition to his work in the classroom, Marco Torres is also a professional filmmaker and photographer who uses these digital storytelling skills to add value to his curriculum. He has been recognized locally and internationally, including being honored as a California Teacher of the Year, for his accomplishments in the classroom, and for the use of technology to empower minority students.

http://www.marcotorres.net  

For 27 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. 2009 marks Dr. Stager's 19th anniversary of working in Australia. Gary led professional development at the world's first laptop schools in Melbourne and Queensland in 1990 and since that time has worked with countless schools across Australia. He has worked closely with the Victoria and ACT Departments of Education and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne.

In addition to his two decades of 1:1 leadership, Gary has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s, was a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab's Future of Learning Group and a member of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation's Learning Team. A long-time colleague of Dr. Seymour Papert, Stager's doctoral research involved the creation of a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. He is a Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University and 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. Stager was recently a keynote speaker at the National Educational Computing Conference and a Visiting Scholar The University of Melbourne's Trinity College.

David is an award-winning futurist, author and consultant whose clients range across the public and private sector, both in the United States and in Brazil. His razor-sharp focus on the fast-paced world of modern computing and communication media, project-based learning, 21st century skills, and open source software has placed him in constant demand as a keynote speaker and workshop leader for schools, foundations, and governments.

http://www.tcpd.org