Panel Discussions

The 4T offers panel sessions, where we have a panel of experts to share ideas and resources in a more informal discussion format with participants.  

Panel 1:  Embracing Technology as a Medium, not a Gimmick

Monday May 23rd 4:15pm EST

We have engaged in technology in a variety of ways over the course of the past 5 years and are looking for new and exciting way to continue to do that. We've also experienced first hand that embracing and using technology isnt as easy as just handing every student a computer (ie, we are 1-to-1 with Chromebooks and still are faced with coming up with creative solutions to engage students more genuinely in their learning.)

Chris Quiambao
Lead Science and Technology Innovator
FlexTech High School
​Brighton, Michigan

Emily Polaczyk
Director of Academics
FlexTech High School
​Brighton, Michigan

Kristen Moore
Mathematics Department Chair Leader in the school's pursuit of quality, relevant applications of project based learning.
FlexTech High School
Brighton, Michigan

Ryan Gillis
School Leader
FlexTech High School
Brighton, Michigan

Panel 2:  Bringing Tech to Scale:  Instructional Technology and Leadership

Monday May 23rd 8:00pm EST

Integrating instructional technology effectively across a school or district takes vision, funds, planning, infrastructure, and professional development. What does this look like and how do educators overcome the barriers that might stand in their way? Hear from four state, district, and school leaders on the topic.

Julie Helber
Principal
Saline High School
Saline, Michigan

Mark Hess
Executive Director of Technology, Instruction, and Assessment,
Walled Lake Consolidated School District, Walled Lake, Michigan
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Mary Ann Wolf
Director of Digital Learning Programs at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, NC State University
​Raleigh, North Carolina

Panel 3:  Tech Tools, Techniques, and Tips for Teams

Monday May 23rd 6:45pm EST

For both educators and students, learning is happening more and more in collaborative teams. Recent web-based and mobile tools have made collaboration easy and fun, but educational institutions have been slow to take advantage of them. What can online collaborative tools do to help teams work well? What can’t they do? What sorts of strategies and group norms can help them be effective?  In this panel, we will consider Slack, Trello and other tools designed to maximize online communication and teamwork, and explore ways to utilize these tools for educational purposes. We will talk about these technologies as tools for schools, departments, committees, and classes, and discuss ways to improve communication in your virtual class, or enrich your face-to-face class with meaningful online learning.  

Diane Farrug
K-12 French teacher, language blogger, and educational technology graduate student  University of Michigan-Flint.

Pagan Poggione
education and training consultant with PuddleWood Consulting specializing in building collaborative partnerships supporting future focused educators and learners. 

Jeff Kupperman
Associate Professor of Education, and a core member of the University of Michigan's Interactive Communications & Simulations (ICS) group and the Institute for Innovation in Education (iiE).