The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning

Tom Whitby has presented at many national, statewide, and local education conferences as well as Edcamps. He has contributed to the WISE Conference in Doha, Qatar, an International Education Conference, for the last two years. He served as a social media consultant for SmartBrief and a contributing Editor for SmartBlog on Education for SmartBrief.

Tom is a retired Adjunct Professor of Education at St Joseph’s College in New York, having taught for 6 years. He came to that position after 34 years as a secondary English teacher in the Public School system. He was also a leader in the New York State United Teacher Locals for 30 years. He has founded a number of Educational Groups on Linkedin including Technology Using Professors Group.  He has been recognized with an Edublog Award for the most Influential Educational Twitter Series, Edchat, which he founded.

Additionally, Tom hosts The Edchat Radio Show for the BAM Network, which is available as free podcasts from K-12 education at the Apple iStore. He blogs at My Island View and has contributed articles to several education journals and has been a guest blogger with contributions to The Royal Treatment and Teacher’s Reboot Camp. He created the Ning site, The Educator’s PLN: http://edupln.ning.com/.  Follow him on Twitter @tomwhitby.

Steven W. Anderson is a learner, blogger, speaker, educational evangelist, and Dad. As a former teacher and Director of Instructional Technology, he is highly sought after for his expertise in educational technology integration and using social media for learning. He regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom and how they can better serve students through technology. Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD, FETC, VSTE, and numerous state and local conferences. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven has been recognized with the the 2009 and 2011 Edublogs, Twitterer of The Year Award, a Microsoft Heros of Education Award, along with a 2013 Bammy Award - recognized worldwide as the Educational Emmy - for his work with #edchat.