Speaker Interviews

2008 Technology Innovators Conference: Thriving in a Global Marketplace
November 20-21, 2008, Washington DC

Speakers and participants were interviewed at the 2008 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. Hear summaries of their presentations and reflections on how the themes of the conference may influence their work. Transcripts are available.

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Jeffrey Bigham View bio
Ph.D. Candidate, University Of Washington, Founder
WebAnywhere

Rob Sinclair View bio
Director of Accessibility, Microsoft Corporation

Jeff and Rob reflect on a new direction in portable technologies evolving to the web where it “is ultimately portable because you don’t have to carry anything with you. You log into the web, it’s right there wherever you are so anywhere you’re online, you have access to this product.”

Alan Brightman View bio
Senior Policy Director, Special Communities, Yahoo! Inc.

Alan reflects on his years of work in the international disability field, sharing stories, asking unanswerable questions, and posing challenges to inspire listeners.

Leslie S. Conery, Ph.D., CAE View bio
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, NECC Conference Chair
International Society for Technology in Education

Leslie discusses the perspective of classroom teachers that ISTE brings to the NCTI conference, and how she thinks classroom teachers around the world are engaging in educational innovation and differentiating instruction through technology.

Thomas W. Greaves View bio
Chairman, The Greaves Group, LLC

Tom discusses in more detail the data and trends behind his presentation in the Mobile Global breakout session at the 2008 NCTI Conference. Watch for schools to begin using more mobile devices, but watch, too, for the challenges of limited bandwidth capacity.

John Horrigan View bio
Associate Director for Research, Pew Internet and American Life Project

John gives an overview of just how broad and deep the adoption of Internet access and mobile devices has reached in our society and how that rate of acceptance compares to other countries. Want stats? The Pew project has them!

Martin S. Lampner, CPA
Executive Vice President, Chimes International, LTD

Martin discusses the work of Chimes to support employment and community involvement of people with cognitive limitations. Chimes is currently involved in constructing a social networking site for their clients which will include efforts at cognitive scaling and scaffolding of the materials.

Chinwe R. Onyekere, M.P.H. View bio
Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Chinwe discusses Games for Health, an initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She also discusses the new Pioneer Program at the Foundation, which will fund look-around-the-corner ideas that can reshape the way communities respond to challenges.

Susan Patrick View bio
President and CEO, North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL)

Susan provides a quick international tour of the trends in online learning and a summary of how states are providing access to online learning for U.S. students.

Alex Quinn View bio
Executive Director, Games for Change

Alex showcases how “thorny social issues” can be addressed through games and reflects on how games have evolved on so many different platforms.

T.V. Raman View bio
Research Scientist, Google, Inc.

As the web becomes a way of delivering applications, more adaptations will be available to users with special needs. Get a look around the corner from from Raman, who is orchestrating a new way of approaching user interface at Google.

Ben Sawyer View bio
President, Digitalmill, Inc. and Co-founder, Serious Games Initiative

Ben discusses the Serious Games Initiative and the trajectory of the use of games for training and learning. He warns “If this medium ends up as only being great for entertainment, we will have spoiled a tremendous opportunity.”

Ruth Ziolkowski
President, Don Johnston, Inc

Ruth reflects on the trajectory of technology-enhanced learning to support all students, including in the implementation of IDEA-related policies such as NIMAS and Response to Intervention tiered instruction.

NCTI thanks Chauncy Rucker for his fine work conducting and editing the audio interviews with speakers and guests at the 2008 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. Check out Chauncy’s other projects at the ConnSENSE Bulletin and the Assistive Technology Oral History Project.