Committee
Chris Bell
Chief Operating Officer
Chris Bell has been with EdTechTeam since the company incorporated and is now the Chief Operating Officer tasked with organizing and directing the systems and operations within the company. Chris oversees the Global Summits and works closely with all departments to align their goals and objectives to the mission of EdTechTeam.
Chris most recently was the District Coordinator of Instructional Technology for Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Southern California. In this capacity, he oversaw the instructional technology project implementations in the district including 1:1 classrooms utilizing Chromebooks, mobile device initiatives, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classrooms, and online learning.
Chris has taught at all levels K-12 including online and has enjoyed working with pre-service teachers and online teachers. Chris was actively involved in the development of the Leading Edge Certification for Online & Blended Teaching, the Apps Certified Trainer program, and has developed online courses for Google (g.co/educourses). Chris is a Google Certified Teacher (Boulder 2009) and a Google Education Trainer
Chris Craft
Director of Online Learning
Dr. Christopher Craft is an award-winning educator and speaker based in South Carolina. As a classroom teacher, he has been recognized both locally and nationally for innovative teaching with technology. Most recently he was selected from among more than 1,000 teachers to be one of 20 to visit the White House and meet with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Dr. Jill Biden for a dialogue on the current state and future of education. Dr. Craft was also titled to the National School Board Association’s “20 to Watch” list for 2013. He has a B.A. in Spanish, a M.Ed in Educational Technology, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research from the University of South Carolina. Chris is a Google Certified Teacher, and a Google Education Trainer, and was recently accepted to be an Apple Distinguished Educator. Find out more about Chris at www.christophercraft.com or follow him on Twitter @crafty184
Ben Friensen
Director of Professional Development
Ben taught junior high science for 7 years and is now a Digital Content Specialist in the Hopkins Public Schools in Minnesota. He is Google Certified Teacher, an authorized Google Education Trainer and serves on the Google Geo Teachers Advisory Board. He enjoys traveling and sharing his passion for connecting students to the world. Ben is the Director of Professional Development – iOS Summits for the EdTechTeam.
Wendy Gorton
Director of International Education
Wendy Gorton is an enthusiastic Google Certified Teacher, Google Apps EDU Certified Trainer, and a lifelong learner. She has taught 4th graders in Los Angeles, been an elementary technology coordinator, a university technology specialist, online teacher, and curriculum developer and research assistant. She is passionate about project-based learning and using awesome technology like Google Apps to open her students up to collaboration and to the world!
Her Master’s degree is in educational technology, where she focused on finding out how real-world science projects using technology increased motivation in her students, and she particularly enjoys research experiences for teachers, helping bring the world of science and social studies to her students using technology as a NOAA Teacher at Sea, Earthwatch Educator Fellow, PolarHusky Teacher Explorer, JR Teacher at Sea, and NEH Fellow, everywhere from learning archaeology in Wisconsin to helping build shelters for sick Tasmanian devils in Australia to dog-sledding in Scandinavia!
Networking with groups such as the Google Certified Teachers amazes her in the ability to find new tools, new project ideas, and–her favorite!– new classes to collaborate with on real-world projects. She loves the power of a PLN (personal learning network) and can’t wait to continue learning with and from folks at conferences!
Monica Martinez
Director of Professional Development
Monica Isabel Martinez is the Director of Professional Development in Latin America and Southern US for the EdTech Team. In this position, Monica develops and facilitates professional development on the most current technology trends for the purpose of improving teaching and learning through innovative processes. She has developed many technology programs some of which have been adopted by districts, universities, and others that have been rolled out state-wide. Monica has experience teaching students and professionals at all levels including elementary, secondary, and higher education while working in the US, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Canada and Germany. Monica has a master’s degree in Educational Technology and is also a Google Apps EDU Certified Trainer and Administrator.
James Sanders
Director of Innovation
James Sanders is the Director of Innovation for EdTechTeam and founder of Future Ready Schools. Previously, James served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House working on education open data initiatives. He was the founder of the White House Film Festival (showcasing technology in education) and helped develop the President’s postsecondary education agenda.
Before the White House, James oversaw innovation for KIPP Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area where he managed the region’s blended learning and technology integration initiatives. In addition to his work at KIPP and the White House, James served as a project manager for YouTube EDU (Google). At Google he created YouTube Teachers and managed the K-12 video content curation project. James is also the co-founder of ClassBadges, a website that allows teachers to award digital badges to students. ClassBadges was acquired by EdStart in April of 2014. His career in education began teaching history in both South Los Angeles and San Francisco during which he pioneered a paperless, fully-blended, classroom model.
Molly Schroeder
Director of Professional Development
Molly Schroeder is a Global Digital Age Learning Specialist, Google Certified Teacher and Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer. She presents nationally and internationally at conferences, workshops and conventions on how to integrate Google Apps and other emerging technologies into learning. Her background is in Elementary Education and she also holds a certificate in Educational Technology and Gifted Education.
Ken Shelton
Director of Professional Development
Ken currently holds an M.A. in Education with a specialization in Educational Technology as well as New Media Design and Production. As a part of his active involvement within the Educational Technology community, Ken is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Teacher. Ken was also titled to the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Educational Technology Task Force. Ken, both nationally and internationally, regularly gives keynotes, presentations, and leads workshops, many of which are hands-on, covering a wide variety of Educational Technology, Technology Integration, Digital Age Literacies, Creative Expression, Photography, Visual Learning, Visual Storytelling, and Instructional Design topics. He formerly worked as an Educator for over 13 years, including teaching technology for 10 years at the Middle School level.
Jim Sill
Director of Professional Development
After almost a decade in the video and television industry, Jim Sill hung up his producer hat and embarked on a career in education. Using his industry experience, he created an award winning video production program at El Diamante High School in Visalia, CA. By involving students in real world video projects, they garnered awards and recognition at the local, state, and national level. With experience producing local television and industrial videos for non-profit organizations, many of his former students now work in the industry.
As a Google Certified Teacher, Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Education Trainer and Apple Certified Trainer, Jim leads professional development workshops on Google’s collaborative tools, social media, and video production.
In 2012, Jim was featured in Edutopia and their Teach2Learn series for his work in Building Career Skills in Video Production. He was also awarded The Computer Using Educator (CUE) Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and nominated for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Outstanding Teacher Award.
Lisa Thumann
Director of Professional Development
Formerly a K-6 technology teacher, Lisa Thumann has been offering technology integration professional development since 2002. Lisa worked as Rutgers University CMSCE’s Sr. Specialist in Technology Education and Kean University SGEI’s Assistant Director of Emerging Learning Technologies until she joined EdTechTeam this year.
Lisa oversees EdTechTeam’s professional development offerings in the Eastern U.S. and works with districts and organizations to customize workshops and events.
Lisa is a Google Certified Teacher and an authorized Google Education Trainer. She has presented at ten of the Google Teacher Academies and presents at conferences, workshops and National Conventions on how to integrate Google Apps and other emerging and engaging technologies into the classroom. She holds a Masters of Arts in Teaching.
Michael Wacker
Chief Professional Development Officer
A former elementary teacher, Michael has since served as Online Learning Specialist on the student and adult learning side. This experience included designing and facilitating teacher and administrator professional development online courses and workshops. On the student side, his experience involves directing the build and design of online courses, technical development and course conversions, as well as curriculum course revisions and iterations. With more than six years of progressively responsible experience in eLearning and Blended Learning, he is consulted around ideas of strategic design and innovation in public and private schools internationally to support the professional development and redesign of classrooms, pedagogy, and traditional instructional models, to better serve all learners. Michael’s strengths are in helping to maximize learning opportunities through the design of dynamic spaces (online and face to face) of interaction, inquiry, and engagement for students, teachers, and administrators. Dedicated to educational innovation, he strives to utilize best practice eLearning techniques and leverage a pedagogy and technology that allows for anywhere, anytime learning.
Mark Wagner
Chief Executive Officer
Formerly a high school English teacher, Dr. Mark Wagner has since served as an educational technology coordinator at the site, district, and county levels. He now serves as President and CEO of the EdTechTeam, a global network of educational technologists which provides professional development and consulting services to learning institutions, non-profits, and for-profit education companies. The EdTechTeam is a California Benefit Corporation with a mission to improve the world’s education systems using the best technology and pedagogy available. They aim to inspire and empower other educators to do the same.
In this capacity, Dr. Wagner leads a global series of EdTechTeam Summits featuring Google for Education. He was the director of the Google Teacher Academy and the Google Workshops for Educators by Computer Using Educators (CUE) from 2008-2011. He has also been the professional development coordinator for CUE, the educational technology coordinator for the California League of Schools (CLS), and the provider of the technology module for Orange County’s Administrator Training Program. In addition, he works directly with school districts, independent schools, and other organizations that provide educational products and services.
Mark Wagner has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology and a master’s degree in cross-cultural education. His doctoral research focused on the use of video games in education, and specifically on the potential applications of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as constructivist learning environments
