Speakers

Saturday Keynote

Sylvia Martinez

“Making the Future: The Future of Making”

Making in education connects educators around the world in a quest to make education more authentic and relevant. We stand on the shoulders of giants who articulated new understandings of what learning could be and new ways to explore powerful ideas. In the present, we strive to deepen our commitment to provide authentic learning opportunities for all young people. We look into the future to see what the children in today’s classrooms will experience, and support them as they become changemakers and global citizens.

Together, let’s explore the past, present, and future of making in education so that we can equip children with the tools and mindset to solve the challenges of the future, and make the world a better place for all.

Bio

Sylvia Martinez is the co-author of Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering the Classroom, known around the world as the “bible of the classroom maker movement.” She advocates for student-centered hands-on, minds-on learning with an emphasis on STEAM for all. She is president of CMK Futures, creating books and professional development to help educators invent the future of learning.

Sylvia is principal advisor to the Columbia University FabLearn Fellows, a research group of global educators sharing hands-on, minds-on projects and curriculum. She also
led educational non-profits and headed product development for consumer software, video games, and educational games at several software publishing companies.

Martinez started her career as an electrical engineer designing high frequency receiver systems and software for the GPS navigational satellite system. She holds a masters in educational technology and a bachelors in electrical engineering. For more information, visit sylviamartinez.com.

Sunday Keynote

Amanda Cox

“The Images are the Same”

Bio

Amanda Cox is The New York Time’s data editor. Previously Amanda was the editor of The Upshot which she helped launch in 2014. At the Upshot her work included the infamous 2016 election needle as well as interactive visualizations that enable readers to predict and draw graph trends, or view data from different ideological perspectives. She was awarded the National Design Award in 2009 and the Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award from the American Statistical Association in 2012.

For more information, please see the February 28, 2019 article in the New York Times about Amanda Cox.