Gary Stager
Cynthia Solomon
Melinda Kolk
David Wagner
Sylvia Martinez
John Stetson
Gary S. Stager, Ph.D. is the Director of Constructing Modern Knowledge
For 26 years, Gary Stager, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world's first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s and is a member of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s Learning Team. Mr. Stager's doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. Recent work includes teaching and mentoring some of Australia's "most troubled" public schools. Gary is Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine, Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate, Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development. Dr. Stager is also the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium. In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a "shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny." The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of "20 Leaders to Watch" in 2007.
Most recently, Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year. Read more about Dr. Stager here.
Cynthia Solomon, Ed.D.
Dr. Solomon is currently the Technology Integration Coordinator at Monsignor Haddad Middle School in Needham, MA and before that taught at Milton Academy for eight years. She is a pioneer in the fields of computer science and educational computing. Cynthia, along with Seymour Papert and Wally Feurzeig created the first programming language for children, Logo,. She was Vice President of R&D for Logo Computer Systems, Inc. when Apple Logo was developed and was the Director of the prestigious Atari Cambridge Research Laboratory. Dr. Solomon has maintained a long relationship with the MIT Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation in addition to her teaching, consulting and scholarship. Her doctoral research at Harvard led to the publication of the critical book, Computer Environments for Children: A Reflection on Theories of Learning and Education. Cynthia Solomon is also the co-author of Designing Multimedia Environments for
Children, with Allison Druin.
Cynthia Solomon’s archive of classic videos about learning and computers, Logothings, may be found here.
Melinda Kolk
Melinda Kolk is the Deputry Director of The Constructivist Consortium, Director of Professional Development for Tech4Learning. and Editor-in-Chief of the Creative Educator magazine. She is the author of Teaching with Clay Animation and has had articles on student technology projects published in Virginia's "VSTE Journal" and Australia's "The Educational Technology Guide." Melinda has made hundreds of presentations at educational technology conferences around the United States.
David Wagner
David Wagner is the President and CEO of Tech4Learning. In 1999, David helped found Tech4Learning. to promote the use of technology to actively and creatively engaged in the learning process. David has guided the growth of Tech4Learning. from a start-up to an industry-leading developer of educational software tools and professional development. David has designed award-winning software tools for students to create stop-motion animation, web sites, digital stories, and podcasts. Tech4Learning. is a founding member of the Constructivist Consortium.
Sylvia Martinez
Sylvia Martinez is a veteran of interactive entertainment and educational software industries, with over a decade of design and publishing experience. She is currently President of Generation YES. Prior to joining Generation YES, Sylvia oversaw product development, design and programming as Vice President of Development for Encore Software, a publisher of game and educational software on PC, Internet and console platforms. Sylvia was also involved in the company's Internet initiatives, including Math.com, the award-winning web site that provides math help to students worldwide.
For seven previous years, Sylvia was an executive producer at Davidson & Associates/Knowledge Adventure, a leading educational software developer. She designed, developed and launched dozens of software titles including Math Blaster: Algebra, Math Blaster: Geometry and Maurice Ashley Teaches Chess. In addition, she was responsible for Educast - the first Internet service for teachers that provided teachers with free news, information and classroom resources.
Before Davidson & Associates, Martinez spent six years at Magnavox Research Labs, where she developed high-frequency receiver systems and navigation software for GPS satellites.
Sylvia has been a featured speaker at national education technology conferences in areas ranging from the use of the Internet in schools, Web 2.0 technologies, student leadership, project-based and inquiry-based learning with technology and gender issues in science, math, engineering and technology (STEM) education. She holds a Master's in Educational Technology from Pepperdine University , and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.
John Stetson
According to Gary Stager, “John Stetson is the finest educator I’ve ever met and a tireless champion for powerless children.” For more than a decade, John Stetson has worked as a daily volunteer teacher, collaborator and advocate for incarcerated teenagers within Southern Maine’s juvenile prison. He worked side-by-side with Seymour Papert, Gary Stager and MIT’s David Cavallo during the creation and three year life of The Constructionist Learning Laboratory at the Maine Youth Center and continues working in the renamed facility nearly every day. In addition to teaching kids to build guitars, robots, telescopes and to fall in love with astronomy, Stetson has arranged for college courses to be offered to at-risk high school students and has spearheaded the creation of an instrumental music program in a facility where one would not have otherwise existed. John Stetson is a father of three and holds a Masters degree in educational technology from Pepperdine University.
