ACS IT Educators Forum

Julie King is the Project Lead, Digital Technologies in focus and Curriculum Specialist, Technologies, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and is responsible for the Australian Curriculum: Technologies.

Julie coordinated the development of the F-10 Australian Curriculum: Technologies. She is also a Director of the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA). Julie has previously worked as a teacher, distance education writer, curriculum advisor and manager for the NSW Department of Education.

James Curran is an Associate Professor and ARC Australian Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and the Research Leader in Language Technology at the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre. His research is in computational linguistics - the field of Artificial Intelligence involved in developing computer systems that understand natural languages, like English and Chinese. James has a PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh.

James is also Director of the National Computer Science School and the NCSS Challenge, the largest computer science school outreach program in Australia, and is working with ACARA on the development of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies.

With Tara Murphy, he has won Faculty, University and national awards for university teaching excellence; and AIIA NSW and National iAwards, and an Engineering Australia (Sydney Division) Excellence award (Education and Training) for NCSS and the NCSS Challenge.

In 2010, James was included as one of Sydney's 100 most influential people, as published in the Sydney Morning Herald's "The (sydney) Magazine".
 

Previously Senior Education Officer (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority - QCAA) for Information Technology Systems, Information Processing and Technology, Information Communication Technology SAS, Graphics and Aerospace. Currently  Principal Education Officer at the QCAA and leading the expert writing team to develop the new Queensland Digital Technologies syllabus and implementation workshops.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolette-venn-1001a930/

Beth Claydon is currently a Technologies Senior Project Officer with the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority and was previously a teacher at St Hilda’s School on the Gold Coast.  She has experience in the authorship and delivery of professional development that supports the Technologies curriculum on behalf of the QCAA and is an Apple Distinguished Educator.  She has also completed her Masters of Education in Leadership.
 
Beth Claydon has developed a number of iTunes U courses that deliver the upper primary curriculum at St Hilda’s School and was responsible for the online learning program for prospective students called St Hilda’s@Home.  She has also co-authored a course for coding drones for primary students, presented at eLearning conferences and shared her experiences with a number of schools in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
 
She is passionate about innovative teaching methods that deliver collaborative learning environments for students.  This includes developing the skills of colleagues in the planning and implementation of the Technologies curriculum and realising the integral role that contemporary technologies play in education.
 

I am passionate about promoting Digital Technologies, and especially coding and Computational Thinking. This whole area is what I teach every day. It is an area/skill set that will play an ever increasing and most significant factor in work in the future. The latest research from fya.org.au on 'Job Clusters' confirms this assessment.

I maintain a site through which I promote Computational Thinking and my services as a consultant in this area - see https://computationalthinkingk12.wordpress.com/

I also maintain a curation site on this topic - see http://www.scoop.it/t/computational-thinking-in-digital-technologies

I am the Deputy Chair, Department of Education based in the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design at Swinburne University. I have worked in a variety of school settings where I taught IT and was the Director of ICT. I hold a Doctorate in Education focusing on ICT Leadership in schools. Nationally, I am on the Australian Council for Computers in Education Board (ACCE) and on the ICT Educators Board for the Australian Computer Society. I have presented numerous seminars and workshops for teachers involved in the teaching of IT. I has written several textbooks in all units of VCE Information Technology since 1996. My current work involves the provision of professional development to ICT teachers and the delivery of workshops to school students. My research interests include the use of technology and computers in schools for teaching and learning purposes; robotics in education, girls and ICT, Mobile computing devices in schools (1:1 Programs, BYOD Programs,notebooks,iPads, tablets, smartphones) and ICT leadership in schools

Allyn is an executive-level manager experienced in innovative business models and tranformational solutions. He has led projects in private enterprise and education in Australia, the United States, Mexico and South Korea. He has been involved in the use of technology in learning for more than 30 years. During that time he has participated in the development of several international learning technology standards, participated in Open Education initiatives and developed a world first approach to micro-credentialing.