CUE > Macworld K-12 Speakers

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Advancing Student Achievement Through Technology

Macworld K-12 Speakers

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John Couch, Vice President of Education, Apple
John Couch is Apple’s vice president of Education and is responsible for driving Apple’s sales and marketing strategy in the education market. He has over thirty years experience as a computer scientist, executive and advocate for technology in education.  During his current tenure at Apple, John has led an Education division that has steadily grown units, revenue and market share every year since his return, eclipsing many sales milestones that have stood for nearly a decade.

Directly prior to his current position at Apple, Couch was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DoubleTwist Inc, a leading provider of genomic information and bioinformatics analysis technologies which made headlines as the first company to provide a comprehensive annotation of the human genome. The year before joining DoubleTwist, he was Executive in Residence for Mayfield Fund, where he provided strategic planning, management and technology advice to high technology companies.

Couch began his professional career in 1972 as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard, and held various software management positions at Hewlett-Packard.

In 1978 he joined Apple as Director of New Products reporting to Steve Jobs.  He was Apple’s first Vice President of Software and Vice President/General Manager for the Lisa division, Apple’s first GUI Computer.

In 1985, he turned his focus to education at the Santa Fe Christian School where he initiated a program that turned this debt-laden private school into one of the first examples of how the creative use of technology can revolutionize learning in the classroom.  Under his leadership as Chairman of the Board of Santa Fe Christian School,  the school’s annual losses were annulled as the student body grew from 150 to 1000 while the school’s modest facilities were expanded to a new 17-acre site, offering a range of world-class resources, including a fiber optic network of Macintosh computers.

At Santa Fe Christian  he created the Santa Fe Educational Foundation (which partnered with several hi-tech companies such as Resolution Technologies, Tudor Publishing, Josten’s Learning Corporation, Key Technologies and Moody films to develop education multimedia applications), obtained more than a dozen major grants to support the development of the school’s computer laboratories, teacher training programs, multimedia systems and such and materials, and a New Start program that linked them with other schools who were interested in learning from their success.

Couch holds a Bachelor degree in computer science and a Masters degree in electrical engineering, both from the University of California at Berkeley where he was honored in 2000 as a Distinguished Alumus. He is also the author of the science research associates textbook, Compiler Construction: Theory and Practice.  He has taught at both University of California, Berkeley and at Cal State San Jose.

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Marco Torres, educator, director, photographer
Marco Antonio Torres is a 10-year high school teacher, media coach, and education technology director for San Fernando High School, one of the nation's largest urban schools in Los Angeles. He is also a professional filmmaker and photographer who uses these digital storytelling skills to add value to his curriculum. 

Marco has been recognized locally and internationally for his accomplishments in the classroom, creative program building, administering complex budgets, and for the use of technology to empower minority students.   He has received honors and awards from the government, educational leadership organizations, the creative arts community, business groups, and also from his students.

As a teacher and media professional artist, Marco Torres is involved with many professional organizations where he is an advocate for more collaboration between the media arts world and education. For example, Marco was recruited to serve as a board member for the George Lucas Educational Foundation--a foundation created by filmmaker George Lucas to promote digital technology, change, community, and learning everywhere.   Marco also is an Apple Distinguished Educator-- a program, sponsored by Apple that recognizes innovators in today's classrooms.  

Once referred to as "Jaime Escalante.com" by Mr. Escalante himself, Torres is empowering students, teaches them how to celebrate their culture, build communities, and how (and why) to use multimedia tools to share their very special stories and ideas with the world. 

Consequently, Marco's students are regularly recruited by some of the nation's finest universities and businesses.   He has keynoted and presented at numerous conferences nationally and internationally.   His practical workshops help teachers push their teaching and learning to new exciting levels. 

Marco's media rich program has been highlighted in numerous TV, radio, online, magazines, books, and news periodicals.   Very recently, Marco was recognized by the California legislature as a California Teacher of the Year.
--Words by Gina Espinosa and Veronica Sanchez

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Hall Davidson, Director, Discovery Educator Network

Presenter Hall Davidson has been a leader in K-12 instructional media and media making for more than 20 years. Currently a Director of the Discovery Educator Network he is also coordinator of the nation's oldest media festival for students, the California Student Media & Multimedia Festival, and served on the board of California's Computer-Using Educators (CUE) for six years. He formerly served as a director of the California Technology Project, president of Video-Using Educators, participated on numerous technology task forces and advisory committees for state and local projects. 

He is a multiple Emmy nominee for instructional programs at KOCE-TV.  He has keynoted many conferences, including NECC.  He has authored technology integration kits (TechWorks), online web lessons (Adobe), and is nationally known his work on Fair Use and copyright, particularly as it applies to media and multimedia.

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Carol Anne McGuire, Teacher, Orange Unified School District

Carol Anne McGuire has taught elementary and special education for over 15 years. She is currently a vision specialist at Imperial Elementary School in Orange Unified working with blind and visually impaired students.

“Carol Anne measures success by how far her students can soar and succeed despite their challenges. Carol Anne will tell you, ‘The students are only blind; they can do everything but see.’ This belief is truly realized when you meet her students. They meet and exceed the California Education Standards as well as completing projects that one might not first believe a blind student could ever accomplish. For example, last year her students wrote, filmed and edited the movie ‘Get a Clue’ which won awards across the State of California.” – Gillian Pons, elementary special education coordinator, Orange County School District

Mrs. McGuire supports and encourages her students to engage the world around them through all their senses, incorporating technology as a tool for communicating. She teaches all of her students to become filmmakers and musicians and connects them with students from across the globe. Carol Anne was selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2004, has received numerous accolades, including her school’s Teacher of the Year (1998) the Disney Teacher Award and Surf Aquarium Top Online Educator in 2005. She lives in Anaheim with her family.

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