Education for Innovation in an Automated, AI Era

Tony Wagner, EdD

Senior Research Fellow, Learning Policy Institute, Stanford University; Former Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab, Harvard University; Former Co-Director, Change Leadership Group, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Board Member, Mastery Transcript Consortium and Better World Ed; Education Advisor to the documentary, Most Likely to Succeed; Author, Mastery: The Future of Learning in Schools and the Workplace (Upcoming 2024), Learning by Heart: An Unconventional Education (2020); Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World (2012), and The Global Achievement Gap (2014); Co-Author, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era (2015)

The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention

Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD

Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Cambridge; Fellow, Trinity College; Director, Autism Research Centre; Fellow, British Psychological Society, the British Academy, the Academy of Medical Sciences; and the American Psychological Association; Vice President, National Autistic Society; Author, The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention (2020), Zero Degrees of Empathy (2012), and Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Facts (2008); Co-Author, "Socioeconomic Status, Mental Health, and Cognitive Outcomes in Autism" (2023, INSAR) and Understanding Other Minds (2013)

The Science of Student Potential: Promoting Resilience, Creativity, and Curiosity

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Cognitive and Humanistic Psychologist; Founder and Director, Center for Human Potential; Former Adjunct Associate Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University; Honorary Principal Fellow, Center for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne; Former Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania; Host of the #1 Psychology Podcast, The Psychology Podcast, with over 30 million downloads; Columnist, “Beautiful Minds,” Scientific American; Author, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization (2020), Twice Exceptional (2018), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2015); Co-Author, Learned Helplessness (2020), Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (2022), Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2016), and “Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity” (2018, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity)

Your Brain on Tech: Coding as the Literacy of the Future

Chantel S. Prat, PhD

Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Linguistics, University of Washington; Researcher, Cognitive and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory; Investigator, Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging; Author, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours (2022); Co-Author, “One Size Does Not Fit All: Idiographic Computational Models Reveal Individual Differences in Learning and Meta‐Learning Strategies” (2024, Topics in Cognitive Science), “Individual Differences in Reward‐Based Learning Predict Fluid Reasoning Abilities” (2021, Cognitive Science), and “The Role of Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity on Reading Comprehension Ability” (2015, Handbook of Individual Differences in Reading)

Insights Into a Bright Mind: Nurturing Neurodiverse Brains With Creativity and Mindfulness for Resilience in an Uncertain, AI Age

Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD

Neuroscientist; Founder, Awesome Neuroscience; Professor, Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education; Founder, Beyond the Cell; Expert on neurodiversity, intelligence, creativity, and mental health; Author, Insights into a Bright Mind: A Neuroscientist's Personal Stories of Unique Thinking (2021); Co-Author, "High Intelligence: A Risk Factor for Psychological and Physiological Overexcitabilities" (2018, Intelligence)

The Creative Classroom

R. Keith Sawyer, PhD

Morgan Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovations, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; One of the world’s leading scientific experts on creativity who studies jazz ensembles, improvisational theater groups, children at play, and more effective learning environments; Author, Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (2022, 3rd Edition), The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for 21st-Century Learners (2019), "Fostering Creative Performance in Art and Design Education via Self-Regulated Learning" (2019, Instructional Science), Group Genius (2017), Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity (2013), and Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2012); Editor, Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching (2011)

Learning for Uncertainty

Yong Zhao, PhD

Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas; Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University; Professor in Educational Leadership, Melbourne Graduate School of Education; Author, Learners Without Borders: New Learning Pathways for All Students (2021), “COVID-19 as Catalyst for Educational Change” (2020, Prospects), and What Works May Hurt – Side Effects in Education (2018); Co-Author, Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners (2020) and An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success (2019)

Tomorrow's Glasses: Preparing Students for the Future

Matt M. Miller, MEd

Teacher, North Central Parke Schools; Blogger, Ditch That Textbook; Author, AI for Educators: Learning Strategies, Teacher Efficiencies, and a Vision for an Artificial Intelligence Future (2023), Do More With Google Classroom: Teach Better. Save Time. Make a Difference (2020), Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable (2020), Ditch That Textbook: Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom (2015); Co-Author, DON'T Ditch That Tech: Differentiated Instruction in a Digital World (2019) and Ditch That Homework: Practical Strategies to Help Make Homework Obsolete (2017)

The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Critical, Creative, and Ethical Thinkers

Zoe Weil, MA, MTS

Co-Founder and President, Institute for Humane Education; Author, The Solutionary Way (Forthcoming), The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries (2021), Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life (2009), The Power and Promise of Humane Education (2004), and Above All, Be Kind (2003)

How to Teach Thinking Skills in an AI World

Daniel T. Willingham, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia; Member, National Board for Education Sciences; Writer, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” Column, American Educator; Author, Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy (2023), Why Don’t Students Like School? (2021, 2nd Edition), “A Mental Model of the Learner: Teaching the Basic Science of Educational Psychology to Future Teachers” (2017, Mind, Brain, & Education), The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), and Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do (2015); Co-Author, “Making Education Research Relevant: How Researchers Can Give Teachers More Choice” (2021, Education Next)

Don't Worry, Be a Critical Thinker: The Urgent Case for Prioritizing AI (Actual Intellect)

Colin Seale, JD

Educator; Attorney; Founder and CEO, ThinkLaw, multi-award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and reach all students; a fervent critical thinking advocate; Contributor, Forbes, The 74, Edutopia, and Education Post; Author, Tangible Equity: A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence In and Beyond the Classroom (2022) and Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students (2020)

Co-Intelligence in Class: The Future of Education in a World of AI

Ethan R. Mollick, PhD

Ralph J. Roberts Distinguished Faculty Scholar; Associate Professor of Management; Academic Director, Wharton Interactive, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania; Author, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working With AI (Forthcoming); Co-Author, “Using AI to Implement Effective Teaching Strategies in Classrooms: Five Strategies, Including Prompts” (2023, Wharton School Research Paper) and “Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, With Prompts” (2023, arXiv)

The Neuroscience of Creative Imagination: Implications for the AI Age

Anna G. Abraham, PhD

Neuroscientist; E. Paul Torrance Professor, Department of Educational Psychology; Director, Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development; Director, Creativity and Imagination Lab; Faculty, Institute for Artificial Intelligence; University of Georgia; Neuroscience Faculty Member, Integrated Life Science Program; Affiliate, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research; Editor, Cambridge Elements in Creativity and Imagination; Author, The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths (forthcoming), "The Ingredients of the Creative Mind" (2021, American Journal of Psychology); The Neuroscience of Creativity (2018); Co-Author, "Evaluating the Effects of Episodic and Semantic Memory Induction Procedures on Divergent Thinking in Younger and Older Adults" (2023, PLoS ONE)

Unleashing Curiosity: The Hidden Mechanism for Future Success

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University; Director, Well-Being Laboratory; Awarded 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association; Author, The Art of Insubordination (2022), The Upside of Your Darkside (2017), Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology (2013), Designing Positive Psychology (2010), Curious? (2009); Co-Author, "Social Anxiety Is Associated with Similar Emotional Impairments During Digital and Face-to-Face Communication in Daily Life" (2020, PsyArXiv), "Gratitude Across the Life-Span: Age Differences and Links to Subjective Well-being" (2019, Positive Psychology), "When Empathy Matters: The Role of Sex and Empathy in Close Friendships" (2017, Personality)

Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality in an Automated World

David J. Linden, PhD

Neurobiologist; Professor, Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Chief Editor, Journal of Neurophysiology; Author, Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality (2020), Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience (2018), Touch: The Science of the Hand, Heart, and Mind (2015), and The Accidental Mind (2009)

Tomorrow's Glasses: Preparing Students for the Future

Matt M. Miller, MEd

Teacher, North Central Parke Schools; Blogger, Ditch That Textbook; Author, AI for Educators: Learning Strategies, Teacher Efficiencies, and a Vision for an Artificial Intelligence Future (2023), Do More With Google Classroom: Teach Better. Save Time. Make a Difference (2020), Tech Like a PIRATE: Using Classroom Technology to Create an Experience and Make Learning Memorable (2020), Ditch That Textbook: Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom (2015); Co-Author, DON'T Ditch That Tech: Differentiated Instruction in a Digital World (2019) and Ditch That Homework: Practical Strategies to Help Make Homework Obsolete (2017)

Learning for Uncertainty

Yong Zhao, PhD

Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas; Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University; Professor in Educational Leadership, Melbourne Graduate School of Education; Author, Learners Without Borders: New Learning Pathways for All Students (2021), “COVID-19 as Catalyst for Educational Change” (2020, Prospects), and What Works May Hurt – Side Effects in Education (2018); Co-Author, Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners (2020) and An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success (2019)

What Will It Take to Create the Education We Need for a Future We Can’t Predict?

Thomas C. Hatch, PhD

Professor of Education, Columbia University; Director, National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching; Former Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Author, The Education We Need for a Future We Can’t Predict (2021) and Managing to Change: How Schools Can Survive (and Sometimes Thrive) in Turbulent Times (2009)

Co-Intelligence in Class: The Future of Education in a World of AI

Ethan R. Mollick, PhD

Ralph J. Roberts Distinguished Faculty Scholar; Associate Professor of Management; Academic Director, Wharton Interactive, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania; Author, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working With AI (Forthcoming); Co-Author, “Using AI to Implement Effective Teaching Strategies in Classrooms: Five Strategies, Including Prompts” (2023, Wharton School Research Paper) and “Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, With Prompts” (2023, arXiv)

Preparing Children for Success in School and Life

Marcia L. Tate, EdD

Chief Executive Officer, Developing Minds, Inc.; Former Executive Director of Professional Development, DeKalb County School System; Author, Formative Assessment in a Brain-Compatible Classroom: How Do We Really Know They're Learning? (2024, Updated Edition), Healthy Teachers, Happy Classrooms (2022), Preparing Children for Success in School and Life (2022, 2nd Edition), and 100 Brain-Friendly Lessons for Unforgettable Teaching and Learning - K-8 (2019); Editor, Engaging the Brain: 20 Unforgettable Strategies for Growing Dendrites and Accelerating Learning (2024)

Future Driven: Helping Students Thrive in an Unpredictable World

David Geurin, EdD

Superintendent of Schools, Fair Play R-II School District; Adjunct Professor, School of Education, Regent University; Blogger, the “@DavidGeurin” Blog; Named the 2017 “Digital Principal of the Year” by the National Association of Secondary School Principals; Former Principal of Bolivar High School; Author, Future Driven: Will Your Students Thrive in an Unpredictable World? (2017)

Future-Ready Leaders and Learners: Preparing Schools Through a Culture of Empathy, Innovation, and Empowerment

Derek L. McCoy, MEd

Principal/Lead Learner, Havelock Middle School, Craven County Schools; Named the 2014 “National Digital Principal” by the National Association of Secondary School Principals; Recognized as a “Top 25 NC Educators to Follow” and “30 Edu-Tweeters To Follow”; Co-Author, The Revolution: It’s Time to Empower Change in Our Schools (2019); Contributing Author, 10 Perspectives on Learning in Education (2020)

Who's Preparing Students for a Changing, Uncertain World?: Five School and Classroom Indicators of a Life-Long Learning Education

Elliott Seif, PhD

Educational Consultant; Former Social Studies Teacher and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Services; Former Professor of Education, Temple University; Member of the ASCD Understanding by Design (UbD) Cadre and ASCD UbD Faculty; Author, Teaching for Lifelong Learning: How to Prepare Students for a Changing World (2021); Contributing Co-Author, 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (2010)

Don't Worry, Be a Critical Thinker: The Urgent Case for Prioritizing AI (Actual Intellect)

Colin Seale, JD

Educator; Attorney; Founder and CEO, ThinkLaw, multi-award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and reach all students; a fervent critical thinking advocate; Contributor, Forbes, The 74, Edutopia, and Education Post; Author, Tangible Equity: A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence In and Beyond the Classroom (2022) and Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students (2020)

How to Teach Thinking Skills in an AI World

Daniel T. Willingham, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia; Member, National Board for Education Sciences; Writer, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” Column, American Educator; Author, Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy (2023), Why Don’t Students Like School? (2021, 2nd Edition), “A Mental Model of the Learner: Teaching the Basic Science of Educational Psychology to Future Teachers” (2017, Mind, Brain, & Education), The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), and Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do (2015); Co-Author, “Making Education Research Relevant: How Researchers Can Give Teachers More Choice” (2021, Education Next)

The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Critical, Creative, and Ethical Thinkers

Zoe Weil, MA, MTS

Co-Founder and President, Institute for Humane Education; Author, The Solutionary Way (Forthcoming), The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries (2021), Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life (2009), The Power and Promise of Humane Education (2004), and Above All, Be Kind (2003)

How Artificial Intelligence Becomes Evolutionary Intelligence

W. Russell Neuman, PhD

Professor, Media Technology, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University; Human Development and Professor, Communication Studies, University of Michigan; Author, Evolutionary Intelligence: How Technology Will Make Us Smarter (2023) and The Digital Difference: Media Technology and the Theory of Communication Effects (2016)

Critical Thinking Strategies for the AI World and Beyond

Richard M. Cash, EdD

International Speaker, Educator, and Consultant; Former Director of Gifted Programs; Author, “Enhancing Social-Emotional Learning With Self-Regulation for Learning” (2019, Free Spirit Publishing Blog), Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century (2017), and Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn (2016); Co-Author, Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics (2013)

Rethinking Intelligence and Human Potential

Rina Bliss, PhD

Associate Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University; Author, Rethinking Intelligence: A Radical New Understanding of Our Human Potential (2023), “AI Can’t Teach Children to Learn: What’s Missing?” (2023, The Washington Post), “DNA Tests for Intelligence Ignore the Real Reasons Why Kids Succeed or Fail” (2019, Leaps.org), and Social by Nature: The Promise and Peril of Sociogenomics (2018)

Mind Over Matter: Critical Thinking Skills

Bunnie L. Claxton, EdD

CEO, Dissertation Research Specialist; Adjunct Instructor, Colorado Christian University; Former Director of Applied Doctoral Research, Liberty University; Co-Author, A Step-By-Step Guide to Conducting Applied Research in Education (2021) and Mind Over Matter: Critical Thinking Skills (2022)

From Insights to Habits: Harnessing Cognitive Science Findings for Routines, Thinking, and Understanding in the Classroom

Tom Sherrington, MSc

Consultant, Director, teacherhead-consulting; Blogger, teacherhead.com; Expert in the science of learning; Author, Rosenshine's Principles in Action (2019), The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms (2017), and Teach Now! Science: The Joy of Teaching Science (2014); Co-Author, Teaching WalkThrus: Five-Step Guides for Instructional Coaching (2020)

Education for Innovation in an Automated, AI Era

Tony Wagner, EdD

Senior Research Fellow, Learning Policy Institute, Stanford University; Former Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab, Harvard University; Former Co-Director, Change Leadership Group, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Board Member, Mastery Transcript Consortium and Better World Ed; Education Advisor to the documentary, Most Likely to Succeed; Author, Mastery: The Future of Learning in Schools and the Workplace (Upcoming 2024), Learning by Heart: An Unconventional Education (2020); Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World (2012), and The Global Achievement Gap (2014); Co-Author, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era (2015)

The Creative Classroom

R. Keith Sawyer, PhD

Morgan Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovations, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; One of the world’s leading scientific experts on creativity who studies jazz ensembles, improvisational theater groups, children at play, and more effective learning environments; Author, Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (2022, 3rd Edition), The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for 21st-Century Learners (2019), "Fostering Creative Performance in Art and Design Education via Self-Regulated Learning" (2019, Instructional Science), Group Genius (2017), Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity (2013), and Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2012); Editor, Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching (2011)

Creativity: Research Informing Teaching Practice

Jonathan A. Plucker, PhD

Professor; Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Education; Formerly served as the Julian C. Stanley Endowed Professor of Talent Development, Johns Hopkins University; Co-Author, A Perspective on K-12 AI Education (2022, Technology & Innovation), Excellence Gaps in Education (2016), and Intelligence 101 (2013); Co-Editor, Creativity and Innovation (2021, 2nd Edition)

The Neuroscience of Creative Imagination: Implications for the AI Age

Anna G. Abraham, PhD

Neuroscientist; E. Paul Torrance Professor, Department of Educational Psychology; Director, Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development; Director, Creativity and Imagination Lab; Faculty, Institute for Artificial Intelligence; University of Georgia; Neuroscience Faculty Member, Integrated Life Science Program; Affiliate, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research; Editor, Cambridge Elements in Creativity and Imagination; Author, The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths (forthcoming), "The Ingredients of the Creative Mind" (2021, American Journal of Psychology); The Neuroscience of Creativity (2018); Co-Author, "Evaluating the Effects of Episodic and Semantic Memory Induction Procedures on Divergent Thinking in Younger and Older Adults" (2023, PLoS ONE)

Will Generative AI Enhance or Reduce the Creativity Advantage?

James C. Kaufman, PhD

Professor of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut; Renowned Expert on Creativity; Winner of the Mensa’s Research Award, the Torrance Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children’s International Creativity Award and APA’s Berlyne, Arnheim, and Farnsworth awards; Author, The Creativity Advantage (2023), Creativity and Mental Health (2017), and Creativity 101 (2016, 2nd Edition); Co-Author, Lessons in Creativity from Musical Theatre Characters (2023); Co-Editor, the Cambridge Handbook of Creativity (2019, 2nd Edition)

Creativity: Educator's Beliefs and Practices - Voices From the Field

Mariale M. Hardiman, EdD

Co-Founder and Director, Neuro-Education Initiative (NEI); Professor, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University; Author, The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools (2012) and Connecting Brain Research With Effective Teaching: The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model (2003), and “Informing Pedagogy Through the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model (2012, Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education); Co-Author, “Exploring Changes in Teacher Self-Efficacy Through Neuroeducation Professional Development” (2023, The Teacher Educator) and “The Effects of Arts-Integrated Instruction on Memory for Science Content.” (2019, Trends in Neuroscience and Education)

 

Cyndi Burnett, EdD

Vice-President, Curiosity 2 Create; Co-Founder, Creative Thinking Network; Former Associate Professor, International Center for Studies in Creativity, SUNY Buffalo State University; Co-Author, Weaving Creativity Into Every Strand of Your Curriculum (2015); Co-Editor, Big Questions in Creativity (2014)

Matthew J. Worwood, PhD

Associate Director of Digital Media & Design, University of Connecticut; Blogger, DadsforCreativity.com; Co-Hosts of the “Fueling Creativity in Education” Podcast

The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention

Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD

Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Cambridge; Fellow, Trinity College; Director, Autism Research Centre; Fellow, British Psychological Society, the British Academy, the Academy of Medical Sciences; and the American Psychological Association; Vice President, National Autistic Society; Author, The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention (2020), Zero Degrees of Empathy (2012), and Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Facts (2008); Co-Author, "Socioeconomic Status, Mental Health, and Cognitive Outcomes in Autism" (2023, INSAR) and Understanding Other Minds (2013)

Insights Into a Bright Mind: Nurturing Neurodiverse Brains With Creativity and Mindfulness for Resilience in an Uncertain, AI Age

Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD

Neuroscientist; Founder, Awesome Neuroscience; Professor, Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education; Founder, Beyond the Cell; Expert on neurodiversity, intelligence, creativity, and mental health; Author, Insights into a Bright Mind: A Neuroscientist's Personal Stories of Unique Thinking (2021); Co-Author, "High Intelligence: A Risk Factor for Psychological and Physiological Overexcitabilities" (2018, Intelligence)

Neurodiversity and Creativity: Nurturing Every Child’s Unique Brain

Benjamin N. Powers, DBA

Director, Global Literacy Hub, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine; Senior Scientist, Haskins Laboratories; Executive Director, The Southport School; Executive Director, The Dyslexia Foundation; Co-Author, “What Comes After the Lemonade Stand? Fueling Self-Efficacy and Intentions in Our Next Generation of Entrepreneurs” (2017, The Conversation)

Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality in an Automated World

David J. Linden, PhD

Neurobiologist; Professor, Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Chief Editor, Journal of Neurophysiology; Author, Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality (2020), Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience (2018), Touch: The Science of the Hand, Heart, and Mind (2015), and The Accidental Mind (2009)

Understanding Trauma and Neurodiverse Students

Varleisha D. (Gibbs) Lyons, PhD, OTD, MS, OTR/L, ASDCS, FAOTA

Vice President, Practice Engagement and Capacity Building, The American Occupational Therapy Association; Former Associate Professor and Director of Inaugural Masters of Occupational Therapy Program, Wesley College; Author, Self-Regulation and Mindfulness: Over 82 Exercises & Worksheets for Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, & Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017); Co-Author, Trauma Treatment in Action (2021) and Raising Kids with Sensory Processing Disorders (2020, 2nd Edition)

Why the Future Will Be Wired Differently: Embracing the Potential in Neurodivergent Children

Deborah L. Reber, MA

Advocate for neurodiverse children and appreciating for their unique skills; Founder/CEO of Tilt Parenting; Host of the Tilt Parenting “Raising Differently Wired Kids” Podcast, which has more than 4 million downloads; Certified Positive Discipline Trainer; Regular Contributor to Psychology Today and ADDitude Magazine; Named as a “Top 25 Amazing Women of the Year” by Stiletto Magazine; Author, Differently Wired: A Parent’s Guide to Raising an Atypical Child With Confidence and Hope (2020)

The Science of Student Potential: Promoting Resilience, Creativity, and Curiosity

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Cognitive and Humanistic Psychologist; Founder and Director, Center for Human Potential; Former Adjunct Associate Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University; Honorary Principal Fellow, Center for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne; Former Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania; Host of the #1 Psychology Podcast, The Psychology Podcast, with over 30 million downloads; Columnist, “Beautiful Minds,” Scientific American; Author, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization (2020), Twice Exceptional (2018), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2015); Co-Author, Learned Helplessness (2020), Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (2022), Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2016), and “Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity” (2018, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity)

Unleashing Curiosity: The Hidden Mechanism for Future Success

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University; Director, Well-Being Laboratory; Awarded 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association; Author, The Art of Insubordination (2022), The Upside of Your Darkside (2017), Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology (2013), Designing Positive Psychology (2010), Curious? (2009); Co-Author, "Social Anxiety Is Associated with Similar Emotional Impairments During Digital and Face-to-Face Communication in Daily Life" (2020, PsyArXiv), "Gratitude Across the Life-Span: Age Differences and Links to Subjective Well-being" (2019, Positive Psychology), "When Empathy Matters: The Role of Sex and Empathy in Close Friendships" (2017, Personality)

Building Psychological Flexibility: Harnessing Strengths in an Anxious World

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University; Director, Well-Being Laboratory; Awarded 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association; Author, The Art of Insubordination (2022), The Upside of Your Darkside (2017), Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology (2013), Designing Positive Psychology (2010), Curious? (2009); Co-Author, "Social Anxiety Is Associated with Similar Emotional Impairments During Digital and Face-to-Face Communication in Daily Life" (2020, PsyArXiv), "Gratitude Across the Life-Span: Age Differences and Links to Subjective Well-being" (2019, Positive Psychology), "When Empathy Matters: The Role of Sex and Empathy in Close Friendships" (2017, Personality)

Uncertainty in the Brain: The Power of Curiosity and Exploration in Attention and Learning

Jacqueline P. Gottlieb, PhD

Professor, Department of Neuroscience, The Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University; Co-Author, “Humans Monitor Learning Progress in Curiosity-Driven Exploration” (2021, Nature Communications Biology), “Toward a Neuroscience of Active Sampling and Curiosity” (2018, Nature Reviews Neuroscience), and “Motivated Cognition: Neural and Computational Mechanisms of Curiosity, Attention, and Intrinsic Motivation” (2016, Recent Developments in Neuroscience Research on Human Motivation)

Curious and Engaged: Teaching Students to Drive Their Learning

Douglas B. Fisher, PhD

Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University; Classroom Teacher, Health Sciences High and Middle College; Co-Author, Rigor Unveiled (Forthcoming), Welcome to Teaching (2024), Teaching Students to Drive Their Learning (2023), Confronting the Crisis in Engagement (2022), Great Teaching By Design (2020), and How Tutoring Works (2011)

Stress Impairs the Prefrontal Cortex: Strategies to Protect Cognition and Top-Down Control

Amy F.T. Arnsten, PhD

Albert E. Kent Professor of Neuroscience; Professor of Psychology; Member, Kavli Institute of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, who studies the impact of stress on cognition and creativity; Co-Author, “The Aversive Lens: Stress Effects on the Prefrontal-Cingulate Cortical Pathways That Regulate Emotion” (2022, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews) and “Chronic Stress Weakens Connectivity in the Prefrontal Cortex: Architectural and Molecular Changes” (2021, Chronic Stress)

Empowering Students to Overcome Anxiety in an Age of AI

Lauren Price, MEd

Director, Academic Indepence Coaching Educational Consultant; Former Director of Association and Membership, Houston Tutorial Association; Creator of a digital program to increase executive functioning and self-regulation skills

The AI Era: Benefits and Perils in Education and Society

Jay J. Van Bavel, PhD

Director, Social Identity and Morality Lab; Associate Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, Department of Psychology, New York University; Co-Author, “Inside the Funhouse Mirror Factory: How Social Media Distorts Perceptions of Norms” (2024, Current Opinion in Psychology) and The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony (2021)

Your Brain on Tech: Coding as the Literacy of the Future

Chantel S. Prat, PhD

Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Linguistics, University of Washington; Researcher, Cognitive and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory; Investigator, Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging; Author, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours (2022); Co-Author, “One Size Does Not Fit All: Idiographic Computational Models Reveal Individual Differences in Learning and Meta‐Learning Strategies” (2024, Topics in Cognitive Science), “Individual Differences in Reward‐Based Learning Predict Fluid Reasoning Abilities” (2021, Cognitive Science), and “The Role of Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity on Reading Comprehension Ability” (2015, Handbook of Individual Differences in Reading)

Learning in an AI Age: How to Engage All Learners in an Era of Distraction

A.J. Juliani, MSEd

Founder, Adaptable Learning; Director, Learning and Innovation; Instructor, UPenn Graduate School of Education; Author, Adaptable: How to Create an Adaptable Curriculum and Flexible Learning Experiences That Work in Any Environment (2021), Learning by Choice (2015), and Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom (2014); Co-Author, Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning (2017)

AI in Education: How ChatGPT Can Improve Planning, Instruction, and Productivity

Monica Burns, EdD EdTech and Curriculum Consultant; Apple Distinguished Educator; Founder of ClassTechTips.com and Blog; Host of the “Easy EdTech” Podcast; Author, Using AI Chatbots to Enhance Planning and Instruction (2023), EdTech Essentials: The Top 10 Technology Strategies for All Learning Environment (2021), and Tasks Before Apps (2017); Co-Author, EdTech Essentials (2023), Engaging Students to Read All Types of Text (2020), and Taming the Wild Text: Literacy Strategies for Today’s Readers (2017)

AI in Education: Minimizing the Damage and Maximizing the Benefits

Dylan A. R. Wiliam, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Educational Assessment, Institute of Education, University of London, UK; Former Dean and Head of the School of Education, King’s College London, UK; One of the World’s Leading Authorities on the Science of Learning and Formative Assessments; Author, “Teacher Quality: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Get More of It” (2023, Impact), Creating the Schools Our Children Need (2018), and Leadership for Teacher Learning: Creating a Culture Where All Teachers Improve So That All Students Succeed (2016); Co-Author, Making Room for Impact: A De-implementation Guide for Educators (2023)

Creating a Love of Reading in the Digital, AI Age

Monica Burns, EdD EdTech and Curriculum Consultant; Apple Distinguished Educator; Founder of ClassTechTips.com and Blog; Host of the “Easy EdTech” Podcast; Author, Using AI Chatbots to Enhance Planning and Instruction (2023), EdTech Essentials: The Top 10 Technology Strategies for All Learning Environment (2021), and Tasks Before Apps (2017); Co-Author, EdTech Essentials (2023), Engaging Students to Read All Types of Text (2020), and Taming the Wild Text: Literacy Strategies for Today’s Readers (2017)

Digital Literacy: Teaching Adolescents to Read and Write in a Digital, AI Age

Kristen Hawley Turner, PhD

Professor, Caspersen School of Graduate Studies; Director, Drew Writing Project and Digital Literacies Collaborative; Director of Teacher Education, Drew University; Director, Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research (CLAIR), Fordham University Graduate School of Education; Consultant, National Writing Project; Lead Editor, "Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care" Blog; Co-Author, Argument in the Real World: Teaching Adolescents to Read and Write Digital Texts (2017) and Connected Reading: Teaching Adolescent Readers in a Digital Age (2015)

How Technology is Changing the Classroom

John T. Almarode, PhD

Professor of Education, James Madison University; Co-Editor, Teacher Educator Journal; Co-Author, The Mathematics Playbook (2024), The Teacher Clarity Playbook, Grades K-12 (2024), The Early Childhood Education Playbook (2022), How Tutoring Works: Six Steps to Grow Motivation and Accelerate Student Learning (2021), How Learning Works (2021), Clarity for Learning (2018), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers: Making the Elementary Science Classroom a Place of Engagement and Deep Learning (2017), Visible Learning for Science (2017), and Captivate, Activate, and Invigorate the Student Brain in Science and Math, Grades 6–12 (2013)

Reading in the Digital Age

Daniel T. Willingham, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia; Member, National Board for Education Sciences; Writer, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” Column, American Educator; Author, Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy (2023), Why Don’t Students Like School? (2021, 2nd Edition), “A Mental Model of the Learner: Teaching the Basic Science of Educational Psychology to Future Teachers” (2017, Mind, Brain, & Education), The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), and Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do (2015); Co-Author, “Making Education Research Relevant: How Researchers Can Give Teachers More Choice” (2021, Education Next)

Reading Into the Future: Findings From the Digital/Print Study

Karen Froud, PhD

Associate Professor and Program Director of Neuroscience and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; whose doctoral and post-doctoral work was conducted in theoretical linguistics and neurosciences at University College London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Member of the faculty at Teachers College since 2003; Certified Institutional Review Board (IRB) professional with expertise in research compliance and the ethical conduct of research with human participants in diverse communities; Director, Neurocognition of Language Lab at Teachers College, which uses brain imaging techniques to investigate questions about the neuroscience of language, learning, and cognitive processing across the lifespan, with an emphasis on multilingualism, literacy, speech, and language; Co-Author, "Middle Schooler's Reading and Processing Depth in Response to Digital and Print Media" (2023, bioRxiv)

Using AI and Learning Sciences to Enhance Student Learning and Engagement

Kenneth R. Koedinger, PhD

Professor of Human Computer Interaction and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University; Director of the LearnLab, which builds on the past success of Cognitive Tutors, an approach to online personalized tutoring that is in use in thousands of schools and has been repeatedly demonstrated to increase student achievement; Co-Founder of CarnegieLearning, Inc. that has brought Cognitive Tutor based courses to millions of students since it was formed in 1998; Author, "Navigating Ethical Benefits and Risks as AIED" Comes of Age" (2024, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education); Co-Author, "Improving Student Learning with Hybrid Human-AI Tutoring: A Three-Study Quasi-Experimental Investigation" (2024, Proceedings of the 14th Learning Analytics and Knowledge)