Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Michael Wesch

Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology

2011-2012 Coffman Chair for Distinguished Teaching Scholars

Kansas State University

Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist exploring the effects of new media on society and culture.

After two years studying the effects of writing on a remote indigenous culture in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, he has turned his attention to the effects of social media and digital technology on global society. His videos on culture, technology, education and information have been viewed by millions, translated in more than 15 languages and are frequently featured at international film festivals and major academic conferences worldwide.

 

The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever

New media and technology present us with an overwhelming bounty of tools for connection, creativity, collaboration, and knowledge creation - a true "Age of Whatever" where anything seems possible.
But any enthusiasm about these remarkable possibilities is immediately tempered by that other "Age of Whatever" - an age in which people feel increasingly disconnected, disempowered, tuned out, and alienated.
Such problems are especially prevalent in education, where the Internet (which must be the most remarkable creativity and collaboration machine in the history of the world) often enters our classrooms as a distraction device.  It is not enough to merely deliver information in traditional fashion to make our students "knowledgeable."  Nor is it enough to give them the skills to learn, making them "knowledge-able." Knowledge and skills are necessary, but not sufficient.  What is needed more than ever is to inspire our students to wonder, to nurture their appetite for curiosity, exploration, and contemplation, to help them attain an insatiable appetite to ask and pursue big, authentic, and relevant questions, so that they can harness and leverage the bounty of possibility all around us and rediscover the "end" or purpose of wonder, and stave off the historical end of wonder.

 

Ken Dulaney

Gartner Research
Vice President & Analyst

 Ken Dulaney is a vice president and distinguished analyst in Gartner Research, where his research areas include smartphones, tablet computers, notebook computers, industrial handhelds, wireless communications, mobile software and device management strategies. Mr. Dulaney is also the lead analyst for Intel. He has been recognized by Adweek magazine as one of the top 20 technology industry analysts. Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Dulaney worked at GRiD Systems, where he served as director of marketing, portable computing. He was a key participant in the development of the first tablet computer, for which he received several patents.

 

Pocket Power: Directions in Mobile Devices and the Management Challenges Ahead

Mobile devices now outpace PC shipments, we we've moved from an age of device necessity to an age of device convenience. IT has lost the power to control what users have as prices have dropped. We'll show you how to stay ahead of these trends and adapt to this new environment.