PHILADELPHIA – July 1, 2015 – The International Society for Technology (ISTE®) in Education today wraps up another stellar annual conference with nearly 21,000 registered attendees and industry representatives from 76 nations, 550 exhibitors and 1,357 booths and over a 1,000 learning opportunities. As of noon on Wednesday, ISTE attendees tweeted and retweeted 149,000 times using the 2015 hashtag, uploaded 3,545 #iste2015 photos to Instagram and all social media content using #ISTE2015 reach more than 32 million people worldwide. 

Tuesday, Mathspace was named the winner of the ISTE 2015 Ed Tech Start-Up Pitch Fest, recognized as both the most innovative and the most likely to succeed ed tech startup company at ISTE 2015. The finalists in this year’s competition were Education Framework Inc., Cogent Education and Zyrobotics. The competition was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and supporting partners were the Education Technology Industry Network of the Software & Information Industry Association and eInstruction by Turning Technologies.

On Monday, seven educators were presented with a 2015 Making It Happen Award, for their commitment to transforming education through innovative technology integration. Since this award began in 1995, more than 500 educators from around the world have received this recognition.

The 2015 award Making IT Happen recipients are:

• Chris Lehman is the founding principal of Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia. Lehman and his school have received numerous accolades, including being named one of the Ten Most Amazing Schools in the United States by Ladies Home Journal, and the 2014 McGraw Price in Education Award.

• Doug Johnson is the director of media and technology, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Public Schools in Minnesota. Johnson has worked with more than 130 organizations around the world and has held countless leadership positions, including serving on the ISTE board from 2004 to 2008. Johnson is an advocate of school librarians championing the integration of technology.

• Laurie Conzemius, an ISTE Board Member, has been a teacher, media specialist, district curriculum integration specialist and a university adjunct professor. She was the president of Minnesota Educational Media Organization, an ISTE affiliate. She’s been a pillar of the ISTE Librarians Network for years.

• Jan Zanetis, an ISTE Board Member, is the director of the nonprofit Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. A former teacher, university administrator, corporate innovator, and leader of a global non-profit organization, Zanetis generously shares her expertise about how to use video in the K-12 classroom through many platforms.

• Joe Kmoch is a tireless champion for coding and computational thinking in education. Kmoch helped develop the ISTE Standards for Computer Science Educators and has served on many boards of national computer science-related organizations.

• Paula Don has been an educator for over 30 years. She’s an active member of PAECT, the ISTE Pennsylvania affiliate, has served as the Regional Workshop Chair for the ISTE conference, and continually advocates for ISTE in her local community. Don has also been instrumental in refreshing the ISTE Standards.

• Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, an ISTE Board Member, is the CEO of Powerful Learning Practice. She’s been a classroom teacher, technology coach, charter school principal, district administrator, university instructor and a digital learning consultant. Her work has transformed individual practitioners into highly skilled and confident ed tech teachers and administrators.

About ISTE
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier nonprofit organization serving educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than 100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world.

Innovative offerings include the ISTE Conference & Expo – the world’s most comprehensive ed tech event – as well as the widely adopted ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age. The organization’s robust suite of professional learning resources features online courses, consulting services for schools and districts, books, and peer-reviewed journals and publications. For more information, visit iste.org. Connect with ISTE via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

For more information, media only:
Jodie Pozo-Olano, Chief Communications Officer, 804-986-6911, jpozoolano@iste.org

Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe Communications, 773-278-2800, lwolfe@lwolfe.com