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More about our 2Learn.ca Institute keynotes

Learn about the program of this 2Learn.ca Institute

Grant MacEwan College, Edmonton
[February 20 and 21, 2007]

more about our keynotes Dr. Dave Edyburn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exceptional Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Edyburn’s teaching and research interests focus on the use of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and performance. He has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters on assistive and instructional technology. Dave Edyburn

Along with Drs. Higgins and Boone, Dr. Edyburn is a co-editor of the recently published book, Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice. He is a past president of the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group (SETSIG) in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as well as a past president of the Technology and Media (TAM) Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

Randy Marsden learned his work ethic growing up in a small farming community in Southern Alberta. He moved to Edmonton in 1985 to attend the University of Alberta, where he started the company after achieving international recognition for a project he did as an Electrical Engineering student. The project allowed his friend, who was paralyzed and couldn't speak, to communicate better with those around him.
Randy commenced work at Madentec immediately upon finishing his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (co-op stream) in 1989, where he continues to serve as President and CEO. He has presented numerous papers on the subject of accessibility in the home, workplace, and learning environments. Randy has received numerous awards, appeared in the media, and served on many industry boards and steering committees. He is a recognized leader in the field of Assistive Technology, as evidenced by some of the more notable awards and positions held outside the company.
Randy currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife and five children. He actively participates in recreational sports, and coaches baseball, volleyball, and basketball at the community and school levels. He is also active in music and church activities. Randy lived in Japan for 2 years and speaks Japanese fluently.
Read more about Randy Marsden and his work with Bill Gates, Christopher Reeves and others.

Kelly Fonner is a self-employed consultant and trainer in the areas of assistive and educational technology. She has been working with individuals with disabilities since the mid 1970s and with assistive technology since 1983. Her work experiences have been as a teacher assistant, teacher, instructional media specialist and assistive technology consultant in early childhood, preschool and school age programs. She has consulted to university and adult programs concerning access and technology use by persons with disabilities. She speaks internationally on a wide range of topics including technology integration, AAC, computer access, literacy, library access, organizers, assistive technology assessment and implementation strategies. Kelly is also an associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and at the University of Indiana - South Bend. She has taught at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and teaches in the CSUN Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program. Kelly has a B.S. in special education, an M.S. in educational technology, and holds an ATACP certificate of learning from CSUN. Kelly Fonner

Donna McNear is a career teacher for children with visual impairments and a certified orientation and mobility specialist at the Rum River Special Education Cooperative in Cambridge, MN and an educatinal consultant. She has a certificate in professional developmnet from the University of Minnesota. She is a past-president of the Division on Visual Impairments, Council for Exceptional Children, and a previous board member for the Braille Authority of North America. Professional activities include technical assistance services to local, state, national, and international education agencies, numerous presentations nationally and internationally, and service on many professional committees. She is currently writing a book on integrating braille technology with braille literacy skills. She has conducted over 22 seminars and 22 conference presentations on braille literacy and assistive technology. She was a principal investigator and co-principal investigator for national research projects in braille assessment and interventions and is co-author of a braille assessment. She received the 1998 Special Persons for Dedication and Outstanding Leadership in Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Children, Minnesota Council for Exceptional Children and the Award of Recognition for Outstanding Service in Education, Minnesota Chapter, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Vision Impaired, 1990. She is Director of Micronesia Missions, service work dedicated to children with visual impairments in the Federal States of Micronesia. Donna McNear

Scott Marfilius has been working with individuals with disabilities for the past 24 years. The past 18 years has involved implementing assistive technology at various levels. First within an integrated classroom as a classroom teacher, then implementing a district wide system change within a Public School System by assisting their District Wide Team. He continues to assist teams and individuals in assessing students assistive technology needs. His teaching certifications are in Early Childhood Handicap, Cognitive Disabilities, Emotional Disability, and Learning Disability. He also consults with individuals and businesses to determine adaptations that are needed in work place settings. Scott’s focus areas in assistive technology include computer access, and technologies that assist those with cognitive and learning disabilities. Scott Marfilius

Charles Silverman started out as a special education teacher back in the early 1980’s and quickly became interested in technology and its role in creating better learning environments for students with disabilities.
Currently, Charles is at the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto. He manages the SNOW elearning portal and a variety of special projects associated with SNOW.
Prior to that, Charles worked as a researcher at Ryerson with the Centre for Learning Technologies on accessibility issues brought on by new media convergence, particularly in the areas of web-based streaming video, and digital TV. Some projects included making an ASL-centric web environment and the creation of an editor for making captions and descriptions for online content.

Prior to Ryerson, Charles worked with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in Peabody, MA, for number of years where he was both a clinician and software developer. While at CAST, he worked with several mainstream publishers, most notably Scholastic on the “WiggleWorks,”a K-2 reading curriculum software product. Charles received a Masters in Moderate Education degree from Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1983.
Charles Silverman

	Dr. Dave Edyburn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exceptional Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Edyburn’s teaching and research interests focus on the use of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and performance. He has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters on assistive and instructional technology.
Along with Drs. Higgins and Boone, Dr. Edyburn is a co-editor of the recently published book, Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice. He is a past president of the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group (SETSIG) in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as well as a past president of the Technology and Media (TAM) Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
Randy Marsden learned his work ethic growing up in a small farming community in Southern Alberta. He moved to Edmonton in 1985 to attend the University of Alberta, where he started the company after achieving international recognition for a project he did as an Electrical Engineering student. The project allowed his friend, who was paralyzed and couldn't speak, to communicate better with those around him. Randy commenced work at Madentec immediately upon finishing his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (co-op stream) in 1989, where he continues to serve as President and CEO. He has presented numerous papers on the subject of accessibility in the home, workplace, and learning environments. Randy has received numerous awards, appeared in the media, and served on many industry boards and steering committees. He is a recognized leader in the field of Assistive Technology, as evidenced by some of the more notable awards and positions held outside the company. Randy currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife and five children. He actively participates in recreational sports, and coaches baseball, volleyball, and basketball at the community and school levels. He is also active in music and church activities. Randy lived in Japan for 2 years and speaks Japanese fluently. Read more about Randy Marsden and his work with Bill Gates, Christopher Reeves and others.
Kelly Fonner is a self-employed consultant and trainer in the areas of assistive and educational technology. She has been working with individuals with disabilities since the mid 1970s and with assistive technology since 1983. Her work experiences have been as a teacher assistant, teacher, instructional media specialist and assistive technology consultant in early childhood, preschool and school age programs. She has consulted to university and adult programs concerning access and technology use by persons with disabilities. She speaks internationally on a wide range of topics including technology integration, AAC, computer access, literacy, library access, organizers, assistive technology assessment and implementation strategies. Kelly is also an associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and at the University of Indiana - South Bend. She has taught at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and teaches in the CSUN Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program. Kelly has a B.S. in special education, an M.S. in educational technology, and holds an ATACP certificate of learning from CSUN.
Donna McNear is a career teacher for children with visual impairments and a certified orientation and mobility specialist at the Rum River Special Education Cooperative in Cambridge, MN and an educatinal consultant. She has a certificate in professional developmnet from the University of Minnesota. She is a past-president of the Division on Visual Impairments, Council for Exceptional Children, and a previous board member for the Braille Authority of North America. Professional activities include technical assistance services to local, state, national, and international education agencies, numerous presentations nationally and internationally, and service on many professional committees. She is currently writing a book on integrating braille technology with braille literacy skills. She has conducted over 22 seminars and 22 conference presentations on braille literacy and assistive technology. She was a principal investigator and co-principal investigator for national research projects in braille assessment and interventions and is co-author of a braille assessment. She received the 1998 Special Persons for Dedication and Outstanding Leadership in Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Children, Minnesota Council for Exceptional Children and the Award of Recognition for Outstanding Service in Education, Minnesota Chapter, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Vision Impaired, 1990. She is Director of Micronesia Missions, service work dedicated to children with visual impairments in the Federal States of Micronesia.
Scott Marfilius has been working with individuals with disabilities for the past 24 years. The past 18 years has involved implementing assistive technology at various levels. First within an integrated classroom as a classroom teacher, then implementing a district wide system change within a Public School System by assisting their District Wide Team. He continues to assist teams and individuals in assessing students assistive technology needs. His teaching certifications are in Early Childhood Handicap, Cognitive Disabilities, Emotional Disability, and Learning Disability. He also consults with individuals and businesses to determine adaptations that are needed in work place settings. Scott’s focus areas in assistive technology include computer access, and technologies that assist those with cognitive and learning disabilities.
Charles Silverman started out as a special education teacher back in the early 1980’s and quickly became interested in technology and its role in creating better learning environments for students with disabilities. Currently, Charles is at the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto. He manages the SNOW elearning portal and a variety of special projects associated with SNOW. Prior to that, Charles worked as a researcher at Ryerson with the Centre for Learning Technologies on accessibility issues brought on by new media convergence, particularly in the areas of web-based streaming video, and digital TV. Some projects included making an ASL-centric web environment and the creation of an editor for making captions and descriptions for online content. Prior to Ryerson, Charles worked with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in Peabody, MA, for number of years where he was both a clinician and software developer. While at CAST, he worked with several mainstream publishers, most notably Scholastic on the “WiggleWorks,”a K-2 reading curriculum software product. Charles received a Masters in Moderate Education degree from Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1983.