Ferdi Serim, At-large Representative

Ferdi Serim helps people learn to read, write and think, using technology to expand the boundaries of what they read, write and think about. He has worked in many venues: Board Member of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Grants Manager for Excelsior Software, the New Mexico Public Education Department's EdTech Director, Reading First Director, Program Manager for Literacy, Technology & Standards; past Board Member of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); Advisory Board for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills; director of the Online Internet Institute (OII); Associate of the David Thornburg Center for Professional Development (and jazz musician). He is the author of NetLearning: Why Teachers Use the Internet, From Computers to Community: Unlocking the Potentials of the Wired Classroom, and Information Technology for Learning: No School Left Behind, and Visible Thinking: Strengthening and Assessing Digital Age Learning (coming in Fall 2008 from ISTE).

Ferdi has walked the talk: his students' Internet achievements are documented in the Scientific American, Los Angeles Times, the Learning Channel and other media. Ferdi also presents at numerous state, regional and international conferences, conducts staff development workshops and seminars for parents, teachers, school administrators and others involved in systemic school reform, including the US Department of Education, National Science Foundation, the Milken Exchange on Educational Technology, the Singapore and Malaysia ministries of education, and others.