NMC K-12 Ambassador Program

Cheryl Steighner is an elementary educator and technology facilitator with Federal Way Public Schools. Her career as a teacher and literacy tutor has taken her from Texas to Washington State, where she is currently a second and third grade teacher in a highly capable classroom. Steighner is a New Media Consortium K-12 Ambassador and a founding organizer of EdCamp Puget Sound. She is also a Google Apps for Education Qualified Individual and member of ISTE and NCCE. She holds a M. Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle Pacific University, a Bachelor of Music with Business Studies from The University of Puget Sound, and is a proud AmeriCorps alum. Steighner is also the author of Classroom Quests, a blog highlighting her adventures in teaching.

David Boxer is Director of Information Support Services at The Blake School, where he assists faculty and students in the creative and effective application of technologies for teaching, learning and scholarship; supports the integration of library services and instructional technology resources; and facilitates technology-enhanced curricular innovations. David has also been recognized as an NMC K-12 Ambassador.

Jonathan Nalder is a longtime advocate for ubiquitous learning. Having no access to desktop PCs as a Learning Support teacher, Jonathan chose to innovate rather than complain and began using mobile voice recorders, Palm PDAs, and then iPod touches with students to enhance their learning. He completed a Masters in Learning Innovation in 2008 (QUT), became an ADE (Apple Distinguished Educator) and won a Smart Classrooms Award in 2009, co-founded the www.Slide2learn.net community in 2010, and was awarded a Learning Without Frontiers (UK) award in 2011. He is currently seconded to work as a Principal Project Officer for Mobile and Digital Learning, and in this role has spent three years co-managing an ambitious One Laptop per Child deployment as well as several iPad projects for the Indigenous Education Division of the Queensland Education Department. He was immensely proud in 2013 to become an NMC K-12 Ambassador.

Sue Bedard was selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2013. She is also a Google Teacher Educator and an NMC Ambassador for K-12. Change is needed and through collaboration and commitment to change we can reinvent the process of education. Dr. Bedard's doctoral degree was awarded from NOVA Southeastern University in Instructional Technology and Distant Education focusing on Blogging in the 9- 12 Classroom. Her current position is a Course Director at Full Sail University in the Education Media Design and Technology Masters degree program. She also oversees the Action research process for all enrolled students. Prior to Full Sail University, Sue worked in the K-12 public education environment. Sixteen years were spent in Career and Technical Education implementing a wide range of hands on projects while promoting 21st century skills and Web 2.0 tools. During that time she was named Teacher of the Year from several local organizations as well as Florida's Business Teacher of the Year.

The New Media Consortium (NMC), an international consortium of learning-focused organizations, has selected 22 K-12 education professionals for its new NMC K-12 Ambassador Program. The Ambassadors range from district CIOs to teachers to directors of technology and many other roles in between. Launched in January 2013, the NMC K-12 Ambassador Program is a global search for K-12 education professionals who are committed to using innovative approaches to teaching and learning in their K- 12 classrooms. Distinguished as NMC Ambassadors, the selected individuals earned a one-year NMC membership as well as an influential place within the NMC community.

The NMC K-12 Ambassador program is focused on global education innovation and the transformation of teaching and learning. NMC K-12 Ambassadors are a group of distinguished education trailblazers that embody the NMC philosophies and practices. The qualifiers and guidelines to apply for the NMC K-12 Ambassador program are outlines in this document.