Geoff Belleau

Geoff Belleau is an education program administrator at the California Department of Education.  He has over 25 years of experience as a high school, middle-school, and elementary-school educator.  Before joining the Department of Education, he was a county office administrator, serving as program manager for instructional technology.  In this role, he coordinated instructional technology projects along with district IT administrators and worked with schools and districts on technology integration and professional development.  He has presented at several state and national education technology conferences.  As a semi active blogger he has also published several articles to help educators and administrators implement technology in the schools.

Laura Ogando

Laura Ogando began her career in the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) as an elementary special educator. It was in her role as a special educator that Laura became an advocate for using technology to bring equity and access to all learners.

After her time in the classroom, she worked in her school’s media center as a digital literacy specialist, where she designed and developed her own curriculum that brought together digital literacy, computer science, and project-based learning. Currently, Laura is the Program Manager for Digital Literacy and Inclusion with the Division of Instructional and Information Technology (DIIT).

She has been training teachers, in the DOE and around the country, in accessibility, Google tools for education, and digital literacy and citizenship. Laura holds various ed tech certifications–Google Level 1 and 2 Educator, Google Innovator, BrainPOP Educator, a Common Sense Media Ambassador, and Apple Teacher. She has presented at local conferences with the NYC DOE, at ISTE, and with various international organizations. Laura has also given workshops at Lehman College and has led professional development opportunities at various school districts.