TELOS seminar talk on equity and innovation: Lessons from the Department of Education

Richard Culatta is a leader in the field of educational innovation. He has experience in K-12, higher education, and workplace learning environments. As the Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the US Department of Education his work focused on leveraging technology to create personalized learning experiences for all students and promoting increased connectivity to improve access to education and make college more affordable. Prior to joining the Department of Education, he served as an education policy advisor to U.S. Senator Patty Murray. Culatta’s previous work centered around leveraging social media to create effective large-scale distributed learning environments. Prior to joining the federal government, Culatta was the Director of Operations for the Rose Education Foundation and learning technologies advisor at Brigham Young University where he was instrumental in redesigning the teacher preparation program at the McKay School of Education. He began working with educational technology at the University of Rhode Island where he co-taught the university’s first technology integration workshops for faculty.

Karen Cator is CEO and President of Digital Promise, a non-profit whose mission is to vastly improve the opportunity for all Americans to learn by accelerating innovation in education through technology and research. From 2009-2013, she served as Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, where she led the development of the 2010 National Education Technology Plan and focused the Office's efforts on teacher and leader support. Prior to joining the Office of Educational Technology, Cator directed Apple's leadership and advocacy efforts in education.