Featured Contributors

Thomas Arnett is a senior research fellow in education for the Christensen Institute. His work focuses on identifying strategies to scale student-centered learning in K–12 education through Disruptive Innovation. Thomas previously served as a trustee and board president for the Morgan Hill Unified School District in Morgan Hill, California, worked as an Education Pioneers fellow with the Achievement First Public Charter Schools, and taught middle school math as a Teach For America teacher in Kansas City Public Schools. Thomas received a BS in Economics from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Steve Baule is a faculty member at Winona State University (WSU), where he teaches in the Leadership Education Department. Prior to joining WSU, Baule spent 28 years in K-12 school systems in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, and two years teaching in the University of Wisconsin System. For the 13 years prior to moving to the university level, Baule served as a public -school superintendent. He has written 10 books on a variety of educational and historical topics and has served on the editorial boards for two journals. Baule earned an advanced diversity and equity certificate while in the UW system. He holds a doctorate in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University Chicago.

Baule’s scholarly interests focus on online student engagement, educational technology-- particularly the impact of 1:1 implementations, social-emotional learning, and the history of education. Baule led several efforts to improve student emotional health and reduce discipline issues prior to moving into higher education. He also writes on aspects of early American history.

Baule has held memberships in the American Association of School Administrators, the American Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Consortium for School Networking, the International Association of School Librarians, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Staff Development Council, and many of their state affiliates. He has served as a consultant in the areas of educational technology, facilities design, library program development, team building, and communications.

Ryan Cloutier (LinkedIn) is the principal security consultant for SecurityStudio, he is an experienced IT/Cyber Security professional with more than 15 years of experience developing Cyber Security programs for Fortune 500 organizations.Ryan is a virtual Chief Information Security Officer for K-12 districts across the country, is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP®, and is proficient in cloud security, Dev-Ops, and Sec-Ops methodologies, security policy, process, audit, compliance, network security, and application security architecture.

Carol DeFuria has more than 20 years of experience in online education management and systems development. Prior to becoming President of VHS Learning in 2015, she served as the Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for overall management of operations, including school services, finance and accounting, technology services and support, and human resources. She has designed and delivered online courses and has been with VHS Learning since its inception in 1996. Prior to her work in online education, she managed systems development for UNUM. Carol holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and an MBA from Clark University. She is also a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and a licensed MA educator.

A fifth-generation family member, Britten Follett is CEO at Follett Content Solutions, which has long been the No. 1 provider of content and technology solutions to school libraries at more than 70,000 schools and school districts. She has led Follett’s PreK-12 business since September 2019 and is responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction, and business development. In September 2020, Publishers Weekly named her a “PW Star Watch” honoree, one of 40 professionals singled out from the North American publishing industry.

Amy Jeffs currently serves as Vice President of Status Solutions, and has held various positions within the mission-based organization for the past 13 years. Her primary duties include assisting Status Solutions' Founder and President with developing and implementing the company's overall go-to-market strategy. Her past experience includes 20+ years of technology business and marketing at start-ups up to Fortune 500 companies.