Dr. Doug Elmendorf earned his Doctorate in Instructional Technology from Towson University in 2012. He is currently a middle school Principal and has served as a Principal at the elementary level as well. Dr. Elmendorf works as an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, and Goucher College. He created and currently teaches a master’s level course at JHU entitled Emerging Issues in Digital Age Learning, which has an important focus on Maker Learning in K-12 and Higher Education settings. He has led the way for Maker Learning in his district by securing significant grant funding and establishing the first elementary and middle school makerspaces in Baltimore County Public Schools. Dr. Elmendorf has used those experiences to coach many other Principals in developing maker learning programs and spaces in their schools. Realizing that Making is a mindset and not a place, he has leveraged the virtual environment that resulted from COVID-19 to lead remote and hybrid makerspace learning initiatives.

Dr. Elmendorf has written and presented extensively on the Maker Movement. Writing focus areas include making in the ELA classroom, empowering students through making, developing maker leaders, and maker education for the next generation of teachers. Most recently, Dr. Elmendorf presented Developing Makerspace Activities to Help Improve Preservice Teachers’ Technology Integration Competency at SITE 2020 and has done K-12 consultation work with SAM Labs to help maker learning accessible to ALL students in any environment.

Dr. Jason Harron is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology at Kennesaw State University. An artist and designer by training, Dr. Harron’s research focuses on the intersection of creativity, technology, and the arts. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Texas at Austin, where he co-founded the UTeach Maker program and wrote his dissertation on interdisciplinary learning between artists and engineers. Dr. Harron has authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications, including research about the maker movement in K-12 education that has been published in Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE), Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning (IJPBL), Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education (JDLTE), and Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE). In addition, Dr. Harron has supported practitioners with featured publications about making in The Science Teacher and Science Scope.

His current scholarly interests include enriching STEM and the arts through creative computing, investigating how the pandemic has impacted the maker movement in K-12 education, and exploring how AR/VR-based models and simulations can alter perspective taking. If elected co-chair, Dr. Harron plans on nurturing cross-institutional collaborations between Maker SIG members to investigate the state of maker education in a post-pandemic society.

My name is Pankaj Khazanchi. Presently, I am serving as Co-Chair for New Possibilities with Information Technology and have completed three years in this position. I have an interest in Maker SIG. I have organized projects on MAKER space for increasing students' engagement for my students in the past. I am a doctoral candidate at Liberty University. My research topic is "predictive relationship between teachers' concerns and teachers' self-efficacy in dealing with k-12 students in inclusive classrooms." Earlier I have completed an educational specialist degree from Lincoln Memorial University in curriculum and instructions, and I have completed two master's degrees. One in Psychology and another in Early Child Care and Education. Currently, I am teaching students in the Autism Integrated program at Cobb County School District in Georgia. I have 28 years of teaching experience in varied settings in India and the US. I want to nominate myself for the Maker SIG co-chair position.  

My experience and expertise will help to grow this SIG. I also have Georgia Teaching Certifications in 14 different areas, including Preschool teaching, Leadership, Emotional Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability, Adaptive Curriculum, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Early Elementary Education. I have written five book chapters and have several google scholar citations. Every year, I present at the SITE conference and have been an active member since 2017. I have an interest in integrating technology to improve students' engagement and learning. I believe makers space using the technology of 3D printing, software design, computer-assisted designs, and hand-on toys have an important role in K-12 classrooms.  

Dr. Michael Schad completed his doctoral training at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Education, Instructional Technology. While in attendance his interest and area of research focused on the maker movement in education. He has continued this line of research while working at VCU as an instructional designer, and has presented at SITE, AERA, and other conferences on maker technology and its social impact in educational settings.

Prior to completing his doctoral work, Michael taught middle school for seven years whereby he saw first-hand the impact of technology and the importance of teacher training with technology. Not only is he interested in the maker movement and education, but he also is interested in ways different technologies have changed the educational setting, informal learning environments with technology, and teacher training associated with technologies.