International
Division Representative to the AECT Board

Eugene Kowch
University of Calgary

Biography:

Eugene Kowch is the immediate past president of AECT. As the first non-US resident (Candian) president in the 95-year history of AECT, he introduced a new Affiliate in Thailand and has two more affiliate chapters in progress signing up from India. His presidency marked a record number of invitations, speeches and collaborations with international AECT members and affiliate members and he was planner for the 2017 Jacksonville AECT Annual Convention, which was a success. Dr. Kowch is also the Past President, Communications Officer and Board rep of the Systems Thinking and Change Division, where he edits a major reference work volume put together with members of STC. He has also edited a special STC Edition on Leadership and EdTech in Techtrends with division members. Eugene's research focuses on developing leadership in complex adaptive education systems changing with technology-enhanced learning. He is Chair of the Education Policy, Leadership and Governance Department at the School of Education at the University of Calgary, spending ten years in the Educational Technology department before. He has published hundreds of presentations, articles and serves on five international publication editorial boards as well. With a first career in engineering, Eugene works to help professional societies internationalize their mindsets, social impact and social entrepreneurship so that members and learners' benefit.


Profile:

As AECT president, Eugene sees great potential for AECT International members to lead more research, design and even development project networks and to learn with others in our field around the world.  A global information age demands this for the benefit of north American and other education systems. As President, Dr. Kowch has supported the development of MOUs linking very large AECT Affiliates in East Asia experiencing steady member growth and social impact results. Most recently, he was invited to be a senior advisor for a major AI and internet service provider in China as part of commitment to the China Association of Educational Technology. Supporting Thailand international members and encouraging this year's AECT interns project to 'open up' middle and South American to new AECT members, he is delighted to support them in connecting 'south' of the US more.  Dr. Kowch has been a co-planner of a major Summit and AI / EdTech Expo in Beijing, and another in Hua Hin, Thailand this year, planning to help more AECT members to attend and join across the world to learn as our profession changes rapidly. His service to the International Division as an AECT Board Representative will be to Support the forward-thinking leadership and members in the International Division, to learn with them and to help in expanding global educational technology space so that AECT International Division members can further lead and benefit by exploring, learning and researching in other countries through new forms of conferences (online) and new forms of exchange we can develop together. As a Canadian, Dr. Kowch is committed to helping International Division leadership lead forward in our global community, perhaps including new emphases on areas new to AECT such as the middle east, Europe, India, Africa and Australia.


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