BASIL R.S.

KOLANI
68-50 Burns Street
Apt. D3
Forest Hills, NY 11375

phone: 917-664-6318
email: basilkolani@gmail.com
skype: bkolani

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Teachers College, Columbia
University, New York, NY
M.A., Technology in Education,
May 2013

Bates College, Lewiston, ME

B.A., English with honors
Secondary concentration in
Education
May 1998

Regis High School,

New York, NY, June 1994

National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Fellowship for Aspiring School Heads
Awarded fellowship by NAIS to examine school headship and work towards a first assignment as a head,
as well as conduct an action research project culminating in a presentation at 2016 NAIS Annual
Conference. 2015-2016
Emerging Leaders Institute of the New York Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS)
Member of the founding cohort of the NYSAIS Emerging Leaders Institute, a two year experiential course
of study examining all aspects of school leadership including headship, admissions, diversity, governance,
strategic planning, and supervision. 2011 2013

RECENT WORK EXPERIENCE

Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Ridgefield Academy, Ridgefield, CT,
2015-present
Founding director of a center-within-a-school dedicated to ensuring that every student receives a 21st
century education and charged with making the school an attractive value-proposition relative to area
public schools and raise the schools fundraising and admissions profiles
Work with potential donors on creating a center that shapes the schools curriculum and creates new
opportunities for teaching and learning
Responsible for coordinating all of the schools professional development, and manage budget to
send faculty to conferences/workshops and bring experts to campus
Partner with division heads to examine school-wide scope and sequence and create inquiry-based
and constructivist experiences for students with an initial focus on STEM/STEAM, then broadening to
all subject areas
Supervise a student support team of one in-house learning specialist and contracted speech
pathologist and psychologist
Part of administrative and academic leadership teams

Head of Technology and Innovation, Director of Information Services, Dwight School, New York,
NY, 2005-2015
Led a combined department that spanned academic and administrative areas of school, comprising
academic technology and integration, IT support, and libraries at an N-12 International Baccalaureate
World School
Worked with students, faculty from all divisions to develop innovative curriculum with purposeful use
of technology
Created and chaired an innovation committee of faculty innovation coaches, developed curricular
and organizational structures to support a 1:1 iPad pilot program a school-wide 1:1 mixed-device
program

 Managed schools largest budget and worked within financial constraints to deliver leading-edge
technology solutions to all grade levels and administrative areas
Coordinated technology and innovation between Dwight's flagship New York campus and campuses
in Shanghai, London, Seoul, and Vancouver
Chair of Technology/Design department, ensured scope and sequence of technology and design
curriculum from N-12; taught Design and Design Thinking to high school students
Workshop Leader/Site Visitor/School Consultant, International Baccalaureate Americas, Bethesda,
MD, 2012-present
Chosen to be a member of the International Baccalaureate Educators Network and trained to be a
workshop leader, site visitor, and consultant for school authorization
Have delivered workshops for teachers in Design, Technology, Inquiry, and Global Contexts for
Teaching and Learning
Have served on school authorization and evaluation visits to schools in the United States and
Canada
As a school consultant, have delivered an introductory workshop on teaching in the IB and worked
with school on submitting application for authorization as an IB World School
Professional Development Organizer, New York, NY, 2009-present
Create engaging opportunities for teachers from around the world to learn from and help inspire other
educators.
Founding organizer and current curator and licensee of TEDxNYED, a New York City-based TEDx
event on education
Founding organizer of Edcamp NYC, a series of teacher-driven unconferences in New York City
Founding organizer of Edcamp IB, the first unconference dedicated to teaching and learning in the
International Baccalaureate
Manage all aspects of conference planning, including speaker selection, budgeting, partner and
sponsor relationships, location selection, and ongoing outreach to participants and speakers
Middle Years Program Moderator, International Baccalaureate, Cardiff, England, 2011-2015
Middle Years Program moderator of student work from schools around the world in Design/Technology,
evaluating work against an international set of assessment criteria and critiquing teachers assessment
tasks to ensure that they enable students to reach highest achievement levels.
Director of Technology, The Churchill School and Center, New York, NY, 2001-2004
First director of technology at a K-12 school dedicated to students with learning differences charged with
thinking about technology on a strategic and school-wide scale as the school moved into vastly expanded
facilities and grew into high school grades
Collaborated very closely with the head of school and business manager on strategic planning and

initiatives
Worked with students, faculty, and parents from across the community as the school moved into
expanded new facilities and increased computing resources by more than five times
Formalized technology support as a complementary piece to academic technology
Managed school-issued budgets and state funds to ensure that the school served as a model for
the use of purposeful assistive technology

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

Systems Engineer, Tekserve, New York, NY, 2004-2005
Client-side Developer, <kpe>, New York, NY 2000-2001
Assistant Systems Administrator and Technology Teacher, Regis High School, New York, NY, 19992000
Program Assistant, International Development Office, International Reading Association,
Washington, DC, 1998-1999

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS
Have presented/will present on various topics related to educational technology, student-centered
learning, and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program at:

NYSAIS Education and Information Technology (NEIT) conferences

NYSAIS Admissions (2013)
NYSAIS Assistant/Division Heads conference (2012)
EduCon 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015)
Edcamp NYC
IB Conference of the Americas (2013)
IB District Workshops (2013, 2014)
IB Regional Workshops (2014, 2015)
NY Jesuit Colloquium (2013)
Bates College Innovations in Education (2013)
MakerBot Getting Started with 3D Printing (2014)
SXSWedu (2014, 2015)
Poughkeepsie Day School STEM to STEAM and Beyond (2014)
Regis High School Summer Teaching Lab (2014)
World Maker Faire (2014)
edSocialMedia Summit (2009)

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE TRAINING

Middle Years Program (MYP) workshop leader upskilling course, IB Career- related Program (IBCP)
Reflective Project and Approaches to Learning training, MYP Academy, MYP Technology Category 2 and
3, MYP Inquiry and Interdisciplinary Units Category 3, Teaching Diploma Program (DP) Film Category 1

OTHER
Past president of New York Consortium of Independent School Technologists (NYCIST), member of
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development (ASCD), active voice in various online spaces dedicated to education and innovation
Contributing writer at edSocialMedia on the role of social media in independent schools and colleges
Frustrated classics scholar and musician