A native of New York City, Mark Gura taught in public schools in East Harlem for two decades. Afterwards, he spent 5 years as a staff and curriculum developer for the central office of the New York City Department of Education. Eventually, he was tapped to establish the Department’s Office of Instructional Technology, where he held the position of Director for 7 years, supervising professional development in the use of technology, citywide. After retiring, Mark joined Fordham University’s Regional Educational Technology Center, organizing citywide education conferences and events. He has taught Instructional Technology courses for both Fordham and Touro College. Mark has written books and created  materials for ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), Information Age Books, Scarecrow Books, Corwin, and Teacher Created Materials. He has been an education writer for the New York Daily News and contributed numerous articles to Converge, T.H.E. Journal, and EdTech magazines. He is the co-producer of the popular podcasts The Teachers Podcast, Talking Financial Literacy Podcast, and host/producer of Literacy Special Interest Podcast. Mark has spoken on the subject of Instructional Technology throughout the U.S.  Visit: http://www.markgura.blogspot.com/ Write to: markgura@verizon.net