CERTIFIED 2021 ANNOUNCEMENTS
CERTIFIED 2021 is Going Virtual!
At Certiport, our top priority is the health and safety of our educators, clients, and customers. With that in mind, CERTIFIED 2021 will again be going virtual! CERTIFIED 2021 will be the second virtual CERTIFIED event and we are excited to bring you more live sessions, fun interactive social experiences, and the teacher development you are looking for!
CERTIFIED 2021 Virtual features two registration options. The Enhanced Virtual Registration will include live keynote sessions, live breakout sessions, live Q&A sessions, certification exam through Certiport’s Exams from Home, exhibit booths, product updates, and interactive social sessions including trivia, escape rooms, and yoga! The Enhanced Virtual Registration is only $95. The Free Virtual Registration will include live keynote sessions, recorded breakout sessions, recorded Q&A sessions, exhibit booths, and product updates.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at certifiedconf@certiport.com.
CONNECT WITH CERTIFIED
CERTIFIED is your community! Together we are dedicated to exploring the pure potential and promise of certification in the classroom. You can listen, learn, and collaborate with a community of educators who share your passion for using certification to improve education and change lives.
CERTIFIED Educator Conference:
CERTIFIED is the only education conference dedicated exclusively to exploring the full promise of certification in the classroom. Administrators, teachers, and industry experts come together to learn, train, and collaborate.
CERTIFIED Educator Community:
Join the CERTIFIED Educator Community to get advice from fellow educators, discover new tools, and learn best practices for classroom success. Be the first to know about new Certiport blog posts and upcoming Certiport Academy courses.
CERTIFIED Educator Podcast:
This podcast will crack open the world of education, certification, and technology. Discover new ways to teach, connect with fellow technology educators, and get inspired.
Listen to the latest CERTIFIED Educator Podcast episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts.
ABOUT CERTIFIED
How much can technology certification really impact your classroom, your career, and the lives of your students? Join us at CERTIFIED 2023 to find out. CERTIFIED is the only education conference dedicated exclusively to exploring the full promise of certification in the classroom—by providing administrators, teachers, and industry experts with an engaging, energized forum for professional development, sharing their ideas, and experiences. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen, learn, and collaborate with a community of educators who share your passion for using certification to improve education and change lives.
Connect with a growing community that shares your passion for using certification to expand your students’ potential and change their lives.
Collaborate with administrators, teachers, and industry experts on ways to make certification a more effective educational tool.
Learn from your colleagues by attending a full schedule of sessions and activities—all led by fellow educators and certification experts. All attendees will earn 18 Professional Development Hours.
Develop your own skills and professional credentials by getting certified onsite for the technology you teach.
Enjoy plenty of great after-hours activities in a fun, relaxed environment—including an exclusive invitation to the 2022 Microsoft Office Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate U.S. National Championship awards ceremony.
2023 AGENDA
(All times shown in Eastern Standard Time)
7:00 AM – 3:00 PM | Registration Open |
8:00 AM – 3:00 PM | Certification Lab |
8:00 AM – 3:00 PM | Learning and Practice Lab |
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Coffee + Small breakfast |
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Workshops |
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM | Break |
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Breakout Sessions |
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Lunch / Sponsor Exhibits |
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Workshops |
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Opening General Session |
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM | CERTIFIED Opening Party |
GET TO KNOW THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Kim Strobel is an internationally-known motivational speaker and travels the globe sharing the impact of happiness on well-being and reaching for more fulfillment in our lives. Kim is a powerhouse, influencer, consultant, and happiness coach, whose work shapes the way schools, businesses, and organizations reclaim their happiness, ignite their passion, and lead with purpose. She focuses on helping them create what she calls work~life flow which means we achieve high levels of fulfillment in ALL areas of our lives.
Kim Strobel
Motivational Speaker, Leadership Consultant, and Happiness Coach

Craig serves as General Manager for Certiport, a Pearson VUE business. In this role, Craig is responsible for the overall segment of academic business for Pearson VUE, driving industry-recognized certifications and assessments for students in K12, higher education, and workforce development. Craig works closely with IT solution providers such as Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Intuit, Apple, and others to deliver their certification programs via the Certiport channel in more than 150 countries via a network of partners and 15,000 testing centers.
Craig Bushman
General Manager, Certiport

Prior to his retirement in 2020, Dr. Michael Armbruster spent 33 years with Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), Florida, serving as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal and finally as the Associate Superintendent for Career and Technical Education with the eighth largest district in the nation with over 208,000 students in K-12.
Dr. Michael Armbruster
Deputy Superintendent for Orange County Public Schools

The life of visionary Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at age five, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities. His many accomplishments and lessons learned along the way led him to discover the techniques business leaders, professionals, educators, and young people can use to redefine possible in their own lives and careers.
Spencer West
Global keynote speaker, content creator, and activist.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS FROM 2022
Monday, June 20 | Time Slot: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Workshop 1: Train the Trainer: Game Developer - Unity Game Engine
Session Description: Unity is a powerful and effective tool for students to learn how to animate, program, and develop engaging 2D, 3D, and VR/AR games and experiences. In this session, Jeremy Blair will discuss best practices for effectively teaching students the Unity platform. Topics include Pitfalls to avoid as a new game development teacher, examples of engaging assignments and projects, preparing students to pass the Unity Certified User Programming exam, and resources to help educators feel confident teaching Unity.
For K-12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
Workshop 2: Train the Trainer: IT Specialist - Artificial Intelligence
Session Description: Every day we use and interact with devices that use artificial intelligence, but to most of us the concepts of AI and machine learning are cryptic. As a result of impacts and societal changes, there is a growing movement to teach children, kindergarten through high school, about AI and encourage students to pursue careers in AI. In this session, Computer Science teacher Nora Burkhauser will present an overview of the big ideas of artificial intelligence and how AI lessons can be incorporated into your classroom. Example activities and projects will be presented along with a variety of resources and available curriculum.
For K-12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
Workshop 3: Teaching Digital Literacy—Helping Students Succeed in a Technology-driven World
Session Description: Finding, evaluating, and communicating information effectively in today’s sophisticated technology landscape has become an indispensable skill. In this session, Lenice DeLuca, an instructor at Immokalee Technical College, will explore the important role technology plays in students’ lives—and outline the skills they need to succeed in our technology-driven society. This includes providing useful tips for using IC3 Digital Literacy software to teach students about the importance of netiquette and help them gain the technology skills they need to succeed. Don’t miss this chance to gain the foundational knowledge you need to run a successful digital literacy class using the IC3 Digital Literacy Certification.
For K-12 Teachers
Workshop 4: Coding in Minecraft – An Engaging Computer Science Credential Program with Supporting Curriculum
Session Description: Are you looking for an engaging and immersive curriculum to teach your students to code? Have you always wanted to utilize game-based learning but didn’t feel you had enough gaming experience? With ‘Coding in Minecraft’ by Prodigy Learning, you don’t have to be a gaming or coding expert! In this session you will learn how ‘Coding in Minecraft’ creates a student-led, highly engaging learning experience where the teacher becomes the facilitator, and the students lead their own learning to learn how to code in JavaScript or Python. You will get hands-on with our immersive curriculum and see for yourself how the ‘Coding in Minecraft’ curriculum and credential pathway has all the resources you need to teach your students how to code.
For K-12 Administrators and Teachers
Monday, June 20 | Time Slot: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Breakout Session 1: Certification in Action: Exploring the Art of the Possible at Shorter College
Session Description: What impact can certification programs have on real people working to improve their lives and careers? Shorter College, an HBCU community college in North Little Rock, Arkansas, is exploring new answers to this important question—with an innovative program that combines the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification with real-world applications, engagement structures, and the latest teaching and learning methods. Join this session with Dr. Angee Valentine, the interim director of the Reimagine Workforce program at Shorter College, to learn how this approach is changing lives and creating new opportunities for participants to improve their college, employment, and career readiness skills.
For HED Administrators and Teachers
Breakout Session 2: IT Success for any School District: Tips and Tricks for Certiport Technology Implementation
Session Description: In this session, Alan Sherbourne will share successful modern practices of Compass integration in small and large school districts. Alan and Josh will demonstrate modern day strategies, to share with your IT department, to maximize efficiency with Compass deployments and delivery of exams. A "Q&A" session will follow to assist with those who are seeking additional IT guidance.
For K-12 and HED Administrators, Teachers, and IT Specialists
Breakout Session 3: Creativity and Real-World Integration: A Road Map to Success
Session Description: In today’s environment creativity has become increasingly vital. Translating skills learned in the design classroom empowers students with the tools needed to be successful in an ever-changing world. In this session, Erin Petry, graphic design instructor at Nitro High School in West Virginia, will discuss how the winning combination of BrainBuffet, CertPREP Practice Tests, powered by GMetrix and Real-World Integration enables success that extends far beyond the classroom.
For K-12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
Breakout Session 4: A New Path Forward: Building CTE Growth and Success in Underserved Sectors
Session Description: The past two years have posed unique challenges for school districts and community schools everywhere, and Broward County, Florida is certainly no exception. In this session, curriculum facilitator Serge Treyger will outline the steps Broward County Public School’s CTE department took to overcome those challenges—by creating an innovative new CTE program, growing and expanding CTE participation in underserved sectors, and documenting their progress and success. You’ll walk away with valuable insights and best practices you can use to develop CTE pathways for your middle schools and community schools that offer exciting new avenues for certification.
For K-12 Administrators and Teachers
Monday, June 20 | Time Slot: 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Workshop 5: Train the Trainer: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Session Description: Are you a computer science teacher who sees more and more companies moving to the cloud, but you aren’t familiar with cloud computing and don’t feel ready to teach it in your classes? Come join this session to learn the basics around Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, and leave ready to help your students’ skill up in this increasingly important area of IT.
For K12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
Workshop 6: Train the Trainer: Intuit Design for Delight (D4D)
Session Description:n this session, attendees will be introduced to Intuit’s design thinking methodology, Design for Delight (D4D) and how D4D can be used in the classroom to teach students how to innovate solutions to complex human-centered problems. Attendees will be introduced to D4D through an interactive, hands-on, experiential format and examples of how it has been applied in various classroom contexts will be offered.
For K12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
Workshop 7: Give Your Students “L”: LearnKey, Leniency, and Love
Session Description: In this hands-on workshop, high school teacher Angela McFarland will explore tools, concepts, and skills you can use to prepare for a successful, productive first day of school—and create meaningful activities for your students throughout the school year. Angela will discuss her efforts to develop an exciting new program for her district that combines the Entrepreneurship and Small Business (ESB) certification, the LearnKey platform, and other innovative tools and projects. You’ll walk away from this session with a clear understanding of the three “L’s” Angela has developed and how you can use them in your district or school: 1. LearnKey, working together with the ESB course; 2. Leniency, with activities that combine CertPREP Practice Tests, powered by GMetrix, Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and other resources; 3. Love, with additional projects that help students master the Microsoft Office Suite.
For K12 Administrators and Teachers
Workshop 8: Caution: Communication and Entrepreneurship Sparks are Flying
Session Description: Welcome to the electric classroom where no two days are the same and where sparks of energy for the content is quite contagious. Participants in this presentation will get to experience various Entrepreneurship and Small Business (ESB), and Communication Skills for Business (CSB) activities as they become “students” in Mrs. Stubblefield’s classroom. Additionally, tips for increasing pass rates will be shared and all participants will leave with several activities that are ready to be used in the classroom. “Can-do” sparks will be flying so come prepared to get burned by the electric world of ESB and CSB certifications.
For K12 and HED Administrators and Teachers
REGISTRATION AND PRICING
Early-bird pricing
Register early for BIG savings. If you register by April 1, 2023, you will receive $100 off the price of the full conference pass.
Group discount
Groups of 5 or more will receive an additional 10% discount.
U.S. National Championship
- Teachers who have student(s) qualify for the U.S. National Championship will receive free admission for CERTIFIED. To learn more about Certiport's Adobe Certified Professional and Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship, visit: Certiport.com/competitions
$695 + tax*
Regular Price
What does the conference fee include?
Conference fees include access to exclusive keynote speakers, breakout sessions, catered meals, networking events, and teacher parties. Conference fees do not include hotel or travel. Attendees can expect an exclusive rate starting at $165 per night for CERTIFIED at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista.
Submitting a request to attend CERTIFIED to administration? Download the 2023 CERTIFIED Justification letter here »
SPECIAL OFFERS FOR CERTIFIED ATTENDEES
Learn, Practice, Certify, Advance
Your best pathway to certification success involved four steps: LEARN - PRACTICE - CERTIFY - ADVANCE
To show you exactly how this process works - and why it's so successful we're offering in-person CERTIFIED 2023 attendees a bundle that includes:
- LEARN: One month subscription to both LearnKey and CCI training materials
- PRACTICE: One GMetrix Practice Test Voucher
- CERTIFY: One certification exam voucher to be used at CERTIFIED 2023 in the Certification Lab
- ADVANCE: The opportunity to showcase your skills with a certification that can advance your career!
This bundle is worth up to $326, so don't miss this chance to make it a part of your CERTIFIED 2023 experience!
* Bundle will be sent approximately one month prior to CERTIFIED 2023
5 MORE REASONS TO ATTEND CERTIFIED
CERTIFIED Ambassadors:
Listen. Learn. Share.
The CERTIFIED Educator Conference is a chance to listen, learn, and collaborate with fellow teachers. Certiport's CERTIFIED Ambassadors are your guides to help you connect with your community throughout the year.
The CERTIFIED Ambassadors are involved in all aspects of the CERTIFIED community: social media, podcasts, and our annual CERTIFIED Educator Conference. Get to know the CERTIFIED Ambassadors by connecting with them on LinkedIn today!
If you are interested in becoming a CERTIFIED Ambassador, applications will be open in 2023.
The Adobe Certified Professional US National Championship, Presented by Certiport and the Microsoft Office Specialist US National Championship
Experience the power of the certification at the Adobe Certified Professional and Microsoft Office Specialist US National Championship.
As a CERTIFIED 2023 attendee, you'll have the opportunity to experience the excitement and competition of both the Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship—a nationwide competition that tests top students on their Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills, and the Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship—a national competition that tests students’ design skills using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. This includes attending the exclusive awards ceremony and watching each states’ champions compete for gold and a chance to represent the U.S. at the 2023 World Championship in Orlando, Florida.
CERTIFIED’S EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Certiport is honored to present the 2022 CERTIFIED Educator of the Year award to Carol York, CTE Teacher, at Cary High School in North Carolina.
If you know of an educator who has made an impact with certification in their students, school, classroom, or community please let us know at certifiedconf@certiport.com.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
VENUE
CERTIFIED 2023 will take place at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida.
Address: 1751 Hotel Plaza Boulevard, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Phone: +1 407-827-2727
Special Rate for Attendees: Starting at $165 per night*
*Registration for CERTIFIED 2023 does not guarantee room availability at the Lake Buena Vista. Once the room block for the conference is full, you may have to find lodging at another hotel nearby.
CONTACT
We look forward to seeing you at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Palace for the 2023 CERTIFIED - Certiport Educator Conference.
If you have any questions, please contact the event team at certifiedconf@certiport.com.