Insynthesis LLC is a consultancy
and advisory service. As such, it is a synthesis of diverse and far-reaching
skills encompassing learning process designs, prototype education projects,
programs, and products, education industry business development, domain
expertise in learning, the humanities, writing, and poetry. Insynthesis
provides consulting based upon 25 years of experience in bringing innovation
to learning design, education industry process, and the creative writing
process.
Florence
McGinn, the CEO of Insynthesis LLC is a former United
States Commissioner on the Congressional Commission on Web-based
Education during the Clinton administration. She was appointed to
that 16 member national commission by then US Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley. The Web-based Education Commission was charged by
legislation to make policy recommendations and to provide a full
research report to the President and Congress. Florence McGinn
served as the chairperson of the Commission's National K-12 Education
Issues.
Florence McGinn is the recipient of the United States
National Technology and Learning 1998 Teacher of the Year
award, and she has been honored as Princeton University's Distinguished
Secondary School Educator. She has received a New Jersey
Teacher of the Year award and a United States Eastern Region
Teacher of the Year award. She is the recipient of several, New Jersey
Best Educational Practices awards and an Association of School
Curriculum Development award.
Florence McGinn provides services as Vice President
for GKE (Global Knowledge Exchange) and Vice President of the
Mediatech Foundation. She serves on the Boards of the Mediatech
Foundation and the GKE Foundation. Mrs. McGinn has served on advisory
boards with Cisco Learning Institute, PBS (National Public
Broadcasting Service) OnLine, Washington, DC-based SchoolTone Alliance,
Raritan Valley College, and Technology and Learning
magazine. Mrs. McGinn, as a former English teacher, developed pilot
projects through support from AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Liberty
Science Center, Lucent Technology, the United States Department of Education,
Bose Corporation, COMWEB, GKE, and the Hunterdon Foundation. As a former
educator, her learner-centric, innovation-focused English language and
writing pilot projects were cited as one of NJ's best web sites
by NJ Monthly and as one of the Internet's ten best educational sites
by LearninginMotion.
Florence McGinn presents widely throughout the United
States and internationally on technology-assisted learning policy,
design, and methods. She presented as keynote/spotlight speaker at the
Global Learning Initiative in Bologna, Italy; at Australia's
Change and Challenge Conference; Singapore's Conference 2000
and 2001 E-Learning Conference at the invitation of Singapore's Ministry
of Education and National Institute of Education; at SchoolTech,
at venues in China, Japan, Italy, and Korea,
on Shanghai television and on NJ Network television; at NECC,
TechSpo, SchoolTech, and at the international AMC Conference; for the
US Dept. of Education, for the NJ Dept. of Education,
for the NJ State School Board, and for groups including AT&T,
NJASA, PBS, National Teacher Training Institute, and IBM.
She has designed and taught innovative learner-centric English and emerging
technologies courses, offered professional training at The Academy and
in New Jersey Educational Teacher Training Centers as well as in a televised,
ten part series produced by NJ Network.
Florence McGinn has published on technology-assisted
learning policy and strategies in publications including Singapore's
Association of School Curriculum Journal, Technology and Learning,
Media and Methods and on-line for associations including
AT&T, The Milken Foundation, the Asia Media Information
and Communication Center, PBS OnLine, SchoolCity.com, Amnesty
International, and ClassroomConnect. CD-ROMs on "Educational
Digital Velocity" featuring Mrs. McGinn's innovative educational
methodologies, her essays, articles, and poetry, as well
as educational support materials are published and distributed in
China by Shanghai-based Centrix Technology, Nankai University, and GKE.
Additionally, Mrs. McGinn's innovative learning strategies and educator
materials have been published as supplementary materials in alignment
with China's National English Language textbook.
Florence McGinn's award-winning pedagogies and projects
are embedded in the international GKE Innovative Learning System. A
GKE Innovative Learning Center in Beijing, China, opened in 2003 adjacent
to Peking University's campus. The GKE Innovative Learning System is
being deployed by the prestigious Peking University Allied Elementary
School with plans in place for further distribution into 3,000 schools
in China's Shanxi province.
Mrs. McGinn has held an appointment as Off-Campus Poetry Professor to
Dianye School in Beijing, China.
Florence McGinn is a published poet. Her full-length
collection of poetry, BLOOD TRAIL, is published by Pennywhistle
Press (1st printing 2000, 2nd printing 2004) in America and reflects
her Asian American heritage. Elements of her book BLOOD TRAIL were utilized
for an on-line poetry slam, are integrated into web-based
collaborative creative writing activities, are part of creative
writing activities prepared for professional development training in
China, are in use in multicultural and English literature high
school classrooms in the United States, and are integrated into educational
materials for eBook distribution in Taiwan. One reviewer
indicated, "She paints with the ease of Chinese brush strokes to
place the archetypes and lush metaphors of human existence in her reader's
hearts." Florence McGinn has published poetry widely in journals
that include Midwest Poetry Review, Modern Haiku, Voices
International, and Parnassus. She has published children's
poetry in Cricket and Clubhouse. One of her children's
poems is utilized by McGraw-Hill in its standardized tests.
Another poem won a Peet's Coffee Poetry Prize in California and was
utilized for advertising. Florence McGinn has given poetry readings,
writing workshops, presentations on creative process, and creative writing
pedagogy and writing project keynotes throughout the United States and
internationally.
