About Us
Our Executive Leadership Team
EDforTech’s STEM experts provide world-class professional development to increase the capacity of teachers by sharing their unique combination of both educational and practical backgrounds in science, mathematics, engineering, and computer science.
Linda Nichols-Plowman
Chief Executive Officer
Linda Nichols-Plowman has been the founder and executive editor at Interactive Media Publishing for 20 years and is now also CEO of EDforTech where she leads teams to develop curriculum, professional development, facilitator guides, and oversees operations of the business. She has
managed teams that have created over 100 online courses for corporations, colleges, and other government agencies. Prior to launching Interactive Media, Linda worked over 15 years as a software engineer and systems analyst. She is a published author and has also self-published several books on robotics topics. Her passion is helping teachers bring coding to students in a fun and interactive way with robots, and to use STEM labs to engage students and prepare them with 21st Century skills.
Joe Lively
Chief Operating Officer
Joe Lively provides the systems integration and management oversight for the operations of EDforTech. Joe’s enthusiasm for robots is contagious when providing Professional Development for robotics programs and supporting teachers in implementing robotics technology in
their classrooms. Joe began his career as a software engineer and electronics technician. He taught introductory computer courses at Oregon State University. He has been the Academic Program Director at Interactive Media Publishing since 2013. His role has included designing activities for lesson plans and supporting schools and instructors to implement and compete in STEAM programs. Joe has provided curriculum support and trained hundreds of teachers in coding, robotics, STEAM and PBL concepts. He works closely with school administrators to provide technology integration solutions for programs looking to broaden their STEAM offerings and improve educational outcomes.
Todd Ullah Ed.D
Chief Strategy Officer
Dr. Todd Ullah has been a science teacher, magnet coordinator, District Director of Instructional Technology, District Director of Science Education, and a high school principal for the Los Angeles Unified School District. His energy is focused on advancing leadership and closing opportunity gaps
in education opportunities around the world. He received his doctorate at UCLA focusing on charter schools as systemic change where he helped form the first charter schools in Los Angeles. He has been recognized for school improvement, parent engagement, college readiness, science education, computer science, and technology efforts in his many years of public service. Served as the State Account General Manager for Pearson Education overseeing business development, strategic partnerships, grants, and territory sales for CA and HI. Most recently he is a Chief Strategy Officer in the Ed Tech Industry, teaches Leadership classes at the University of San Diego, and is the Vice President for Education at National Education Foundation, where works closely with STEM+ Academy Directors to implement and maintain academies at over 25 school districts across the US.
About Us
EDforTech Corp specializes in offering fun, engaging, and memorable K-12 STEM education experiences to ALL teachers and learners with high-quality, affordable products and dependable services. We offer K-12 educators a turn-key solution with digital curriculum, robots and STEAM lab kits, plus coaching, professional development, and technical support services.
We are committed to creating learning opportunities and emancipatory experiences that lower the barrier of entry into STEM careers with a clear focus on those students that have been traditionally underserved and with limited access to the pipeline leading to such careers. With over 40 years combined experience in the education, technology, and curriculum development fields, our executive team is well qualified to assist schools in developing and implementing STEM programs.
EDforTech Corp is the parent company of Interactive Media Publishing which has been providing the Exploring Robotics brand of turn-key STEM solutions (ExploringRobots.com) since 2013. We are headquartered in Eugene, Oregon and serve schools across the U.S.
Some of the reasons why schools choose to partner with us as their preferred STEM solutions provider is because we…
- Help schools implement an Exploring Robotics pathway of courses from K to 12. We choose the best robots from manufacturers that have been proven to stand up to classroom use, add hands-on minds-on materials, engineering notebooks, accessories and storage solutions, and provide a turn-key package to teachers.
- Provide professional development and ongoing support for teachers to build capacity helping ensure teacher prep and success with the technology and use of STEM lessons.
- Provide a curriculum with step-by-step lessons to teach coding with answer keys included for teachers so they don’t need to be experts in coding to begin with, just coaches.
- Develop and customize STEM lessons that incorporate Problem Based Learning (PBL) and the engineering design process, with lesson plans using the research-based 5E instructional model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate that has been proven to be effective at teaching math, science, and coding.
- Develop lessons that address and foster access to content for English Language Learners and those newcomers in English Language Development programs.
- Focus our products and curriculum on all three learning modalities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) that are the basis for most standards based teaching and learning processes.
- Develop curricula aligned to Standards: Math, ELA, NGSS, CSTA, and CTE.
- Provide teacher resources: getting started, scope and sequence, lesson plans, step-by-step instruction in powerpoints and videos, checklists, tips and techniques, technology setup, PBL strategies, and classroom setup.
- Include assessments: pre-post assessments, performance task activities, PBL and project grading rubrics, engineering notebook assignments, worksheets with answer keys, and test questions that can be integrated into the school’s LMS systems.
