Brian J. Puerling, MS, NBCT is the director of education technology at the Catherine Cook School in Chicago, where he works with teachers to connect students to new technologies that offer innovative ways to explore, play and learn.
An early fellow career fellow and former guest blogger for the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media, he is the recipient of the National PBS Innovative Educator Award and the National PBS Teachers’ Choice Award.
A former preschool teacher for the Chicago Public Schools, Puerling has also worked as an early childhood teacher coach, a curriculum reviewer and a professional development facilitator for the Chicago Public Schools and the Rush University Medical Center Science and Math Excellence Network.
As a consultant for PBS, he is currently developing an online, self-paced course for preschool teachers entitled, “Exploring the Partnership Between Meaningful Media Creation and Environment to Support Science Learning.”
He also serves as an educational consultant for Nickelodeon and is a former member of the Nickelodeon Curriculum and Content Advisory Board. As a former member of the Sesame Workshop Teacher Council, he shared his knowledge of trends in early childhood education and technology to help guide the planning for future Sesame Street television shows.
Puerling is also the author of the Teaching in the Digital Age series, which includes Teaching in the Digital Age: Smart Tools for Age 3 to Grade 3 (Redleaf Press, 2012), Teaching in the Digital Age for Preschool and Kindergarten: Enhancing Curriculum with Technology (Redleaf Press, November 2017) and the upcoming book, Teaching in the Digital Age to Support Social-Emotional Development in Young Children (Redleaf Press, November 2018). He is currently working on the fourth book in the series, which outlines practical strategies for integrating technology into early learning.
He holds a master of science degree in early childhood education from the Erikson Institute and a bachelor of science degree in early childhood and elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and a Certificate of Advanced Education Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
