Fuelling a revolution - for a better future.

Education as such is something worth reflecting on.

Anyone reading this who has a child may often ask themselves, what will the world be like when little junior is my age? And while the response to this perennial question is impossible to know, it seems to fuel most of us to do everything we can to "best prepare them for what's to come".

Teachers have the humbling privilege and responsibility to best equip our children to succeed in the world that awaits them beyond the comfort of their K-12 education. A thought provoking quote by Richard Riley comes to mind:

»We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.«

Whether you agree with this sweeping statement or not, we do have to ask ourselves how are schools, as institutions, equipped to take on this daunting task? Are schools themselves responsive enough to the accelerating changes of the external world? And if not, can they pretend to foster a culture of resourcefulness and innovation for the children of parents who place all their trust in them to do so?

Well, enough musing. Something clearly needs to be done. This is a problem that can be tackled, and I will tell you how:

By training teachers.

Teachers are the cornerstone for a better future. Current and previous generations have done their part in putting us in the mess that the human race is now facing. We are leaving a legacy of huge problems that our children will have to collectively clean up. Our kids spend most of their time (sleep does not count) at school... the same way we spend most of our waking time at work. Logic follows that (good) educators may be able to have an even more profound impact on our children's character than we as parents ever could.

If these teachers are able to usher the future into the present, by using forward-looking technology, then hope exists that our children will be "prepared" for the future.

A truly exciting event will take place in Montreal from the 25th to the 27th of November 2016: The second annual Montreal EdTech Summit featuring Google for Education. The EdTech Team, inc. are known for producing high-calibre edutech events around the world, and I am absolutely ecstatic to be presenting two of the summit's workshops:

1) Google Keep - a well-kept secret (for many).

2) The brand new Google Sites - a quantum leap forward.

By helping a teacher, we help thousands of students. By helping hundreds of teachers... well, you know where this is going... It is an honour for us at CloudLion to be able to contribute to this great event.

After all, education need not be exclusive to schools or universities. We learn everyday, from everyone. While CloudLion's activities are concentrated in the business community, we salute all educators, and share with you the common goal of helping our students/clients prepare for the challenges of the present and future.

While I sometimes catch myself missing the years I taught in classrooms, it fills me with tremendous satisfaction to train adults from all walks of life on using Google Apps so that they may be more productive, collaborative, creative and happy in their workplace and beyond.

See you in Montreal!