It was heartwarming to attend the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC22) in Orlando and to be amongst fellow Canadians including, George Couros (keynoter), exhibitors:SMART Technologies, D2L, ESL Library Netsweeper, to name a few. 

 

Congratulations to Montreal based, Paper Learning, one of the lead FETC sponsors, who first attended FETC as a prize after winning our Startup Challenge some five years ago. Fast forward to 2022 where they were the talk of the show with their full-court press marketing efforts having garnered $100 million U.S. in private equity funding. Have a listen to my interview with Phil Cutler, CEO, in this issue as he reflects on his start-up journey and his vision of democratizing tutoring services through school districts. Not surprisingly, his success came in the U.S. first. 

 

Another notable EdTech player at FETC, who has Canadian roots is CDI Computers, now rebranded Bluum and thriving in North America. They remind me of my TLC days with Kevin O'Leary (Mr. Wonderful) at the helm, where through M&A, we became one of the largest EdTech players globally. Yet we don't embrace our own in Canada. Hence, an opportunity and a challenge to identify the best tools for schools to help teachers help students thrive! Perhaps we all need to do a better job in gaining a greater appreciation for our world-class talent and technology and embrace our own!  

 

Be sure to have a listen to our FETC Featured podcasts, including one with the most notable EdTech leaders in the U.S., Keith Krueger, CEO, CoSN, who shares his trends for 2022. 

 

FETC generated some 10,000 attendees. And, to my amazement our 23rd CanAm Celebration of Excellence meetup had the largest attendance ever, 154 which led us to cut off registration. 

 

No question, I was apprehensive about attending FETC, however, being amongst education peers, there was a comfort level where people were respectful of distancing and masking. The promising news is that we sense strongly, given all the data, this pandemic is nearing its end and face to face conferences will once again be the norm. 

 

It was wonderful to re-connect with colleagues, connecting with new peeps face to face and catchup on lost time. 

 

A quick final FETC story and highlight involving Elon Musk making an impact on sustaining learning in Texas. I met a Superintendent at FETC who lamented about his large rural student population and lack of internet access. His district's problem-solving solution was to partner with SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Internet service to hover over the region. Problem solved! The future of learning requires agile and innovative public-private partnerships to help support students thriving in the 21st century!

P.S. Watch for the launch of  Canada's 14th Schools of the Future Challenge February 17 at the Dell Technologies Education Roadshow!

 

Robert Martellacci, M.A. EdTech
Founder & President, MindShare Learning Technology™
Chief Digital Publisher, The MindShare Learning Report™
Founder, MindShare Workspace--Your Place to Work & Learning
CEO & Co-founder, C21 Canada--Canadians for 21st Century Learning & Innovation

Follow us on Twitter @MindShareLearn @c21can @mindsharework
https://mindsharelearning.ca/

The MindShare Report is grateful for the guidance and support provided by our esteemed advisory board. 

Kevin Custer, Founding Principal, Arc Capital Development 
Chip Fesko, President, Fesko Inc.
Ian Fogarty, Educator, Riverview High School | MindShare National Video Challenge Award Winner 
Dr. Guy Tetrault, Award Winning Sun West Director & CEO (Retired)
Michael Furdyk, Co-Founder, TakingItGlobal 
Dr. Eric Hamilton, Associate Dean of Education, Pepperdine University, Graduate School of Education and Psychology 
Maxim Jean-Louis, CEO, Contact North/Contact Nord, 
Gary Kern, Director of Learning, St. George's School 
Dr. Susanne Lajoie, Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University 
David Marsi, Practice Management Consultant - Private Wealth (Specialist, Developing Talent), BMO Private Wealth
Mirella Rossi, Superintendent of Education, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board
Sandra Chow, Award Winning Teacher, Toronto District School Board 
Ron Sedran, MD, Equity Capital Markets, Canaccord Adams

Zelia Capatao-Tavares, Award-Winning Educator, Toronto District School Board

The MindShare Learning team is made up of the following awesome individuals: 

Robert Martellacci, M.A. Ed Tech., Chief Digital Curator 

Dr. Ron Owston, PhD., Research Associate, University Professor Emeritus, Former Dean of Faculty, York University 

Chris Kim, PhD., Research Associate, Software Engineer, software studio, Fresco Industries
Timothy Gard, B.Ed., OCT, M.A, Chief Learning Strategist
Hanan Mousa, M.B.A, B.C. S. Digital Media Specialist
Ivana Zelich, Mindshare Digital Media Student
Valerie Rusnov, B.A. Hons., B.Ed., Editor 
Filomena Martellacci, B.A. Hons., B.Ed., OCT, Editor

About The MindShare Learning Report™ 
Canada's Learning & Technology eMagazine 
Our mission is to transform education by sharing knowledge of 21st Century innovative best practices and success stories in the Canadian education market space and beyond.

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