We all have heard of the Cloud. We all know the purpose behind the cloud but did you ever think it could be used for education? Every teacher here at Renton Prep strives to unleash that power in children that originates in the Creator. The School in the Cloud helps us do that.

School in the Cloud

We at Renton Prep understand alternate methods of education. We know about differentiated instruction such as  Montessori, Open Schools, Home Schools, and others, but what in the world is the School in the Cloud? Or perhaps I should say “what out of this world?” Many alternate school systems have overlapping basic tenets, but the school in the cloud is truly new. Baby Boomers want to know what cloud it is in, The Great Generation wants the cloud to lift, and earlier generations would have called for an inquisition to extinguish the cloud. But younger generations know it already and have no trouble accepting the school in the cloud. This would be a good spot to watch Sugata Mitra’s “Build A School In The Cloud.” Go ahead and click it and come back to this article.

Can kids really teach themselves?

What is the primary purpose of a teacher? What works best – forced study or encouragement? If impoverished children in India can overcome a language barrier and still manage to learn, what can our kids do? Maybe in many ways they are doing it already; we just haven’t identified it as education. Who of us hasn’t frowned when we see a group of teens standing around like zombies glaring at their devices? And every one of you that wants to raise your hand has to put down your iPhone to do it. Hmm, do you feel the guilt?

The reality is that we live in a connected world.

It’s not a good or bad thing; it’s just the way it is. Like anything else, of course, these things can be used for good or evil. Drug dealers text each other and so do modernized nuns. And it impacts all of us. Recently I visited an Apple Store in a mall and saw a young service technician genius in his twenties holding a little class with about twenty very elderly people, older than Boomers. He was showing them how to text. Afterwards I smugly approached him and asked if it was hard to get through to older people. His response was, “They are the fastest learners we have.” Trust me when I say this – age is not the problem. Attitude is. It is clear that people with grandchildren want to connect with them. This would be the ideal grandma’s Mr. Mitra mentions in his video.

Motivation plays a huge role in education. Fortunately children are curious and inquisitive by nature. God made them that way. Actually the Scriptures refer to clouds and knowledge also,

Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
Job 37:16

Every teacher here at Renton Prep strives to unleash that power in children that originates in the Creator. They teach us as much as we teach them. We have created an environment with the help of technology that allows that to happen. Just like our example from India and the little girl at the end of his presentation, we want to “get on with it” and share it with the world.