Alan Greenberg: I can fix technology. I cannot fix people.
Dafina Halili, Kosovo 2.0 (www.kosovotwopointzero.com) – edTech guru discusses how technology is shaping the future of learning.
“I don’t care about being liked. I want to be respected,” says Alan Greenberg, a world leader in education technology and innovation, as he explains what he calls the ‘Greenberg technique,’ to K2.0. Young developers and startups need to be able to explain their product in 30 seconds in order to grab his attention, otherwise he moves on. “If they aren’t able to explain in 30 seconds what they are doing and what it will change, it will fail.”
Greenberg was demonstrating his technique on participants in the Startup Fair at the fifth edition of the KOSICT Tech festival, which was held in Prishtina last week. The conference was organized by the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK) with support from Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK) and Universum University College. It featured talks on a number of global trending topics in IT; from digital marketing to education technology and e-sports.
Greenberg, who managed Apple’s Higher Education business in Europe and Asia between 2004 and 2009, was one of the most prominent KOSICT speakers during the two-day conference, that gathered international speakers from the tech world. He is now an investor, consultant and sometime mentor to a number of tech companies from across the globe. His portfolio includes companies from New York to London to Beijing.
For over a decade, his focus has been on education technology. His presentation at KOSICT included an introduction to ed-tech apps that have already found a place in the classroom and new apps that are being developed with the aim of further revolutionizing digital learning. K2.0 caught up with him after this presentation to discuss how technology can improve education, how the Kosovo government can help tech companies, and the development of technology to help autistic children.
In order to read the full interview, please follow this link: http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/alan-greenberg-i-can-fix-technology-i-cannot-fix-people/
