On May 24 and 25, RTC was honoured to host 10 Google employees from regional offices in Asia (India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, etc).  They were part of a group of 61 “Googlers” who were in Bhutan as part of Google Employees’ Volunteer initiative, and presented several informative workshops and seminars to students, staff and faculty over the 1.5 days. 

Will and Isa, kicked off the program by a short introduction to Google to a packed auditorium.  They explained that Google is only 15 years old, and although founded by two PhD students at Stanford, it had now had grown to a company of over 40,000 employees in more than 45 countries.  They also enlightened the audience as to how Google got its name – a mathematical term that refers to a very large number (1 followed by 100 zeros). 

The workshops covered areas such as marketing and online branding (Gap and Sana), the use of technology in education (Jo, Stacey, Martin and Josh), programming (Nikita) and also included an all day leadership seminar for student leaders and staff (Will and Sara).  Sessions were also held with faculty and staff to share expertise in areas of program content improvement and technology based learning interventions. The wrap up session on Saturday with RTC administration, focused on ways that Google could continue a relationship with RTC.

Students were enthusiastic during the sessions and obtained much needed mentoring from “Googlers” in a range of areas. Staff and faculty also felt that the sessions were rather positive for improving teaching and learning at RTC. All in all, Google’s presence at RTC was inspirational to students, staff and faculty, and it is hoped that the visit planted the seeds for a long-standing and fruitful association with RTC. яндекс