Ken Shelton

Educational Consultant

Ken has worked as an Educator for over 20 years and spent most of his classroom experience teaching technology at the Middle School level. Ken is an Apple Distinguished Educator, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, and a Google Certified Innovator. He regularly presents, consults, and leads workshops, covering a wide variety of Educational Technology, Equity and Inclusion, Anti-Bias/Anti-Racist, Multimedia Literacy, Cultural Intelligences, Visual Storytelling, and Instructional Design topics. Ken is the ISTE Digital Equity PLN 2018 Excellence Award winner. Ken has also been named by EdTech Magazine as an influencer to follow. Ken has worked extensively at the policy level with a number of State Departments of Education, Ministries of Education, non-Profits, and was appointed by the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Education Technology Task Force. 

Deidre Hugo

Google Workspace and Chrome Engineer, CloudEDU

With more than 15 years of classroom experience , Deïdré Hugo is passionate about technology integration and empowering students to optimise learning from various technological platforms. 

In 2005 Deïdré travelled to London where she spent two years working with underprivileged, special needs children. During this time, Deïdré realised the scope of varied teaching strategies, and the value of embracing each individual learner with empathy, in accordance with their learning barriers.  In 2007 Deïdré started working at Elkanah House Preparatory as a Foundation Phase Teacher. She then pursued the opportunity of an IT Teacher, which later developed into the role of Head of Digital Learning. From there, she travelled to Kuwait where she spent the following two years as the IT Director at Kuwait English School, successfully managing a fleet of over 2500 Chromebooks. 

Deïdré is a Certified Google Professional Collaboration Engineer, Chrome OS Administrator, Google Level 2 Educator, Certified Google EDU Trainer and Certified Google Administrator.

Ben Whitaker

Ed Tech Educational Consultant

Ben is an Educational Consultant working with a number of clients on both digital and cultural transformation. Prior to this, Ben worked for 15 years in education as an Assistant Principal and Curriculum Manager, focusing on Apprenticeships and formerly in his subject specialisms of Religious Studies & Sociology. He is co-host of the popular Edufuturists podcast where he explores the future of education by interviewing thinkers from around the world. This culminates in their annual awards event to celebrate those in the education sector who are making it happen.

Ben is chair of governors at a primary school and a trustee of a local charity but most importantly he is husband to Amanda, and dad to Niamh (12) and Martha (8). He tweets at @itsbenwhitaker

Karien Joubert

Chrome in Education Evangelist, CloudEDU 

During her time as an educator Karien Joubert developed  a passion for ed tech and incorporating technology in the classroom. She initiated her school’s journey with Google Workspace for Education in 2018, playing a leading role in the planning, preparation, staff development, device implementation and management for successful whole-school school transition. In 2021 that school was recognised as a Google Reference School, giving credence to a successful implementation and ongoing use of Google Workspace for Education in the learning environment.

As Chrome in Education Evangelist for CloudEDU, Karien’s passion now encompasses the development and support of educators and schools on their journey to transform teaching and learning in their classrooms. Karien is a Google Certified Trainer who shares her experience from “managing it all as both a classroom teacher and Edtech integrator.”

Esethu Stofile

Google Workspace Transformation Specialist

Esethu is a trained educator with 12 years of classroom experience with a specialisation in Mathematics and Physics. Esethu taught a diverse group of students with unique needs at two high schools in Cape Town, South Africa. Integrating digital technology into his lessons helped him ensure that students were able to understand different problem solving techniques. 

Susequently, he became a provincial eLearning advisor for the Western Cape Deparment of Education (South Africa) and led the province in innovation. He honed in on the skill of rendering advisory service to district personnel and educators on how e-learning can be used to enhance educational outcomes across the different subjects and grades. 

Esethu holds a PhD in Mathematics. He performed comparative analysis research in Bergen, Norway to better understand what made the students perform the way they did. Esethu is a Google Certified Trainer and now works at CloudEDU as a Google Workspace Transformation Specialist. 

Alister Payne

Google Education Certified Trainer, CEO

Alister is a career veteran teacher, who spent almost 20 years in the classroom as an educator. Thirteen of these were as an IT manager and the final eight as a deputy headmaster in school management. Alister completed a master degree in Information Systems in 2014, with a focus on behaviour information security, and in particular cyberbullying online between adolescent children.

Among other credentials, Alister is a Google Education Trainer, Professional Google Workspace Administrator, Professional ChromeOS Administrator, Android Enterprise Professional, Deployment Specialist, Educator Level 1 & 2.

Alister has presented and spoken at a number of international conferences.

Marinus van Wyk

Ed Tech Educational Lecturer and Consultant

Marinus is an accomplished educator and Google for Education Champion, passionate about empowering others through technology. With a solid foundation of eight years of secondary school experience and five years of Higher Education Training, Marinus has honed his skills in fostering effective learning environments.

Marinus's dedication to education led him to pursue a Master's in Education, further enhancing his instructional design and pedagogy expertise. His commitment to sharing knowledge and promoting innovative teaching methodologies led him to become a certified Google For Education Trainer, where he helps educators integrate technology seamlessly into their classrooms.

Beyond his teaching career, Marinus is also an accomplished author, contributing to the field of education through insightful publications. With a contagious enthusiasm for learning and a drive to make a difference, Marinus continues to inspire and support educators worldwide in their quest to transform education.

Kevin Sherman

Director of Professional Development, CloudEDU

Kevin Sherman is the Director of Professional Development at Africa’s leading Google for Education Partner, CloudEDU. He began his career as an English and History teacher at an Apple Classroom of Tomorrow school district in Washington State in 1990. He helped teachers adopt technology in the 1990s as an adjunct faculty for three Seattle area universities. In Africa, he has worked as an independent consultant—with a focus on implementing project based learning—an ICT Education Specialist and a curriculum developer with various institutions and NGO’s in South Africa, including the University of Cape Town’s Schools Development Unit, Parklands College, and SchoolNet South Africa. Kevin also served as editor of Science Companion, an inquiry-based science and technology curriculum for the primary years.  In 2013 he earned the distinction of becoming a Google Certified Innovator and became a Google Certified Trainer 2015.