Anthony Salcito is the Vice President of Microsoft Education, helping others do more with technology as a tool around the world. Microsoft Education’s main goal is to help drive student successes and have students leave schools with talent aligned to workplace needs and entrepreneurial spirit. Some specific work Microsoft Education does is provide tools like Windows, Office365, LinkedIn, FlipGrid, Minecraft, and more!
Breaking through limiting beliefs
Anthony’s story began when he got his first computer and started to see a life beyond his neighborhood in Bronx, NY. His limitations to his own thinking were expanded once technology came into his life.
He ended up working at Microsoft at a very young age because he was passionate about the work he was doing, spoke out and took on projects, and was open and transparent with his team.
Teachers are the solution
Anthony speaks on two universal truths: students always over deliver and teachers are not the problem, but the solution for transforming education. Education can sometimes be a challenge, specifically how to keep students engaged and help them want to learn. It is important to support teachers and bring teachers together so that they can share their ideas and learn from each other.
Anthony explains his understanding of how the world's perspective of what it means to be a teacher has changed throughout COVID-19. Everyone has developed a deeper understanding of what it means to be a teacher, valuing education and technology in much more purposeful ways.
Teachers possess valuable skills that can be transferred to other areas of life and other career paths. They are great educators, communicators, public speakers, and have great salesmanship.
Technology's influence in the workplace
Technology is going to change the workplace and careers that exist. There are and will be emerging technologies that need people who are interested in reshaping these technology building blocks.
The biggest challenge Anthony is facing right now is dealing with the COVID-19 dynamic. Anthony is conscious about gaining energy and insight from helping others and being around.
You can follow Anthony on Twitter @anthonysalcito and find out more about Anthony’s work at micrsoft.com/education
Anthony Salcito 0:01 I literally would before would think of the careers that I would choose based on the storefronts that I would pass on my way to school, there was a garage, so maybe I can be an auto mechanic, there was a butcher, so maybe I can, you know, be a butcher. That that was the limitations of my own thinking. And it wasn't until I actually had technology to open up that gateway that I started to see the world beyond. Sean McCormick 0:26 This is Earn More Tutoring, the ultimate crowdsource education entrepreneurship show. This week, I speak with Anthony Salcito. Anthony tells me the story of growing up in the Bronx to getting his first computer and eventually becoming the vice president of Microsoft education. In this role, he's had the opportunity to travel around the world and see how education is done on a global scale. Welcome to the show, Anthony. Anthony Salcito 0:49 Sean, it's great to be with you. I'm so happy to have an opportunity to share and reflect on what is the critical time for education around the world. Sean McCormick 0:57 Fantastic. So excited to have you here today. So the first thing I wanted to ask is just tell us about your role. And what you do, I think it'd be great to get an overview of kind of what your role is, Anthony Salcito 1:07 I'm really blessed to be able to do the work that I get a chance to do supporting Microsoft's efforts to help schools, universities, libraries, and museums, students, educators around the world, do more achieve more with technology as a tool. I support education institutions around the world that are transforming to providing value to their students. And I obviously support the Microsoft teams around the world that are helping teachers and school leaders drive the change that's needed in this time. Sean McCormick 1:39 That's wonderful. Yeah, I mean, it's, I'm so excited to have you on here today. Because Microsoft, is when we, when we think about the cornerstones of education, Microsoft is there, you know, so much goes through and you guys create the reality, you know, you are the foundation for the communication, the creation of so many things, it's almost like, it's like they talked about this is water, it's like you guys are the water that we are kind of swimming in as an industry or as you know, educators. Anthony Salcito 2:08 Well, we certainly make tools that are used in classrooms around the world, whether it's Windows and the operating system platform, the work that we do on in the productivity space with Office 365, and the cloud versions that make it available to scale so much remotely that we're seeing in COVID pandemic response times. We also provide tools that are foundational for students progression to jobs. Tools like LinkedIn, which helps students connect and navigate their course and career, GitHub getting connected to a community of technology leaders that are driving change and innovation in technology spaces in various disciplines. And then obviously, tools like Flipgrid, Minecraft OneNote tools that are really hero products that may or may not even be connected to Microsoft's traditional offerings, but are actually valued by educators and students. But fundamentally, all those products and the technologies we provide are amazing, and certainly helpful for schools. But really, our focus on the work that we do in education is on really the student output. You know, as a company that relies on our profits to come from large enterprise companies that are driving change in innovation in a wide variety of industries. We need students to harness the future leave universities leave school, with talent aligned to the workplace needs with entrepreneurial spirit, and a focus on growing and creating jobs in every part of the world. So our our priority in education is not just providing tools that help students you use in the classroom and beyond, but really drive the success that we need, from the output of education to help students leave with passion and connection and conviction to leverage their talents to make great change in the world. And that's really the mission of what we tried to do. Sean McCormick 3:59 Yeah, that's, that's a beautiful mission. And I know that, you know, all over the world, students are using those tools, the tools that you've created as a business to, to make an impact and change the world. I'd love to go back to your story because I feel like when we you know, when we look at like your story and what you're creating it always it always gives us kind of a personal connection to what it is you're putting out. I was looking at your a little bit about your background, I saw that you'd been with Microsoft since 1992. So were you five when you started working there. I mean, Anthony Salcito 4:31 I was basically recruited in the womb. I imagined No, no, I started very young in my career at Microsoft. I was always someone who's excited about technology...
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