And as expected, Squared Online started with a BANG on Bonfire night, with Chris Perks, Aiden Carroll and Nick Watt greeting everyone. The first – unofficial – day was more about getting to know our tutors and start communicating with our fellow Squares, understand what the programme is all about and get acquainted with the tools we’ll be using for the duration of the process.

Source: mashable.com

So “welcome to the [r]evolution”! Squared Online is a strategic and not a tactical course, which will provide a deeper understanding of how an all-around digital strategy is formulated. It’s clear what to expect from the course and what is expected from us in return. And, therefore, the quote “empowering today’s and tomorrow’s leaders to drive the industry [r]evolution” must have stuck in everyone’s mind! “With great power comes great responsibility” and everyone seems ready to take up this challenge!

Apart from some mind blowing data, Sarah Tate, Programme Lead, provided some great examples of the previous alumni or her personal work within Google, explaining why it’s so important to clearly communicate our skills. She suggested that we should always be ready to fail! Failure is OK and a great opportunity to learn. Since I’m not sure whether or not I could use her amazing example, I’m quoting this:

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

– Albert Einstein

Are you a T-shaped professional? Have you got the skills needed? The importance of the concept, which depicts the combination of deep knowledge in a specific subject and the ability to work with experts in different fields, was thoroughly discussed. A person’s ability to network and communicate is vital; present-day and future professionals have to possess these skills to drive themselves, their colleagues and their businesses/government bodies/research establishments forward.

Source: mashable.com

Aiden Carroll wanted us to evaluate the impact of digital media and think about what defines our digital lives, how digitally oriented we are in what we do. Digital thinking is all about interacting in a way that incorporates all those changes on our lives by our experience of today’s networked society. But how do we react on those constant changes in social practices online? The Squared Online video of Neil Perkin, founder of Only Dead Fish, provided us with examples of how quickly social engagement and behaviour has changed, and how easy it is to stay behind if you’re not ready to keep on top of those changes. However, the thing that struck me the most was the interaction amongst Squares after watching this 60 minute video! Thoughts are being shared freely in our small community, and it’s more than interesting to examine the same topic from so many different angles. Interaction and direct communication between Squared peers is a common thing during live classes as well; everyone has something truly useful to propose and share, from an interesting social media article or a tutorial video to a handful of neat tips and tricks for our projects.

And for me, that is what this course is all about; communication, cooperation and interaction. Stay tuned!