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Renee Patton

Former Global Director of Education and Healthcare

Global Industry Solutions Group

Renee Patton was the leader of Global Education and Healthcare at Cisco.  In this role, she was responsible for Cisco’s go-to-market strategy for these two industries and managed a team of education and healthcare consultants who help customers realize their visions through the logical placement of technology within schools, colleges, universities, and healthcare institutions.

She has over 25 years of business, management, sales, and marketing experience in both small start-up and large corporate environments, including Siemens. She ran her own marketing consulting firm for over seven years prior to joining Cisco full time.

Prior to moving into US Public Sector, Renee served as Worldwide Industry Marketing Education Lead within Cisco’s Corporate Marketing Organization where she was responsible for developing Cisco’s education messaging platform and driving Cisco’s position in the education market.  Prior to this role, she managed Cisco’s national E-rate Program and served as the lead for US Education Field Marketing.

While studying for her Master’s Degree in Education from Stanford, Renee began teaching high school English and French, coaching cross-country, and moderating the student yearbook and newspaper.  She then spent four years on the Los Gatos-Saratoga JUHS Board of Trustees and was responsible for managing policy and a $20M district budget.

She brings a clear perspective to addressing business issues and an in-depth understanding of the K-12 and Higher Education markets.  She is particularly interested in trends driving the massive shift in education delivery models, new educational approaches, and ways that technology can help to engage learners and prepare teachers.  Renee is a Lions' Club Member and is on the board  of the Los Gatos High School Alumni Association.  She holds a BA degree in English from Santa Clara University and an MA in Education from Stanford University.

 

Articles

September 30, 2015

GOVERNMENT

#WednesdayWalkabout Series: Learn Without Limits

3 min read

Co-authored with Dani Schrakamp Learn Without Limits Today’s new technology trends, particularly those around digitization and the Internet of Everything, present education with an unprecedented amplifier. We now have...

June 23, 2015

EDUCATION

Cybersecurity 101: Assessing the Threat & Mitigating Cyber Risks in Higher Education

1 min read

Cybersecurity threats in the higher education community continue to rise at an alarming rate. Poor security strategies and the need for open learning environments make securing these institutions an even harder problem to solve. It is no longer a matter of whether or not you will be hacked, rather when. Higher education leaders are recognizing […]

June 22, 2015

EDUCATION

Campus Safety National Forum – Leveraging Technology to Increase Campus Safety

1 min read

This week, Cisco is sponsoring the Campus Safety National Forum in Washington, DC. This two-day conference is the premier National Forum for helping security and law enforcement executives, healthcare and education administrators and other education stakeholders from across the country learn how to better safeguard the lives and property on their campuses. At Cisco, we […]

June 17, 2015

EDUCATION

Overcoming Cancer in a Connected World

2 min read

My Story: Beth Carter from LCPS-TV on Vimeo. Growing up, we all had a favorite teacher. It may have been an impassioned English teacher keen on Shakespeare and Tolkien or perhaps a Science teacher with an over-the-top flair for dramatic experiments. As teachers, they inspired and challenged us. As memories, they continue to travel with […]

June 5, 2015

EDUCATION

Join us at Cisco Live to see how IoE Improves Learning Outcomes

1 min read

Analysts agree that academic institutions worldwide face more complex challenges than ever before and are under tremendous pressure to cut costs. At the same time, they also need to provide greater access to education, increased security, and improved outcomes and services, among others. Through solutions enabled by the Internet of Everything (IoE), these academic institutions […]

June 4, 2015

EDUCATION

Cisco Education: Learn Without Limits

1 min read

There’s no doubt that learning is changing. In the past, learning was constrained by time and place. We all might remember, fondly or not, the traditional...

January 15, 2015

EDUCATION

Technology and its Power to Transform Society – Where do you Stand?

1 min read

Educators are using technologies like Cisco Webex to deliver anytime, anywhere learning, bring experts from across the country and the globe into their classrooms, and provide ubiquitous access to an astounding amount of resources on the Internet. Now, educators, along with their students across the country, are using it to have conversations that transform society.  […]

January 7, 2015

EDUCATION

In Education, The Internet of Everything is Really a Thing

1 min read

When talking about whether or not something is important in modern-day life, my Millennial sons often ask, “Is that really a thing?”  For example, renting a dog on Craigslist, is that a thing? I’m here to tell you that the Internet of Everything (IoE) is really a thing in Education, and the use cases for […]

December 15, 2014

EDUCATION

Transforming Education with the Internet of Everything at San Jose State

1 min read

Forward-thinking faculty members and staff at San Jose State University are using Internet of Everything technologies in innovative ways to transform education: Project Assistant Quyen Grant is using Cisco collaboration technologies to expand learning across international borders, working with students and universities in Vietnam through the Social Work Education Enhancement Program (SWEEP); Advertising Professor John […]

November 20, 2014

EDUCATION

E-rate Modernization: It Just Goes to Show…

1 min read

…what we can do as a nation to solve what appear to be some of the most insurmountable problems in the world, such as access to the Internet for students in schools across the county.  Astoundingly, 68% of all school districts (73% of rural districts) say that not a single school in their district can […]

September 29, 2014

EDUCATION

The Not-So-Silent Revolution: The Internet of Everything in Higher Education

2 min read

Change has come slowly to higher education.  This is understandable given the relative success that the American university system has had in granting four-year degrees that have helped students garner higher long-term earnings.  Regardless, the traditional university system is facing crushing pressure from increasing student loan debt, rising costs, and expectations of hyper-connected students who […]

IoE Can Be Key to More Energy Efficient Colleges

2 min read

The Internet of Everything (IoE) is becoming more real than ever, particularly in education. As we begin to see this massive transformation taking place, schools for both K-12 and higher education are utilizing Cisco networks to run applications and pilot projects that benefit both the students and the faculty.  We expect to see more and […]

July 3, 2014

EDUCATION

#HigherEdThursdays – Using Technology to Create Cultural Shifts

2 min read

Thank you for being a part of our Higher Ed Thursdays conversations.  Today concludes this series, and we’re looking forward to re-starting the discussion near the beginning of the school year.  New trends are emerging for the next phase of our discussion, including how to secure your campus environment and intellectual property, how the Internet […]

July 1, 2014

EDUCATION

#ISTE2014 – Beyond Connectedness to the Internet of Everything

3 min read

ISTE 2014 marks the launch of summertime for many educators as they come together to connect and share ideas about technology and innovation.  Unsurprisingly, the theme of “connectedness” continues with this year’s show in Atlanta.  The ability for schools to connect to the Internet and help make access to technology ubiquitous is changing learning in […]

April 17, 2014

EDUCATION

#HigherEdThursdays: Current Trends and Challenges in Higher Education

3 min read

We are all seeing colleges and universities across the nation experiencing a massive disruption in how they deliver quality learning experiences to their students.  Those that continue down the path of status quo will miss this shift and become obsolete at best and out of business at best.  In his New York Times article, “Innovation […]

February 4, 2014

EDUCATION

Cisco Supports Goals of Presidential Initiative to Connect More Schools and Libraries to the Internet

4 min read

Cisco – with more than 15 years of experience in implementing technology solutions in K-12 schools — strongly supports the goals of President Obama’s initiative to connect more schools and libraries to the Internet, and at faster speeds. We understand that technology is changing the world.  Our children aren’t just competing against the kids down […]

October 3, 2013

EDUCATION

Connecting… The Isolated

2 min read

I’ll never forget my first day as a brand new high school teacher.   As a young college graduate (with absolutely no experience teaching and a one-hour course on classroom management), I stood stiffly in front of the room on that hot end-of-summer day, afraid to crack a smile.  Thankfully, a more seasoned teacher had taken […]

September 5, 2013

EDUCATION

Connecting Every School in America To High – Speed broadband

3 min read

In every school district in America today, educators are faced with a simple, yet critically important, question.  How do we obtain, implement, and integrate transformative technology into all of our schools and classrooms? Some districts have embraced technology and put mobile and collaborative devices in the hands of students.   In The Katy School District in […]

July 2, 2013

EDUCATION

A Six-Part Series: Transforming Higher Education in the US – Recommendations – Part 6

2 min read

This six-part series focuses on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States.  Read parts 1 through 5 on the Cisco Education Blog. Part 1: The Need for Change Part 2: Shared Challenges Part 3: Navigating Culture Part 4: Modernizing Teaching and Learning Part 5: Scaling Best Practices Educators share a common […]

June 4, 2013

EDUCATION

Systematic Transformation: The Intersection with Technology in a Journey Toward the Future (Scaling Best Practices) – …

2 min read

This six-part series focuses on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States.  Read parts 1 through 4 on the Cisco Education blog.  At Cisco we are seeing outstanding examples of change, some of which have been highlighted throughout this blog series. Others, unfortunately, are one-time interventions, and tend to be unsustainable. […]

April 24, 2013

EDUCATION

Systematic Transformation: The Intersection with Technology in a Journey Toward the Future– Part Four of Six

1 min read

Part Four of a Six-Part Series: Modernizing Teaching and Learning in the U.S. Part four will focus on the critical role education leaders play in the intersection of technology and the future of learning.  Previous parts of this series included: The Need for Change Challenges in Changing the System Systematic Change and Navigating Culture Higher […]

March 23, 2013

EDUCATION

Systematic Transformation in Higher Education: The Intersection with Technology in a Journey Toward the Future (Navigati …

3 min read

Part 3 of A Six-Part Series: Transforming Higher Education in the US This six-part series will focus on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States. The Need for Change and  Shared Challenges were the focus of the previous chapters in this series. From Cisco’s experience with higher education institutions in the […]

February 25, 2013

EDUCATION

Shared Challenges – Part Two of Six on Transforming Higher Education

This six-part series focuses on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States.  This part focuses on the fact that universities are more similar than they are different.  Universities in the U.S. share common challenges: inadequate access, dated teaching methodologies, and perceived irrelevance of our current programs. First, we have a problem […]

February 1, 2013

EDUCATION

A Six-Part Series: Transforming Higher Education in the US

This six-part series will focus on transformation of the traditional higher education system in the United States.  While a topic that causes some anxiety for higher education leaders, there is no choice but to change.  The question is how colleges and universities across the country will go about that change and the role that technology […]

December 19, 2012

EDUCATION

Cisco’s Prediction of 2013 Education Technology Trends: The Big Three to Watch

1 min read

I believe that the New Year will signal three major shifts in education:  The Internet of Everything, Shared Services, and Cloud Computing. We are rapidly moving into a phase that we call “The Internet of Everything.”  Today, there are more things connected to the internet than there are people in the world.  In the near […]

December 18, 2012

EDUCATION

Cisco’s 2012 Education Retrospective

3 min read

At the beginning of 2012, we saw three major trends emerging in the education space, but we had no idea that they would all be converging: Flipped Learning, BYOD, and Shared Collaborative Platforms. This time last year, I was sitting at an old, high-top biology lab table with my son’s AP Biology teacher, asking him […]