Education
Without Walls
Educational Technology
Educational technology, done right, means:
- Students can learn anywhere and go everywhere.
- Teachers can teach anything while collaborating on a global scale.
- Administrators can effectively manage the school and reach out to the entire community.
Educational technology, done right, means:
- Students can learn anywhere and go everywhere.
- Teachers can teach anything while collaborating on a global scale.
- Administrators can oversee each aspect of the school and involve all stakeholders.
With a background in Education and a strong technical foundation, I make technology work, like only an experienced educator can. I support schools with the deployment, maintenance and implementation of enterprise, open-source and bespoke apps developed to meet school needs.
COVID-19 @ OCAC Suzhou
From COVID to the Classroom in 2 Days
COVID-19 challenged schools around the world to transform their learning digitally.
Under my guidance, OCAC Suzhou was able to resume classes 2 days after our pre-COVID start date.
I worked with program leaders, administrators and teachers to identify their needs and the type of curriculum they wanted to implement, and then put the infrastructure and training in place to make it happen.
For a full write-up of the COVID-19 response at OCAC Suzhou, click here.
COVID-19 challenged schools around the world to transform their learning digitally.
Under my guidance, OCAC Suzhou was able to resume classes 2 days after our pre-COVID start date.
I worked with program leaders, administrators and teachers to identify their needs and the type of curriculum they wanted to implement, and then put the infrastructure and training in place to make it happen.
For a full write-up of the COVID-19 response at OCAC Suzhou, click here.
Skills:
HTML5
CSS3
Unix/Linux Server Admin
Bash
Node.js
MongoDB
SIS Admin
MySQL
WordPress
Moodle
PHP
O365 Admin
HTML5
CSS3
Unix/Linux Server Admin
Bash
Node.js
MongoDB
SIS Admin
MySQL
WordPress
Moodle
PHP
O365 Admin
Schools in the Sky
Tech companies have embraced the flexibility of cloud networking and computing environments. Schools that adopt these are able to deploy new platforms rapidly and scale appropriately based on need.
I have years of experience deploying bespoke web applications, open-source and enterprise software on cloud hosting platforms as well as running systems administration for schools large and small.
Education Solutions
Student Information Systems
Without organized datasets, every aspect of school administration takes longer. I’ve worked as the primary administrator for schools using a variety of SIS platforms, including ManageBac, Atlas, TRAX and Gibbon.
I have also acted as an educational liaison and consultant for the development of EduMatrix, an SIS targeting the Chinese International School market.
Learning Platforms
Moodle
Moodle is a versatile Learning Management System that we have adapted to serve a huge variety of purposes including:
- Student Learning
- Staff Professional Development and Training
- Formal Appraisal of staff
- Online admissions testing
WordPress
WordPress is a powerful CMS, that not only powers many popular websites, but also offers students and teachers the opportunity to showcase and highlight their accomplishments:
- Student blogs, exhibitions and showcases
- Professional branding and website development
- Easy to access parent resource page
- Online student stores with authentic marketing tools
Open-Source Solutions
Schools can leverage the power of the open-source ecosystem to meet diverse needs, unique to both the environment and situation:- Kimai: Online time-tracking software to help manage distance teaching
- Open Source Social Network: An online, private platformthat can be leveraged to build a safe, sandbox social media platform for students and the school community
- OpenProject:Advanced project management software to best track accountability and need throughout the school
App Development
School-wide behaviour management
Features:
- Teachers can assign house-points to any student
- Students can be searched by name or by scanning a QR code
- Admin can define what points can be awarded, helping to build visibility of Learner Profiles and other behaviours in the school
- Teachers can access their class and assign students to groups, as well as randomly select students
- Fully integrated with ManageBac, new students will be automatically added, while old students will be withdrawn through the use of the ManageBac API.
- Automatically tallies points throughout the school
Teaching tech to teach
I have always loved tech and tinkering. Working for over a decade as an educator and digital innovator, I know how to put technology to the best use for a school. As the ICT Director at OCAC Suzhou, I’ve helped roll-out platforms and established procedures and policies that have helped serve every member of our school community.
Modern schools need a strong digital backbone – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced us towards online learning, and distancing practices.
Key features to a school’s digital response are:
- Digital learning and communication platforms
- Teacher on-boarding and training
- Firm understanding in digital learning curricula
- SSO Platforms to harmonize logins
Recent Posts
Web Data Integration with ManageBac
This post was written for the talk “APIs and Beyond” at the Faria Education Technology Conference 2021. APIs or Application Programming Interfaces are central
COVID-19 at OCAC Suzhou
The school: OCAC is a new school in Suzhou, China. Although only in its third year, it already had over 1500 students and a program
Getting started with the ManageBac API – Working with Students
ManageBac is a powerful CMS (Curriculum Management System) that offers a lot of structure to the delivery of the IB program. Thankfully, it also includes