Coding
IT Use
Design Thinking
Teaching
I've always had a huge interest in coding, since I was a kid. A friend of mine showed me what BASIC was and I absolutely loved it. I'm not really sure why it's taken me so long to actually start thinking that this could be a career for me, but I am going down that path now. Better late than never.
Near the end of high school, I worked with some friends of mine to create an HTML website for our running club, and even in university I worked on writing my digital portfolio using HTML.
Besides a small exposure when I was younger, I did take a few courses in university and have taught myself how to use block coding on various applications (Scratch, CoSpaces, Code.org) before I started taking things a bit more seriously by pursuing courses, first on Khan Academy and now on Codecademy, which has accelerated my learning.
I am looking forward to more learning and eventually workingin the industry when I am ready. I feel like best learning will happen on the job, but I want to be as prepared for that as I can be.
Formal Education
One of the things that has got me ahead in teaching is my ability to use various applications to improve my teaching and the teaching of those around me. Most of this has come through the use of Google Workspace. A lot of this work led me to becoming a Google Certified Trainer and to present and share my knowledge at various conferences and summits.
I have skills in the creation of various things, including spreadsheets & forms, digital media content (YouTube, Canva, Scratch, CoSpaces, Google Slides & Drawings) and just general use. I have served as my school's IT admin for different schools.
Formal Education
I came across Design Thinking in my work with Google for Education. As a Google Certified Innovagtor I was brought through the process first by former Google Innovators and saw the value of the process. I then used the process with the students in my school.
As I continued using it with students, I also had the opportunity to mentor other Google Certified Innovators. This involved having monthly video calls to discuss their projects. Eventually I was also invited to be a Coach of Google Certified Innovators and worked with a group of 6 educators.
I have since presented at conferences and gone through the process with fellow staff members, as well as having created YouTube videos to help others to learn the process. I believe it's a great way to develop ideas into products or solutions and I know it is very relevant to any software development jobs.
Formal Education
I have been a teacher since 2008 and have taught several different levels of students, in several countries, including Canada, South Korea, Tanzania, the UK and New Zealand.
A lot of my recent experience has been working with digital technologies. I have also done a lot of presenting at EdTech conferences and summits (including in New Zealand, Australia and the US) and am confident in explaining new ideas to people.
Formal Education