Meet the Edcite Team

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We are excited to continue our series: Meet the Edcite Team, where we feature a member of our team each month.

This month we are focusing on our innovative software engineer Sam Matthews. Read on to meet Sam!

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What brought you to Edcite?

I joined Edcite shortly after moving back to San Francisco from Brooklyn, NY. I was eager to find a talented and ambitious team who were working on solving interesting problems. One of Edcite’s first engineers, Thomas, and I met at a developer event, and he introduced me to Edcite. I was really excited when they asked me to join the team shortly after that.

Tell us about what you do at Edcite.

I am a full stack developer at Edcite and have worked on or built many of the pages that teachers and administrators use everyday. Though most of my time is spent in front of a computer, I really enjoy communicating and collaborating with teachers to build tools that they find constructive and easy to use. Some projects I’ve worked on include the Live Assignment Dashboard, the Reports Hubs, and the never-ending goal of creating the most powerful, yet intuitive home dashboard for teachers in EdTech!

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The Live Assignment Dashboard shows real-time data as students progress through an assignment.

Which teacher in school impacted you the most and why?

One of my favorite teachers was my high school Natural History teacher, Mr. Sullivan. He created this amazing natural space behind our school’s football field that mimicked the four major eco-regions in California. Much of our class time was spent outdoors, and he was always willing to continue discussions or share stories long after the bell had rung. His passion for science and education was very encouraging.

What do you love most about the Edcite platform?

I really love how enthusiastic our team is about education, and making things easier for teachers. I also really like that our Founders are dedicated to making Edcite free for teachers and students.

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The Teacher Reports Hub on Edcite features the Live Assignment Dashboard, the Grade Assignment option, and the Summary Report.

Do you have any advice for teachers about using Edcite?

Just give it a try! There’s at least one tool or piece of content you’ll find useful. If you have any questions, issues or find yourself confused, reach out to us at hello@edcite.com! Our team is very responsive.

 

Screen Shot 2017-05-17 at 2.32.14 PMThank you, Sam, for all of your hard work improving the platform! 

Meet the Edcite Team: Intern Edition

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Our monthly series Meet the Edcite Team continues! Each month we feature a different member of our team. This month we are featuring our intern, Heyaw Meteke.

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Heyaw Meteke (right) with team member Brian McIntosh

Heyaw recently created a Growth Report for our Edcite Schools platform. It allows administrators to chart growth in assignment averages and look for trends among groups of students. It is a great tool for schools who pre and post assess with the same assignment.

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Read below to learn more about Heyaw and his work at Edcite.
Where do you go to school? What are you studying? 

I’m currently a senior at Gateway High School in San Francisco.  My favorite class is physics because I can see how the math and concepts I learn apply to real life.  Our end of the year project was constructing a rocket that can safely return a raw egg after launch.

What brought you to Edcite?

I came to Edcite to gain an understanding of a company in the tech sector as well as building skills in a team environment that will help me become a better programmer.

IMG_8936Tell us about what you’ve been working on during your internship.

I’m currently working on a character recognition application which hopefully in the future will be able to parse and understand handwritten math equations.  This can be a major feature for devices like tablets and phones where users can easily write it instead of awkwardly typing math expressions with the keyboard.

What do you plan to do after high school?

I am planning on going to college to pursue a major in computer engineering and want to be an embedded engineer.  I am interested in that field because I enjoy working on hardware and devices that interact with the physical world.

What Heyaw’s co-workers say:

We’re very happy to have Heyaw help us prototype new features for Edcite’s student tools.  He’s been great at taking machine learning ideas and quickly implementing them in Python. Quite impressive for a high school student.   -Tony Thomas, Edcite Co-Founder

It’s been fun to have Heyaw as a co-worker after having him as a student in my computer science class. I have enjoyed getting to know Heyaw better outside of school. He has already built a report used in Edcite and is working on a project that uses machine learning to recognize handwriting. His willingness to dive into new projects is impressive and contagious, and I learn new things from him each week.   -Brian McIntosh, Edcite Project Manager and Teacher

Continue reading Meet the Edcite Team: Intern Edition

Meet the Edcite Team

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We are excited to continue our series: Meet the Edcite Team, where we feature a member of our team by asking them a set of questions.

This month we are focusing on our fabulous web developer Tani Wong. Read on to meet Tani!

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What brought you to Edcite?

After completing a coding bootcamp in San Francisco, there was a job fair and Edcite actually found me!

Tell us about what you do at Edcite.

I’m a web developer / graphic designer hybrid, streamlining Edcite’s user flow. Edcite has a wide array of functionalities, and I’m focused on making it more user friendly by restructuring our current pages and implementing new ideas for future developments.

Tell us about your education background.

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Tani designed the new student sign-in page: edcite.com/go.

I received my Bachelor of Arts in both Design and Communication at University of California Davis. After being a graphic designer for a few years, I had the opportunity to complete a web development program at a coding bootcamp in San Francisco. Always having an interest in coding, I decided to immerse myself in this program so that I could interconnect my design background with programming skills, and I’m grateful that I’m doing that now at Edcite! 

Which teacher in school impacted you the most and why?

Although not in a school setting, my piano teacher of 8+ years, Ms. Marie, taught me not to let my mistakes discourage me, but to learn from them and keep going…especially during a recital. Yikes!

What do you love most about the Edcite platform?

I love that it’s always evolving, whether it’s adding new features to accommodate certain teachers or revamping what we currently have.

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Tani also designed the new Class Dashboard! You can check it out by visiting the Classes tab.

Do you have any advice for teachers about using Edcite?

Being a smaller company, I enjoy that we’re learning as much as the users. My advice for teachers is to be patient with the program because Edcite provides a bunch of needs for teachers and their various teaching styles. Problems will arise here and there, but we’re always listening and striving to empower teachers and engage students. 🙂

Name three things that you can’t live without.

  • Nephews. Seeing them enjoy the simple things and watching them get smarter every time I interact with them is insane! (ha! I guess that’s how teachers feel about their students, huh?)
  • Biking. The chance to go fast, enjoy the outdoors, and exercise without feeling like I am is awesome!
  • Floss. I love to floss. My dentist would be proud. 

Thank you, Tani, for all of your hard work supporting the Edcite team! 

Women of EdciteYou can learn more about Tani and her thoughts on being a woman in the tech world by visiting our blog post “Women of Edcite.”

Meet the Edcite Team

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We are so excited to continue our series: Meet the Edcite Team! Each month we feature a different member of our team by asking them a set of questions.

This month we are featuring our fantastic team member in India, Jagadish Kumar. Read on to meet Jagadish!

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What brought you to Edcite?

I got connected to Edcite because of its wonderful learning platform. Edcite makes both teachers’ as well as students’ lives easier with its interactive questions, shared content from other teachers and many other features. I enjoy working at Edcite because things keep changing here.

Tell us about what you do at Edcite.

I am a Project Manager at Edcite, so I see that the support issues get resolved on time. I also manage some of the Edcite projects so that the platform evolves in a planned manner.

Tell us about your education background.

I did my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from P.E.S. Institute of Technology, Bangalore, and while working as a Design Engineer, I pursued my Masters in Business Administration on Project Management and Human Resource Management domains.

Which teacher in school impacted you the most and why?

Mrs. Geetha was my favorite teacher during my high school. She was a gold medalist in mathematics. She made me understand how easy and logical mathematics is. She helped me in solving various mathematical problems in a simpler way.

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What do you love most about the Edcite platform?

I really love all the types of questions on Edcite. Mainly I like gaming and image type questions where students actually can have fun in learning.

What advice do you have for teachers who are using Edcite?

Edcite is a huge platform for digital learning. It gives both teachers and students a way to explore their own understanding. Teachers can create various types of questions and students can actually visualize and understand what they are learning. I would advise educators to push the envelope in creativity – explore all that Edcite has to offer to make your kids learn in a better way.

Do you have a favorite movie/book or a favorite quote?

One of my favorite books is Wings of Fire – it’s an autobiography of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India and a renowned scientist. It’s an inspirational book.

“Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.”
—APJ Abdul Kalam

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Name three things you can’t live without.

1. Family and friends: to share my happy and sorrowful moments, to keep me safe and comfortable.
2. Phone: it has become one of my basic needs.
3. Sweets: I love sweets. 🙂

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

I love travelling, watching movies, and hanging out with friends and cousins. And I welcome feedback from everyone!

Thank you, Jagadish, for all of your hard work supporting the Edcite team!

Be sure to check back next month to meet another member of the Edcite team!

Meet the Edcite Team: Florida Edition

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We are so excited to continue our new series: Meet the Edcite Team! Each month we feature a different member of our team by asking them a set of questions.

This month we are featuring our amazing team member in Florida, Josie Mittleman. Read on to meet Josie!

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What brought you to Edcite?

I had worked for several big educational publishing houses and was looking for a better way to make a difference in the world of education. I was drawn to Edcite’s philosophy. Edcite believes that teachers are able to create excellent content that promotes authentic learning and immediate action.

Tell us about what you do at Edcite.

I am the PD and Curriculum Specialist. I travel to schools and districts training education leaders on how to manipulate the Edcite platform. I also manage content creation on the Edcite platform.

Tell us about your education background.

I graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with my Master of Arts and a specialty in Elementary Education. I also graduated from York University in Toronto, Canada with my Bachelor of Education and my Bachelor of Arts, Honors. I was an elementary teacher for many years. Following my classroom work, I worked for several educational publishing houses including McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, and The College Board.

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Which teacher in school impacted you the most and why?

Mr. Ryan was my favorite English teacher.  He inspired me to love literature.  He helped me develop a love for Shakespeare, which is something I have carried with me throughout my life.

What advice do you have for teachers who are using Edcite?

Make sure you spend some time getting to know the platform. It’s like driving a car, a little intimidating at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you will wonder what you ever did without it.

shutterstock_96812923What is your favorite movie or book?

My favorite movie is Grease. I can remember seeing it when it first came out in the movie theaters and swooning at how cute Danny Zuko was. I also remember re-enacting the scenes with neighborhood girlfriends and singing the songs at the top of our lungs. To this day, should I see the movie or hear the music, I still jump up and sing along with it (I know every word!).

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

While I absolutely love my job at Edcite, my favorite job in the world is being a mom to my 14-year-old daughter, Dalia, my King Charles Cavalier, Speckles, and my Maltipoo, Jasper.

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Thank you, Josie, for all of your hard work supporting the Edcite team and schools across Florida! 

Are you an educator in Florida? Feel free to reach out to Josie anytime at josie@edcite.com or on Twitter via @EdciteFL. Be sure to check back next month to meet another member of the Edcite team!

Meet the Edcite Team: Intern Edition

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We’re excited to share a new monthly series: Meet the Edcite Team! Each month we will feature a different member of our team by asking them a set of questions.

This month we are featuring our fabulous summer intern Maya Ravichandran. Read on to meet Maya!

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Where do you go to school? What are you studying? 

I go to University of Southern California, or USC, and I’m studying Computer Science.

What brought you to Edcite?

I loved that Edcite gives teachers an opportunity to improve students’ learning experience and gives them a free and easy way to do it. I really connected with the mission, and being a part of this team is definitely rewarding.

Tell us about what you’ve been working on during your internship.

I have been creating new question types for teachers to use in their assignments! Specifically, I created a drawing question type where students can draw their answers. I am also working on a drawing and vocabulary game.

Which teacher in school had the most impact on you and why?

shutterstock_311465798.jpgI would say my newspaper advisor had the most impact on me. My favorite and most memorable experience in high school was working for three years on the newspaper staff. My advisor was always open to talk and gave excellent advice. He was an excellent teacher and perfected the balance between leading and allowing students to run the newspaper independently.

show don't tellDo you have any advice for teachers about how students want to learn today?

Students don’t want to just be presented with information. For me, in order to fully understand something, I have to be completely immersed in it. In other words, show not tell. The more interactive and hands-on a student’s learning experience is, the better he or she remembers it in the future. I still remember all the quiz tournaments and group projects, but all the Powerpoint lectures start to fade quickly.

What is your favorite movie or book? Why?

My favorite books are both by Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. He writes so beautifully, and his stories are so heartbreaking and haunting.

Do you have a favorite quote?

One of many favorite quotes: “Sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” – Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried

shutterstock_383833837.jpgWhich is the better half: Northern or Southern California? 

This is a hard one! I go to school in Southern California, but I was born and raised in the Bay Area. I’m going have to say Northern California because I’ve got to stay true to my roots. 🙂

Name three things you can’t live without.

1) My phone. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can survive without it, literally and figuratively.

2) Music. It’s the best way to relax and focus.

3) Chocolate. No explanation needed.

Thank you, Maya, for all that you’ve done this summer as an Edcite intern! 

Stay tuned for Maya’s drawing question type on Edcite, and be sure to check back next month to meet another member of the Edcite team!