What does that actually mean, you may ask?

It means I have the privilege of leading an absolutely amazing team of Teacher Consultants who are focused on working with teachers outside of Australia and NZ. We work together to get to know the schools who subscribe to EP, to build relationships with teachers at all levels and work closely with them to understand their ed-tech priorities and ensure EP works beautifully within their environment.

From a personal point of view, I grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand. My partner, Grant, and I did the normal thing of working hard, we bought a house, decided to build our dream home and then, just as the building plans had been approved, Grant finally caved to my nagging (I will admit to this!) that we move to Australia. Talk about timing!

We sold or stored our lives, hopped on a plane with our dog and away we went.

After travelling for a while and spending a year or so on the Gold Coast, we moved to Perth and this is now home.

Why did you become an EPeep?

Well, I would like to say this was all part of a plan, but I actually left education at the start of 2020 to take on a new role in a different industry. Unfortunately, COVID came along and I was one of the many people who lost their jobs as a result. That was definitely an unexpected plot twist! I was so grateful to see EP was looking for people at the time and they were a company I knew and was excited to work for. So something that was not ideal turned into some that that was and is, extremely positive.

Why do you love working at EP?

I love the people – corny but true.

The people at EP are truly fabulous and you could not ask for a better group to work with. From the managers I have reported to, to the teams I work within I love the attitude and one team approach – our EPeeps are so supportive and caring, driven to achieve but also there for a laugh and some fun too. 

Externally, teachers are a great bunch of people to work with – again just genuinely nice people and it’s great learning about their different experiences and backgrounds and finding the connections along the way.

How do you prefer to start your day?

My day normally starts with walking my dog, Leo. The day just does not feel right if I don’t get that early morning walk in – it gives me time to wake up, get some fresh air, for ideas to brew and develop; plus I do a lot of my problem solving and creative thinking while moving. With spending a lot of my day sitting in front of my laptop getting up and walking is so important!

Tell us about your pet(s)!

If my dog or cat could see all of my photos, they would report me as a stalker! I have a six year old Golden Lab and a nine year old failed foster cat called Bug. I love them to bits. Working from home they are great company. Leo is often sleeping near where I am working, snoring away like the happy boy he is!  Leo ensures I get up and go outside regularly and they help make the house a home. I wouldn’t be without them.

Where is somewhere you’d like to visit?

I have so many places I want to visit it would almost be easier to list where I don’t want to go. I love the opportunity to travel and wish I had more time (and money), so I could go explore more often – it is one of the downfalls of being from NZ or Australia – everything is so far away! 

These days I enjoy anything that is an experience. A few years back my partner and I were in Singapore and headed to Universal Studios and reverted to teenagers – we had so much fun going on all the rollercoasters and 3D rides! So, next stop could be Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi or walking some of the Camino trail. Getting outdoors, exploring a new place or having fun being silly – bring it on!

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

Relax and enjoy the journey more! As a self confessed control freak I sometimes find it hard to relax and simply enjoy the moment. So, definitely something I would say to my younger self is let go of what has already happening and don’t focus so much on what’s to come that you forget to fully participate in, and enjoy the here and now.

The post EPeeps Deb Palmer | Head of Engagement (International) appeared first on Education Perfect.

I have over 10 years of experience in the tech industry with expertise in Project Management, Design Thinking and Agile Software Development. I have worked on tech projects in Wellington, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London. I joined EP as a Senior Project Manager helping to drive company-wide efficiencies by transitioning to a new CRM tool. I now manage a wonderful team who creates curriculum-aligned content for our customers on our EP Platform. In whatever free time I get with 2 kids under 3, I like to purchase pottery, drink coffee or craft beers and be outdoors – preferably in the garden or ocean. 

Why do you love working at EP?

This is not my first rodeo and I know the values that are important to me. EP is very closely aligned with these. There is a strong emphasis on employee engagement, development and reward and recognition. Not to mention the strong emphasis on family. Flexibility and support enable me to balance a career alongside raising my children. 

How did you find transitioning from your previous role into an EdTech role?

My background is not education (apart from receiving one) and understanding the education sector, global curriculums and educational terminology has been a steep learning curve. 

I like to think of the skills I bring to the company as the hyphen in Ed-tech. While the hyphen is just a stroke, to me it represents the strategy, design, and delivery skills that are required in any company. They help bridge Education to Technology. I work with some incredibly smart people who are passionate about Education and/or technology. For me, I like a little bit of both, and my experience and expertise are the fuzzy bit in the middle.

Tell us about a time when you viewed an event or occurrence as a negative, though in hindsight it turned out to be positive.

In my early career, I was posted to a project based in Hong Kong to design and build an iOS iPhone and apple watch app (this was a time when smartwatches were just coming into the market). I was a recent new joiner to my employer in Singapore before they eagerly shipped me off to run a project and team in Hong Kong. When I reflect on my skill set, I had experience running design projects but not engineering, and I had little to no experience in agile or software development. Not only this, I couldn’t speak Cantonese, but everyone could speak English.

My lack of skills was not lost on my team as we struggled to manage scope, demanding stakeholders and technical constraints. 

This was easily the hardest project I have ever been a part of, or led! Not because of the extraordinary demands of a high-profile customer in a foreign country, but because I was working with a group of individuals, not a team. There was no trust or connection, and we were all trying to make the best of a really bad situation. 

The feedback I received from my team during this project was ruthless, I still shudder at the thought of our fortnightly ‘Retrospectives’. However, what I learned about building a team and putting them at the centre of what I do has been invaluable, and I have taken those learnings with me in everything I have done since. You are only as good as your team, your team carries you, and you carry your team. For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart?

What did the 0 (Zero) say to the 8 (Eight)? Nice belt.

Who is an historical figure you’d like to chat with over dinner, and why?

I would have loved to wine and dine with Hilary Clinton in the days after her concession to Donald Trump. Not a historical figure (still alive, kicking and wonderful) but, an event in history that fascinated and changed the world. It was a moment in time when we thought women had cracked the highest ceiling of all. Every now and then I like to read her concession speech!

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

“Keep your heels, your head and your standards high!”  – Coco Chanel

The post EPeeps Jill McCarthy | Content Delivery Manager appeared first on Education Perfect.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I first joined EP in November 2018 as a Software Engineer intern, and my main project was to help implement EP’s end-to-end automated tests suite. I left at the end of my internship programme but came back in July 2019 as a QA Engineer. Even though I really enjoyed being a QA, I’ve always missed being able to fix issues or develop new features. As an inquisitive person, I loved being a QA and finding bugs, but as a problem solver, I didn’t really like the part where I had to let the problem go and give it to someone else. So in April this year, I moved into a Software Engineering role. It’s been very challenging (in a good way) so far, but I have a supportive team of engineers around me, who are teaching me a lot and helping me grow in my new role.

Outside of work, you can usually find me listening to music, playing board or video games (very likely something Nintendo), cooking/baking, looking for good food to eat, or just chilling at home waiting for a nice day to go enjoy some amazing New Zealand walk (my favourite day hike is Gertrude Saddle, in Milford Sound).

Why do you love working at EP?

The main thing that I like about working at EP is seeing how the people around me genuinely care about making our work environment safe for all EPeeps. I’ve seen us grow so much in the past 4 years and a lot of that is because people’s suggestions and concerns are taken seriously here. We’re always open to learning from each other and doing whatever we can to make everyone feel welcome. 

Besides being an engineer at EP, I’m also part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and also one of the very vocal advocates for accessibility, and I’m glad to be working at a place that gives us the platform to discuss these important topics and the support that we need to work towards removing barriers from our workplace and our product.

What is your secret talent?

I’m usually ready to say that I have no talents at all, but as I was thinking about an answer to this question, I realised that’s not true. I think that my secret talent is being able to quickly adapt to whatever situation I’m in and make the most of it.

Back in Brazil, I graduated in Chemistry and worked as a Science/Chemistry teacher for about a year. I’ve always wanted to leave the country though, so I decided to move to the U.S. and go learn English, even though I had pretty much never travelled by plane before (the only time was when I was about 7 or 8 and went to a rhythmic gymnastics competition in the south of Brazil) and the only English I knew was the very basic that I’d learned in school. I probably looked like a lost puppy around the airports, pointing to the useful “At the Airport” phrases that were written in the back of my Portuguese-English dictionary to communicate with the flight attendants. 

Once there, I noticed that I was not learning English quickly enough, and decided to enrol in a Community College course, where speaking, listening and writing in English were my only options for communication. It was really hard and intense at the beginning, but my English skills developed rapidly after that!

I discovered my passion for Computer Science thanks to my cousin, Gabriel, who recommended me a book called “Learn Python the Hard Way” and told me to see how I liked it (long story short: I loved it!). Since then and where I am today, I’ve found myself having to move countries more than I had anticipated and with short notice to do so, working many different jobs in order to pay my bills (e.g. waitress, babysitter/nanny, barista, Santa’s photographer, IT specialist, etc.), dealing with unexpected family losses… and with each curve-ball thrown at me, after a couple of days of full-on freaking out and telling myself that I couldn’t do it, the problem-solver in me kicked in, and I’ve been able to focus on the available options, adapt and move on.

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

To stop seeking everyone’s approval all the time. It is nice to be empathetic and do things to help others, but not when you have to invalidate your own opinions and values in the process. It is important to voice your concerns and have open communication with the people in your life. When you respectfully disagree with others and explain your thoughts, it is very likely that you’ll still have their respect in the end (if not, then was it even worth it, to begin with?).

What book/movie/music/podcast etc has been a big influence on you?

Every person that knows me, even if just a little bit, knows how much I love Gilmore Girls. I started watching it when I was 12 or 13 and have lost count of how many more times I have done so since then. And every time I watch it, I reflect on something different. Back then, I saw so much of myself in Rory: a good student, nice to everyone around and pushing herself to excel in everything she wanted to do. As I became an older teenager, I started noticing that some of the behaviours that I shared with her were actually not healthy at all, and I did my best to not go through that same path. Now as an adult, I see myself identifying a bit more with Lorelai instead. Anyway, my point is: every time I watch Gilmore Girls, I find something that relates to my current stage in life that I hadn’t really paid attention to in the previous X times that I watched it, and I have new things to look forward to. I just love that show too much.

Any last words you would like to share?

I learned from my fellow EPeep Phil Jury that I should always leave the audience with a quote, so here it is:

“If eating cake is wrong, I don’t want to be right” – Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls

The post EPeeps Vivian Breda | Associate Software Engineer appeared first on Education Perfect.

After growing up in what felt like a small place, I wanted to do an Alicia Keys (Empire State of Mind) and move to the concrete jungle to be inspired by the big lights. I was fortunate enough to live in Berlin for a semester during university where I fell in love with Dunkin’ Donuts. Then I hopped over to London where teaching students about population pyramids and different types of rocks really wasn’t what they needed but it was the safe, fun environment they craved. It was such a rewarding experience.

After a last-minute trip to Australia in 2017, I instantly knew I had to stay: the beaches, the climate, the lifestyle etc. I’ve basically been here ever since and have had the privilege of teaching incredible students in Sydney and Brisbane. It was at one of those schools that I first used EP.  I was instantly impressed by the platform, but with a lack of training, I very much became one of the teachers I now try to engage with to showcase its true capabilities actively.

When I’m not working, I try to spend as much time out and about as possible, enjoying the idyllic country I now call home. I enjoy travelling and am super grateful that EP has allowed me to visit different schools across the country and in New Zealand.

Why did you become an EPeep?

After being a very passionate, enthusiastic teacher for 9 years, I felt the need for a new challenge as my passion had started to decline but the desire to have a positive, educational impact still remained. I knew that if I left teaching, it had to be the right move and when this opportunity came, I triple jumped at it! My role at EP allows me to have a wider reaching influence on teachers and consequently their students.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I have so much fun going into different schools, working with different contexts, challenges and personalities. It has greatly broadened my perspective and empathy of what teachers face and widened my understanding of subject specific problems. Fortunately, I’m able to present them with a fantastic solution to a lot of their issues!

What are you most excited about?

I’m super excited about going back to the UK to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in 4 years. There are lots of little additions to the family so it will be quite magical to experience a Christmas day with them, unwrapping their Aussie themed gifts. Also, the harsh winter will be different. The past few Christmases have been spent in the swimming pool and at the beach whereas this year will be everyone huddled around the fire, desperately sipping hot chocolate, trying to keep warm. 

How do you prefer to start your day?

I’m quite an early riser so I like to get up, get a good, long cardio workout in (to counter any doughnut induced food decisions later in the day) then chill with a coffee and catch up on the news before being on dog duty and starting work. I find getting up early helps me become focussed quickly so I am definitely at my most efficient earlier in the day. Quite happy with 7am meetings or before school PDs!

Tell us about your pet!

This is probably my favourite question! Monty, or Montgomery when he’s chewing my slippers, is a 7 month old cavoodle with a stunning, windswept, ruby coat. He’s a big chap at 7.5kg for his breed and age. My partner’s hope that he would be closer to 4kg when he’s an adult has long since been shattered. The benefit of his obsession with food is that he has so far been quite easy to train. Now we’re just trying to stop him barking at school children when they walk past our house so any tips are definitely welcome! We also have two Burmese cats who are super fluffy and great lap heaters during winter. I very much identify with them as they just want to lay in the sun. Monty and The Cats (potential band name?) have some way to go in developing a respectful relationship but we are getting there!

Any last words you would like to share?

Some fantastic advice that really resonates is ‘know who you are and apply that to everything you do’. It allows you to be more authentic and from my experience, students and all people appreciate that. It encourages you to create your own path and makes following it more enjoyable.

The post EPeeps Bradley Hacker | Teacher Consultant Lead, QLD appeared first on Education Perfect.

Tell us a bit about yourself! (personal and/or work life)

I have lived in Dunedin my whole life and don’t plan on ever leaving. I love my family, especially my mum, who has Multiple Sclerosis, she is a huge light in my life and an absolute champion – up until two months ago, I still lived with my mum and my grandparents! My husband Chris and I got married in February of this year and finally bought our first home. I’m a big gamer, and in my spare time, you will mostly find me playing on my Playstation. I love all genres of gaming, and I’m always trying something new.

If I am not gaming, you will find me at the gym with Chris or at singing lessons. I have been professionally trained in singing since I was 13 years old and I love it – through singing I have meet some of my closest friends and have been a part of some wonderful workshops with coaches who have worked with Grammy winning artists. I also love spending times with my friends and try and have wee holidays together or playing board games.

Why do you love working at EP?

I love working at EP simply because of how welcoming and kind the people are and how many of us there are! I was really nervous to work in a big company with so many people, in my previous role in retail I only worked with a team of ten. Everyone here is willing to help you or if you just want to have a chat. It has been great coming to work everyday knowing I will likely talk to someone new and knowing I have a great support system here. 

What book/movie/podcast has been a big influence on you?

Easy, Jurassic Park! I watch these movies every couple of months and still LOVE them. Every time I watch the first one and we see the dinosaurs for the first time I am still in awe – Jurassic Park started many loves for me – dinosaurs, museums and of course Sam Neill. I wasn’t alive when the first movie came out so I missed it on the big screen. Recently in my town, one of the movie theatres played it and a friend of mine bought tickets for me and Chris as an engagement present and I cried when I saw it. Luckily, I have a very understanding husband who doesn’t laugh at me for it.

Favourite feature of the platform?

I love our Translation Lists! I like to keep busy and I love learning. I often use our translation lists to help refresh languages that I learnt at high school and to help prepare for my 4 week trip to Europe and the UK next year! They are quick and easy to use and easy to revise with.

Tell us about your pet/s!

I love animals and I have always had a pet at any given moment. My family are massive animal lovers too and the most pets we had at one time was 12.

Currently, Chris and I have a 4-month old Jack Russell/Foxie/Shih Tzu (Pepper) and at my mum’s I have me 14 year old cat Poppy. Pepper keeps us busy, she is a tiny ball of energy, she is just the best.  She has filled a missing part of my heart and we don’t know what we would do without her!

Any last words you would like to share?

I have recently learnt how quickly life can change. This has showed me to enjoy life everyday and share your love with those around you while you can. It is easy to take your life and loved ones for granted so make sure you are showing your appreciation everyday, even if it just someone doing the dishes for you! 

The post EPeeps Maxine Sannum | Senior Customer Support Specialist appeared first on Education Perfect.

After studying Primary Teaching and Sociology in Dunedin, I was a teacher in both Dunedin and Central Otago. In 2020 I decided I was going to head overseas – not great timing haha… so of course Covid hit and we were locked down! So, like everyone, I pivoted my plans and began supporting teachers across the country with distance learning skills from my lounge room. I really enjoyed this side of education and eventually came across the opportunity to work at Education Perfect as the partnership between EP and Science Alive was being formed. Two years later and I haven’t looked back!

Why do you love working at EP?

The people I have the privilege to work with. There are so many amazing EPeeps within the company, each bringing a wealth of knowledge, experience and perspective to their mahi. Moving from teaching into an edtech company made me understand the amount of work and people power it takes to create a platform like Education Perfect. 

What does a typical day look like for you in your role?

Starting at the beginning… I would like to say I was one of those people who get up as soon as their alarm goes off but I would definitely be lying. The snooze button is pressed at least twice! I am very lucky that no two days are the same for me and I am not one to stay still for very long so this keeps me well entertained. Often I will spend my time, coming up with new ideas and solutions and working with the team to create new and exciting lessons for our students. The other part of my job is to empower teachers to utilise this free resource in their schools. This means lots of zoom calls and sessions with staff or heading away to conferences to engage with the education community… all done with a side of coffee of course!

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Moving into this role and working with a stellar team, we have been able to create resources that inspire both students and educators to widen the scope of STEM within their classrooms. It has been very humbling to hear how our resources have changed the perspectives of teachers and challenged them to integrate technology and STEM industry knowledge into their routines. My role within the team is to put myself in the shoes of educators and students, think of their needs and help bring to life learning opportunities that many teachers just simply don’t have the time or resources to create themselves. 

What are you most excited about? (personal and/or work life)

I am very excited for the year ahead! We love pushing the boundaries in the Science Alive team and we are embarking on a new Pasifika module next year focusing on STEAM across the Pacific. I am really looking forward to seeing this take shape and how it will be received by schools next year.

I am hoping to rewind time and do a bit of the travel I missed out on (thanks covid) next year and attend a couple of destination weddings. Bali and Scotland are on the list for 2023 so far – any recommendations for a short Europe stint feel free to let me know! I am really looking forward to experiencing new cultures and trying all the food of course!

What is your secret talent?

Something I would like to do more of but often falls off the list – Art! I love to draw and paint – I had a job restoring furniture while I was studying which I loved. I even painted a piano bright orange for a client once! A real stand out piece for me was a friend who asked me to paint some murals in their gym. This was my biggest piece of work to date and it was so much fun bringing their vision to life! 

The post EPeeps Lauren Pugh | Project Lead Science Alive Mātauranga appeared first on Education Perfect.

Tell us a bit about yourself! (personal and/or work life)

I joined Education Perfect back in 2017, after finishing my Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Otago. During my time at EP, I’ve worn many hats/titles starting out in the Support Team and eventually being one of the founding members of both our Technical Support and Product Teams when they were first established. It has been heartwarming to see these teams grow and flourish to where they are today.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending my time being active by checking out the many amazing scenic spots Sydney has to offer, but you can also catch me in the gym repeatedly lifting heavy things. Now that the days of lockdowns are behind us, I have been taking every chance I get to see my favourite musicians live and attend local events. That being said, I am a big introvert at heart and there’s truly nothing better than a night in snuggling up next to my dog or playing video games.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I’ve been doing Product Management for approximately 3 years now and I find what I do to be so rewarding. If I had to sum up what I do as a Product Manager in one sentence, it would be: Understanding, prioritising and solving problems to make our customers’ lives easier. I enjoy making a positive impact and Product Management gives me the perfect outlet to do so. I enjoy the opportunities to have conversations with teachers, students and parents to get their feedback on their experiences using EP, and then working with awesome Designers and Engineers to collaborate on solutions together.

What are you most excited about? (personal and/or work life)

Recently in the Product & Engineering space at EP, there has been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to enable us to make more frequent exciting updates to the platform. It has been a huge effort from many different teams so I can’t wait for this next era of EP where we can really start making incremental updates more often! In my personal life, I’m most excited to see my mum. She is currently living in Europe and we haven’t seen each other since I moved to Sydney in 2020. We have always been close, so the distance and time zone differences have been challenging to say the least. Next month she will be moving over here and I can’t wait to reconnect with her again.

Tell us about your pet(s)!

I have a 2-year-old long-haired miniature dachshund named Bailey. She is the sweetest little thing and has mastered the art of puppy-dog eyes to manipulate everyone at the dog park to give her treats. I got her just before Christmas eve in 2020 during the lockdown. Getting back to ‘normal’ after having a lockdown dog and living alone is not easy (or cheap!). The first time I left her at home alone for a few hours, she ate the wall in my apartment, and then this year she chewed the cable to my expensive standing desk, causing a power outage. That being said, she has quite honestly been one of the best things to happen to me. She has such a funny quirky personality and makes me laugh every day. For example, when she isn’t getting enough attention she will get herself ‘stuck’ under the couch on purpose and have to be ‘rescued’ and she loves sneaking into the part of the terrace where she knows she’s not supposed to be and makes a game out of me chasing her to try and catch her.

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

Spend less time worrying, especially over trivial things! We have limited time on this earth so it’s best to let go of things we have no control over. This is definitely easier said than done, especially when dealing with anxiety. When I look back on my younger self, I was so much more stressed out than I needed to be. I wish I could give past-me a hug and some reassurance that everything works out for the best, even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time.

Any last words you would like to share?

Take some time out every now and then to reflect and give yourself credit for your achievements and how far you have come! It’s so easy to get stuck in the day-to-day grind and then before you know it another year is over. I find taking a moment to pause and reflect has been so helpful both in a work setting and in my personal life.

We don’t give ourselves enough credit for the effort we put in, especially when it comes to working towards goals and building habits. These often happen so incrementally that it’s hard to see a difference unless you actively make an effort to reflect. There is a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear, which has skyrocketed in popularity (for good reason!) and I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already read it.

The post EPeeps Christine Starr | Product Manager appeared first on Education Perfect.

I started at EP way back in late 2012, working part time in the Languages Content Team while I finished my Computer Science degree at the University of Otago. My ‘interview’ for the job was conducted while playing Four Square with a Swiss Ball, having to answer questions like ‘If you were a utensil, which one would you be?’ (the answer is spork, obviously) and having to make my best dinosaur impression. It was clear from then that I knew I would enjoy working here.

Tell us a bit about yourself! (personal and/or work life)

I grew up playing outside with friends, then I found the internet and computers and haven’t left my room since. Okay that was a slight over exaggeration, I still played badminton for Otago and went on walks when my parents forced me to but otherwise I was playing games on my laptop (mainly RuneScape and Battlefield 2 ????). I’ve spent most of my life in Dunedin but have been fortunate enough to travel to over a dozen countries with my family, usually following my Dad to a conference that he would attend and then taking some extra time to sight see. The next two locations on my hit-list are Japan and somewhere in Scandinavia.

These days I spend a lot of my spare time hanging with friends or learning about a variety of topics on YouTube. I love learning, mainly – Tesla/SpaceX news, latest green technology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, spirituality/meditation to name a few. I also love listening to music, if you know me even a little bit then you’ll know I love listening to the band Tool but also listen to The xx, Parcels, Red Hot Chili Peppers, A Perfect Circle, Sticky Fingers, Kendrick Lamar, and Mako Road to name a few.

Why do you love working at EP?

Hands down it has to be the people and the product. The team at EP have to be the most caring, supportive, and hard-working bunch of people that I have met. They’re always keen to have a laugh but know when to knuckle down and get the big jobs done.

As for the product, I love solving real problems for real people and to be able to do this while also providing a world-class education platform is extremely rewarding. I think educating future generations (and current generations too) is key for the long term success of humanity. We need a lot of smart people to solve many difficult problems for us to become a sustainable and long lasting civilisation. It’s also extremely motivating for me to think about how many thousand hours have been saved by teachers, and how many millions of questions have been answered by students as a direct result of the code I have written.

Favourite feature of the platform?

My favourite feature would have to be Dash. It’s a fast and competitive revision game that students can play after each lesson, they can either play ‘offline’ against ghost players or online against other students. It is my favourite feature because it was really fun to build, it was the first real bit of gamification that I was able to work on and I was able to work closely with a colleague, Mark van Rij, who taught me a lot during that project.

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

Solidify and refine your goals. You’re full of potential, which is great, but if you don’t turn your goals into something which you can act on then you will only ever be potential.

It’s too easy to stay in the world of potential, whether it’s your fear of failure or inability to commit to a decision that’s holding you back, you will only get what you want out of life where the rubber meets the road.

Tell us about a time when you viewed an event or occurrence as a negative, though in hindsight it turned out to be a positive.

This might be an odd answer but a ‘negative’ event that turned out to be positive was my separation from my then wife, Kirstie. This whole experience has been such a great vehicle for teaching me about change. At first I was a bit shell-shocked, we had been together for over 10 years, married for over a year, had a house together and a whole bunch of life plans. Now, we are both much happier with healthy social lives. We are both on the paths that we want to be on, and we continue to support each other as good friends.

Since then, I have learnt how to be more independent, that living alone can actually be quite fun and that the end of a relationship doesn’t necessarily mean that something has gone wrong. Not every relationship that you enter needs to last forever, sometimes you are only meant to be together for a certain period in your lives and once that relationship has reached its natural end, you can part ways on good terms knowing that you both have bright futures ahead of you.

Any last words you would like to share?

Time only moves forward, so should you. You will only ever experience this moment once, 5 seconds ago will always be 5 seconds ago, it will never be now again. Be present in this moment as you will never be able to experience it again, laugh when you want to laugh, cry when you want to cry, just don’t take it too seriously.

The post EPeeps Alex Poulin | Senior Software Engineer appeared first on Education Perfect.

Ka nukunuku, ka nekeneke, ka nukunuku, ka nekeneke! Titiro ki ngā Tai o Tokerau nō Kawiti, e rere nei ki ngā Waimārama o Hinengatiira, o Rongomaipureora! E ko Ngāti Hine, e ko Ngāti Manu, e ko Ngāti Kurukuru, e kokoia, e ara e!  

Tēnā koutou, ko Te Awe Hineahuone Davis tōku ingoa. I’m a Bilingual Teaching Consultant within Team NZ at Education perfect and a Kaihāpai Kaupapa Māori within the Te Ao Māori team. I am deeply passionate about developing Te Ao Māori resources and content that support the growth and implementation of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori across schools, homes and professional spaces in Aotearoa. 

How did you find transitioning from your previous role into an EdTech role?

Transitioning from Teaching into EdTech has been both challenging and overwhelming, but incredibly exciting and empowering. Working in the EdTech and STEM spaces has allowed me to grow professionally & personally, giving new perspectives to the capabilities in today’s tech & how this can be cultivated to benefit te iwi Māori & Aotearoa, New Zealand as a whole, has since become a driving force behind a lot of my mahi (work).

Why become an EPeep?

After the first lockdown back in 2020, work/life balance became hugely important to me. I wanted to build a career that worked around my life & not have to work my life around my career. Joining Education Perfect & becoming an EPeep has given so much more meaning to my mahi, expanding my capabilities but also having the opportunity to work with passionate, innovative, like-minded people who strive to provide the best possible opportunities for learning & understanding, to every student.

Since becoming an EPeep, I’ve had the privilege of sharing in kōrero (discussion) and wānanga (deliberation) with many students, Kaiako and Professionals across the country. This has helped me to create an idea of what Cultural Capability could look like in a class, home or work setting and ultimately what it means to be a Bi-cultural Aotearoa. 

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

The world really is your oyster and there are so many new avenues to explore, explore them! There are always new career paths, new hobbies and passions and your reo and tikanga will become the foundation for everything you do, hold on to it! 

Also- you don’t need the new iPhone.

What is your secret talent?

Not so much a talent, but I have a Black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. As a child my parents wanted me to be able to physically defend myself, also I’m a clutz and will drop anything, so they also wanted me  to be involved in a sport where that wouldn’t be a possibility. 

Any last words you would like to share?

Technology is a space of creativity & innovation. In my learnings so far with Education Perfect, I have found myself resonating with many kōrero tuku iho (sayings handed down) and reflecting on how they apply to my journey in this space. As I step more into my role, I am reminded of a whakatauāki from my tūpuna (ancestor) , Sir James Henare.

“Kua tawhiti kē tō haerenga mai, kia kore e haere tonu. He nui rawa ou mahi, kia kore e mahi tonu” 

You have come too far, not to go further. You have done too much, not to do more.  

Tā Hemi Henare, Ngāti Hine

The post EPeeps Te Awe Davis | Bilingual Teaching Consultant appeared first on Education Perfect.

It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance! I’m Phil and I’m your local teacher consultant for Asia, which in plain terms means I work with all our educators on optimising their use of Education Perfect. I cannot tell you how much I learn from everyone by doing this. It’s awesome

Previously I was the Maths HoD at an international school here in Singapore for 5 years, and before that, I worked as a math teacher in the UK, Guernsey and Malaysia. Depending upon whether you count Guernsey on the international circuit or not, I’ve worked in international education for 8 or 9 years. My wife claims 8.

I have a beautiful 2-year-old daughter named Freya who I absolutely adore. I know, cliche dad warning. And another on the way in February, who no doubt will be just as mischievous.

Why become an EPeep?

My daughter is actually one of the main reasons I became an EPeep. The job allows me to work from home and the company has been utterly superb in allowing flexible time for me to spend with Freya in her most formative years. If you’re reading this you’re probably a teacher and can relate to the regimented schedule. Another reason I love being an EPeep is that our international team spans the globe, which is cool to say. But, practically speaking, those timezones are crazy. The team has been amazing at developing a positive and engaging team culture even with these obstacles. I’m the only member of our team in Singapore, but feel incredibly close to my colleagues despite their distance. Shout out to Francis and Aless in particular! Also part of the Asia team. And Jonte. Jonte is my favourite.

What does a typical day look like for you in your role?

So I chose this question because while I was working in education I had no idea what any of the app staff members I worked with did in the background.
So here’s for those folks like my old self. I have a lot of meetings with all types of educators. From class teachers to EdTech and Innovation leads of Educational groups. 

This week I’m averaging 3 meetings a day. These meetings can range from training on how to use Education Perfect in a teacher’s context, to strategising adoption and data collection across schools. In between these, I have a lot of emails, which are usually follow-ups on projects we run in our schools. In busy periods I could receive 50 emails in a day. The rest of my time is spent on the app building bespoke curation for schools, or meeting with the internal team to learn and ideate better services. An example of my main project right now is trying to get as many of our Asia schools to integrate their SIS and Education Perfect so no one has to manage their classes on EP anymore; it’ll be automatically updated by your SIS! Love this aggregate time saver.

What are you most excited about? (work life)

If you’ll allow me some poorly disguised self-promotion? You gladly will? Fantastic. My excitement around EdTech only grew exponentially when joining EP and has sparked my article writing on LinkedIn. You can check out my newsletter here. Right now I’m most interested in Extended Reality (XR). Not least because a new acronym appears to be born every hour in the space! This is affecting every industry and so you can get lost if you don’t focus. But the implications of opening up our curricula by creating more tangible learning environments in tech is astounding. It’s something I never imagined being possible when I first started teaching. It feels antithetical almost to say a digital environment could be MORE tangible.

What are you most excited about? (personal life)

Let me share with you what I’m currently playing on. Tennis. Really really atrocious tennis. My wife and I have started to play once a week and although we appear to be a few serves short of Sampras we have a lot of laughs. You’ve allowed me shameless self promotion so I’m going to take liberties and jump up on my soapbox too. The rationale behind this is that I’m infatuated with learning. Also my wife, but mainly learning… I think doing something new, where you can learn as an absolute beginner is vital in education. Being able to laugh at one’s own shortcomings is actually a trait that requires reinforcement. And lastly, but most importantly, my wife and I have found that spending time just us is really important as our family grows. That’s my 2 cents anyway.

What book/movie/music/podcast etc has been a big influence on you?

Have you ever read ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’? I am a little self-conscious sharing self help books I read. They can elicit quite guttural reactions from some. However, this book has been emphatically influential to me. I must have read it 7 times now and if I’m struggling with my mental health a reread can usually help ‘right the ship’. Mitch Albom is an engaging author and although I don’t hold his religious views I have greatly enjoyed his books. To continue with this heavy theme the only movie I have seen the same amount of times is Tangled. I think it self-evident why this movie has been so intrinsic to the way I live my life. So I’ll not waste our time by elaborating.

Any last words you would like to share?

I was once told to always leave your audience with a quote. That way the words attributed to you will be wise and you didn’t have to think too hard to make that impression. So in those wise words.

“I have magic hair that glows when I sing.” –Rapunzel, Tangled

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