Leadership

Brendan got to experience the disruption of pandemic teaching asnd learning firsthand. Ironically, the learning experience as a graduate student in UBC's Masters of Educational Technology (MET) did not change in any noticeable way, but that speaks to how innovative a program it already was pre-pandemic., whereas his teaching experience as Math, Science and Technology Education Teacher shifted from a hands-on community to fully online overnight. Thankfully Brendan's experience teaching everything from Game Design to Robotics (some of which even ended up on the International Space Station) was about to come in handy..

The pandemic spurred Brendan to change his practice in ways he had always "meant to", but that he never seemed to have the time or energy for. He began to Screencast lessons into online videos so that he could restructure class as a "flipped" model that prioritized discussions and activities rather than lectures, and with partners, he created systems like a "choice board" of learning so that students could have more choice over when, how and what they learn. Yet something was still missing even after the return to school...

As more students began to show irregularities in their attendance, meaningful formative feedback for learning became increasingly difficult. What's more, parents were trying to do the best they could from home, but many didn't know where to find the resources they needed to help their kids succeed, and Brendan found himself pulling double (or triple) duty as a full-time in-class teacher, part-time online tutor and full time techy wondering how this process could be automated! This was how the idea for the Tech Tutor was born!