Fyza Parviz Jazra, Nelson Shuchmacher Endebo, and Ellis Schriefer: Building EdTech from the Inside Out: Challenges and Opportunities of EpicConnect

EpicConnect is an education technology product specifically designed to benefit community college instructors, and it is being built at CESTA. It is an open-source productivity platform that leverages Behavior Design principles to build community, enhance belonging, and help instructors collaborate on pedagogical projects. But something like EpicConnect cannot happen overnight, and in this presentation the co-founders of the project will share what they have learned, from product discovery and designing prototypes to user testing and the challenges and opportunities of creating user-centered tech for education.

This seminar is co-sponsored by Stanford Global Studies.

The presentation will include lunch and take place at the Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis in Wallenberg 433A. A Zoom link is available upon request from Center Manager, Jonathan Clark (jclark93 [at] stanford.edu (jclark93[at]stanford[dot]edu)).

About the Speakers

Fyza Parviz Jazra recently graduated with a master's degree from Stanford. Previously she worked as a Software Engineer at Apple and Motorola. For the past several years, Fyza has been co-directing the Poetic Media Lab at Stanford and for the past four years has been working closely with EPIC Fellows to build digital pedagogical tools for classroom. She is one of the founders of EPIConnect, a collaborative project development workspace for community college instructors.

Nelson Shuchmacher Endebo is the co-founder and product manager of EpicConnect. He is also a PhD Candidate in Comparative Literature at Stanford University. In addition, he supports community college instruction as an education technology consultant for the EPIC fellowship program at Stanford Global Studies. He also supports other education technology initiatives at Stanford Graduate School of Education and elsewhere.

Ellis Schriefer is a PhD candidate in Iberian and Latin American Cultures at Stanford University. Her academic research centers on contemporary Spanish social movements, placemaking, urban activism, processes of gentrification, and community-established public spaces. Ellis is also passionate about instructional design, the Open Education movement, increasing community involvement within academia, as well as teaching Spanish film, literature, language, and cultural classes.