From Classroom to Platform:

For over 20 years, I have been working on a problem that connects the educational community, including students, teachers, parents, schools, publishers, and government. Let's go back to where it all began.

I started my career in music, earning a Bachelor of Music at Brandon University. In addition to guitar performance, theory, and history, among other subjects, I took several classes in education, including theory and instrument techniques. Later, I entered the University of Regina to complete studies in music education but was deeply unsatisfied with the level of professionalism. In one class, Music for Children, there was a student who couldn't sing in tune yet was permitted into the class. Unable to reconcile this, I dropped out. I later studied classical guitar privately in Spain under the late José Tomás and earned a Master of Music degree from the University of British Columbia.

Afterward, I moved to Mexico for a few years, where I used it as a base for my recording and concertizing career. While I found moderate success, it was challenging to make ends meet, so, like many music colleagues before me, I went to Asia to teach English.

Upon arrival in Taiwan, I was thrust into the classroom with a book and a CD player, given an hour of preparation, and no instructions before teaching my first adult class. After teaching adults for several months, I realized that the goal wasn't so much learning, but rather providing a space for the adults to interact with a foreigner and learn about their worldview. Adult classes felt more like leading community meetings than teaching.

With mostly evening work and free days, I sought additional work and found a local recruiter who gave me a part-time job subbing in the elementary school system. Once again, I had little guidance and was thrown into the classroom with a book, a CD player, and a local teacher who was responsible for classroom management but looking to me for direction. The first few classes were chaotic, but as I settled in, I noticed how little could be learned in such large classes meeting for just 45 minutes weekly.

In the fall of 2002, I started a full-time job teaching at an elementary school. I noticed that many of my students were struggling with language skills, getting lost in their homework, and feeling bored and frustrated. One helpful tool was flashcards, which engaged kids by connecting words to concrete objects or actions. However, there wasn't enough time to spend with each child to ensure successful repetition and understanding of words.

So, I began to ask: how can we get kids to self-study successfully? How can we fully engage them in the classroom instead of leaving them lost and confused? In response, I started writing songs for specific learning targets. Introducing these songs in class, I saw firsthand how they engaged and excited the students, enabling them to learn language much more quickly. This experience showed me that incorporating fun and engagement into learning was essential for student success.

Furthermore, I realized that learning objectives weren't clearly defined. While homework was written, there was no way to ensure kids were understanding and speaking their English language targets. This prompted me to think about how to engage kids at home when doing their homework. I recognized that incorporating animation or images into homework lessons through presentation movies or tutorials would not only be engaging but also help students understand concepts and words outside of class. So, I started drafting diagrams for a children's learning application. This led to the creation of BZabc's animated tutorials, which feature clear learning targets and quizzes to follow. The quizzes start with multiple-choice questions, much like flashcards, and offer a variety of other types designed to be exercises for different productive skills, starting with recognition and moving up to spelling and sentence construction.

After considering presentation and review, I also recognized that students needed a way to track and guide themselves through the material, similar to a coach or teacher. Furthermore, teachers and parents would require access to reports on progress and performance. This led to the incorporation of personalized, data-driven reviews in BZabc, which help students navigate their coursework and stay on track.

After many years of development, the BZabc platform came to fruition. Built in the classroom, for the classroom, BZabc now serves as an innovative solution to the challenges faced by students, teachers, and parents, ensuring a more engaging and effective learning experience for all.