My Background

I work as a 12th-grade teacher in the Bronx at Compsi high. I teach UX/UI design to my seniors. I also teach graphic design to juniors. I have a huge passion for the industry, and I like to experiment with my learning programs to find what works best for my students.

My Challenge

I wanted to find the best possible learning program for my students. Since I am teaching about UX, I need to keep up with the fast-evolving industry. Therefore, there are several things I need to take into consideration:

  • Standard Learning Materials Get Obsolete Quickly: There is a need for more updated and interactive learning materials.
  • Finding a Tool that Keeps Students Engaged: Students are learning in a different way compared to only a few years ago, and you need to find a way to keep them engaged.
  • Certifications: Hard to find good options for UX certifications

Finding my Solution

After we identified all of our problems, my colleagues and I conducted extensive research to find a platform or a tool that could solve our problems. We had a problem with Adobe XD last year, because they stopped the support for their product, and I knew we were not doing the same this year. I knew I wanted to do something different. However, the research didn’t give me anything substantial. 

And then, my boss, the director of our computer science team, found Uxcel. He told me to just check it out and see if I like it. I followed his advice and immediately knew, like, this is the one like it had a lot of the features which we wanted.

Apart from that, Uxcel had lots of features we didn’t know we wanted, but they seemed interesting. For example, the most essential feature we wanted is assessments. It is great to have automatic assessments of the tasks we give to our students, and to follow their progress.

The Effect on My Career

Using modern learning platforms such as Uxcel is beneficial for both me and my students. It is great to give them assignments until the end of the week and follow their progress. Uxcel also recognizes the need for gamification and creating interactive learning materials for younger generations who are having trouble keeping up with traditional learning materials.

Of course, UX is a fast-evolving field that is more interactive and different compared to traditional learning materials, so we, as teachers, have to adapt. It is great that we have tools such as Uxcel to help us create a new and interactive learning experience for our students.

Although Uxcel is great, there is room for improvement. I would like to have the ability to divide my students into different groups or classrooms, so I can customize the assessments I am giving to them even more. However, assessments are one of the best benefits of using the app, and they make life easier for both the teachers and students.

Advice to Other Professionals

Uxcel fits University or school life like a glove. The features they are offering can help teachers immensely. On the other hand, students love Uxcel and its type of learning. It is similar to Duolingo, which is very popular among younger generations, and we, as teachers, should do everything in our power to include bite-sized, gamified, interactive lessons in our program as much as we can.

I would recommend Uxcel to each colleague in design, both for their professional development, and getting better results with their students.