Prior to Minerva, I was Chief Learning Architect at Grockit, where I helped develop the company's core social learning and assessment technologies, designed a system for educational data analysis and learning analytics, and led all research initiatives. In 2011, I developed Grockit Answers to enable productive peer-to-peer learning around educational videos.

Outside of work, I enjoy building tools for collaborative learning in an informal environment. In 2010, I launched Studio Sketchpad, a website for creative coders to collaboratively author and share interactive animations and data visualizations written in Processing. Five years after starting Sketchpad, I still check in regularly to see what people are building and to highlight some of my favorites in the Gallery. Sketchpad has been used in an educational setting at over 100 universities, high schools, and coding workshops around the world.

I completed my PhD in Computer Science at Brandeis University in 2008. In my dissertation work, I examined the possibilities of motivating learning among peers by incorporating these interactions into a game. This drew on a combination of game theory, system design, and a statistical analysis of data from tens of thousands of kids practicing spelling online. Here's a tough one: accommodation.