Top 3 Qualities in Kids’ Tech Instructors
When choosing camps or classes for your child, whether in technology, sports, or otherwise, it’s a good idea to find out a little about just who is teaching the class. Knowing that your child’s instructor has solid experience in their field can tell you a lot about what kind of experience they’re going to give your student. Here are the top three qualities you should look for when scheduling activities for your children.
- Knowledge. It’s always a good sign when a potential teacher has a degree in the field they’re teaching–it means they’ve put years and hundreds of hours into studying and practicing in their field.
- Experience. A solid degree is great, but having job experience in that field as well can provide a lot of extra depth to their instruction. A teacher with industry experience can share anecdotally what the reality of their field is, and give examples of scenarios that pop up professionally.
- Passion. Usually, when someone in a field like computer science, game design, or film feels motivated to become a teacher, it’s because they are passionate about that subject and want to give kids the chance to learn about their interests as well. These instructors may have had teachers themselves who inspired them to pursue their passion, and they want to to pay that forward for a new generation.
Here at Digital Dragon, we are always on the lookout for teachers who fit these descriptions, ensuring that our students get the best experience possible. All our instructors have relevant degrees, credentials, and work experience — but we wanted to highlight a few of our current teachers.
- Digital Dragon teacher Chris, who has a BA in Business Economics from Wofford College and an MFA in Film & Digital Technology from Chatham University, is a freelance filmmaker who has filled every role from camera person to director to editor to producer. He has been involved in nine independent films, including directing four features and taking them to market. He has also served as a director and technical director for live football broadcasts, as well as operating cameras for soccer and baseball, during his university career. Chris will frequently bring in professional film equipment: cameras, steadicam mounts, lights, and more so that students can get hands-on experience with items they might never see otherwise. He can talk to students about finding funding for films, the importance of insuring equipment, as well as the artistic aspects inherent in creating films of any kind from scene composition to an actor’s performance.
- Enrique has a BS in Computer Science: Computer Game Design from UC Santa Cruz and, in addition to many student projects, has worked as a Gameplay Engineer for an indie game studio in Santa Monica for the past year and a half alongside teaching with Digital Dragon. He has been hands on in the industry, pulling the work of his team together to ship a complete cohesive VR game, currently available on Steam for PC, Oculus, and Vive. His experience allows him to take his students beyond simply coding or creating art and assets, and through the process of project management, including having them create design documents to help keep the teams in sync on projects and nail down their vision.
- Jonathan has a BS in Computer Science from UMass Amherst and an MLA in Software Engineering from Harvard Extension School. He has nine solid years of professional software development and engineering under his belt including working on computer and web applications for investment firms, hospitals, and more–not to mention pursuing his own freelance app projects and building graphics libraries for educational products. Jon’s experience tackling huge professional projects helps him to teach his students to break large, daunting projects into smaller manageable objectives, giving the building block skills for success.
Whether you are booking classes, camps, or private lessons at Digital Dragon or any enrichment offerings — from music and art, to sports and cooking — do your research and expose your children to the experts! For more information on technology education offerings with our amazing instructors, check us out here, or give us a call: 424-280-4654.