Who is Sheena O'Connell
I'm an educator, software engineer, writer and creator of systems. I have a lot of niche knowledge at the intersection of tech and education. I want to power up tech educators by sharing what I know, and by learning in public.
I never explicitly set out to become a teacher, it's just something I've always done. When I was a kid I taught my little brother basic arithmetic; at school I tutored and taught Microsoft Excel skills to adults; I taught climbing and BJJ; I wrote educational content... it has always been a thing for me.
Programming is also something that has been a part of my life for a long time. I started coding in my early teens. I got a horrible job and saved my meagre earnings until I could afford a computer to learn on. I studied electrical engineering at University but coded on the side for money and fun.
In 2018 I started formally working in tech education. I joined a little known non-profit training provider in South Africa and got to work. The organisation was only beginning to dabble in software training when I arrived. I had the opportunity to build an education system from the ground up
I have created syllabuses, written educational software, developed people processes, trained learners, trained trainers and a whole lot more.
I built the training system. The way I think about it is: I tool the science of learning and turned it into something more like engineered learning. It was an amazing opportunity, not many people get to build something like that from the ground up.
It worked very well. From 2020 to 2024 nearly 100% of the people who graduated from the systems I designed and ran got good jobs and kept them.
It was not easy. It was a formative experience for me. I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. And my passion for education only grew.
Now my goal is to spread what I learned to other places and other people. And to try to push the tech education ecosystem into a healthier direction.
To get this right, I have created 2 organisations:
The Guild of Educators is a community that aims to empower educators through sharing skills, opportunities and other forms of support.
Prelude offers teacher training, tech ed system consulting services and technical training.
Check them out! There are some interesting things going on!