Celebrating the Off2Class Developers

Designing and coding simple-to-use features requires an extraordinary amount of thought! Thankfully, at Off2Class we have excellent Developers.

If you use Off2Class and you like a good yarn…

You may already know that the mission at Off2Class has always been to save teachers time. There are many things that software cannot do. For example, education software cannot stop your students from arguing over whose turn it is next for the presentation. Software won’t stop that parent from heading straight for you at 4:37 pm. It can’t conduct your parent-teacher interviews for you, nor will it prevent policymakers from introducing a new set of benchmarks for the upcoming semester.

However, software can and does carry out amazing tasks. The people who code software (software engineers, coders, computer geeks, developers, et al.) are incredible members of our species. They endlessly write lines upon lines of logical code to introduce order into our irrational manner of doing things. Engineers work their way through what the clients want, the Product Manager decides, and the UX Designer visualizes.

They have to make sense of workflows, possibilities, and probabilities. They need to account for all the code already in the system and that which may appear in the future. Additionally, they are fluent in a multitude of non-spoken languages that evolve at a pace faster than any natural tongue. Disappointingly, developers are often perceived in negative terms; I am here to express my gratitude for the exactitude, fortitude, and positive attitude of the Off2Class Development Team.

What are you banging on about?

Well, at the time of writing this post, our Teacher Panel is the newest feature. In line with our mission, we wanted a feature that allows teachers to view all student assignments in one place. If we could do that, we could allow teachers to search assignments by class, by type, and by status. 

For example, It’s 8:30 am and you teach Class 5C at 9:00 am. You access the Teacher Panel and select the “Class 5C” filter to view all submitted assignments. From there, you can quickly review submitted work by all students, allowing you to deal with your highest priority. You enter the class, and the students are already looking at their returned homework. You’re an amazing teacher.

Why should I care about the Off2Class developers?

Marcus Aurelius said that “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts”. The media will have us believe that coders live by the flickering light of multiple screens, tapping away at a keyboard while chugging on tooth-rotting energy drinks. That they inhabit their bedrooms furnished only with electronic gadgets and unwashed t-shirts. Well, they do. But they are happy because they have quality thoughts. 

Our developers at Off2Class are razor sharp. They can find illogical expressions in technical specs and wireframes. They can take multiple inputs that they coalesce into a single expression of logic. They know how to deal with outliers, exceptions, and low-risk cases. Above all else, they have a quality of thought that remains magical, ethereal, and slightly spooky.

Our Development Team has been put to the test during the creation, coding, testing, and release of the Teacher Panel. They have maintained stoic contentment, a vibrant sense of humor, and a willingness to explain things over and over to us simpler folk. If a computer developer was a dog, it would be a breed above all others. It would be a cat.

So, is there anything in this for me?

Yes. If you use Off2Class, you can access the Teacher Panel. It’s beautiful to behold (thank you, UX designers), and easy to use (thank you, Product Team). But it functions. The teacher panel handles huge amounts of data for thousands of teachers and tens of thousands of students, thanks to the quality of thought, dedication, and tenacity of our Development Team. 

Finally, any time you use software that works well, think kindly upon the quality of thought of the happy souls who created it. Developers exist to make our lives easier, and if anyone deserves an easier existence, it’s teachers!

Blog written by James Heywood, co-founder of Off2Class, July 2022