IT Intern
As an Information Technology Intern at GnoKids, an English teaching school in Tokyo, Japan, I was assigned various tasks regarding their information technology. I often collaborated closely with the project manager to complete tasks such as creating a new data management system for the classrooms, improving the SEO of online videos, and creating content for students to use in the classroom.
Classroom Data Management System- Created spreadsheets that can be accessed by all staff on Google Sheets. This included a master list of all students with their age, English level, attendance, class schedules and grades. This was then connected to individual classroom spreadsheets using formulas. Because most people using these spreadsheets were teachers, it had to be easy to understand and edit.
SEO Improvements- Reviewed YouTube videos and modified thumbnails, tags, and description. This resulted in increases in views of the videos and the ability to be listed on the app YouTube Kids.
Creating Student Materials- In between Information Technology projects I was often tasked with providing students materials for the classroom that they would directly use. Some things I created for the students were flashcards, games, and short English stories. These were made on Microsoft Office programs.
One thing I learned from this internship was how important data was to a business. I was told this in the Data Analytics course but it was interesting to see this in the real life working world. In this case, I was given the task of tracking the data of students. Another thing I learned was how to design content that was easy to understand. In the Digital Solutions Studio course we are constantly reminded how important it is to make our products easy to understand. Creating classroom material is good practice for this I think because children often need directions that are very easy to understand. This is the case especially when they can barely speak English. Finally, the most important thing I learned was how to work with others in an office setting. It is important to listen to other and provide insightful feedback when needed. This was a little bit more difficult in Japan considering how half of my coworkers did not speak English but I was still able to collaborate with others by using translators, both Google Translate and actual translators.