Who are Sparx Learning?

Sparx are one of the leading educational software providers in the UK. Their premier product, Sparx Maths, is an online learning suite that delivers homework targeted to each student's individual needs, and provides detailed data to teachers to help them track progress. They also develop products for reading and science.

What did I do for them?

I joined Sparx early in its inception in 2013, as both developer and game designer, and helped research and develop its approach to games as teaching tools. I worked closely with founder Mark Dixon to understand the theories of pedagogy from his research, and to create games that tested the company's hypotheses on game-based learning.

As the product matured I developed the suite of times tables games which are incorporated into students' homework. These are polished to a high-quality and robust production standard, forming part of the paid Sparx Maths product used by over 2 million students. I also worked on numerous projects within the Discovery R&D team, exploring new technologies and building prototypes to test them as teaching tools in a live school environment.