This month, we’re doing a spotlight for each of our team members. Elvis is our Android developer, and he’s too shy to admit that he’s a technical wizard.
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Elvis Chidera. I was born and brought up in Nigeria. I started programming when i was just 11 years. I started Android App Development 3 years ago and decided to focus more on edtech. I built an exam preparatory app called PrepUp which has about 30 thousand downloads on the playstore and was a finalist at the West Africa Mobile App Awards 2016 for Best Mobile App. I have also worked on a few project being used by two popular universities (University of Nsukka and Umaru Musa Yaradua University) in Nigeria.
What do you do at Dotlearn?
I’m an Android Developer. My job is essentially to make sure we have one of the best apps on the store and users have a good experience using the app. I also do some none programming stuff like interviewing students and App store optimization.
What have you done that you’re most proud of?
In terms of programming, there are many proud moments. But if i am to pick one, then that will be building J2ME apps using a J2ME phone. Well, it was a funny and very tough experience for me. I coulnd’t afford a laptop back then so i have to program using a phone. Luckily, someone was kind enough to build a free J2ME Mobile SDK. There were so many challenges building a standard app with the SDK, you have to deal with slow compile times, weird errors, a non QWERTY keyboard, very little screen estate, slow internet, and lots more. But i was able to learn Java and build multiple J2ME apps.
What got you interested in ed-tech?
Well, i find the idea of helping people learn from anywhere they are fascinating. While preparing for my WASSCE exam, i wanted something that could make learning fun and show topics am good at and the ones i still need to prepare for. Most test prep apps couldn’t do that back then, so i decided to build PrepUp. Few months after launching it on the Playstore, we got over 50 reviews on the store. Several students were able to pass their exams with the help of the app. This motivated me to continue improving the app to help more students pass their exams.
How did you get involved in dot Learn?
Tunde posted a job ad on a facebook tech group i belong to. I already had some knowledge about the company and the cool things they were building. Having already worked on an educational product and very experienced with Android development, i applied and got the job.
