Alphonse Devasia

Alphonse Devasia is a passionate educator, instructional designer and engineer. He is the founder and CEO of Ace Learning Projects, an educational design consultancy based in Dubai, UAE. He is also a consultant for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), collaborating on research objectives for the further development of AI literacy curricula and teacher training materials.

Alphonse taught graduate and postgraduate courses at universities before his focus turned to the use of technology in K-12 education during his Teach for India fellowship. Along with facilitating sessions on AI, computational thinking and digital literacy, he also conducts professional development programmes for educators empowering them to employ EdTech resources in their teaching-learning sessions.

Given his ardent interest in developing instructional content and projects on AI, machine learning and STEAM topics, he finds himself pursuing various stints as a speaker, mentor, learning facilitator and in being a key enabler for future opportunities in Ed-tech, AI education and computational action. Alphonse envisions preparing holistically and equitably diverse K-12 students, an inclusive workforce and lifelong learners to be successful, responsible and engaged in an increasingly AI-powered society.

Resume

  • Work Experience

  • Founder & CEO

    Ace Learning Project Management Services, Dubai - August 2021 - Present
    Instructional Design | EdTech Consulting | Professional Development
    • Identifying and capitalizing on new business opportunities and clients.
    • Analyzing market trends and adjusting the company's strategy accordingly.
    • Representing the company in external engagements and building relationships with key stakeholders.
    • Ensuring high-quality customer service and satisfaction.

  • Learning Facilitator

    School of Humanity, Dubai - June 2021 - Present (Part-time)
    Work Responsibilities
    • Facilitate interdisciplinary workshops and online live sessions.
    • Guide learners to meet curriculum learning outcomes through their own personalized paths.
    • Perform evaluations, feedback, and assessments during learning pathways, and oversee learning attainment for their given group of learners.
    • Support learners in developing their own personalized pathways and help map their projects to skills.

  • Educational Design Consultant

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dubai - November 2020 - Present
    Work Responsibilities
    • Independent educational design consultant for RAICA project(Computational thinking & AI literacy programme).
    • Plan, prepare, execute, and provide feedback on computational thinking (CT) and AI Literacy curricula for middle school classroom educational activities at schools.
    • Collaborate with MIT on research objectives toward the further development of student curricula and teacher training materials.
    • Serve as a research representative of the MIT project in UAE and as programming coordinator, educator, recruiter and main point of communication for students, parents, and other teachers at the schools partnered with the project.
    • Gather and report on local feedback from classes and training activities to improve student outcomes and teacher professional development.
    • Assist to recruit other computer science middle school teachers in Dubai and environs, as needed.
    • Help ensure conformance of curriculum with established school and government standards.

  • Senior Robotics Engineer

    Unique World Robotics, Dubai - December 2019 - July 2020
    Work Responsibilities
    • Creating learning experiences by leveraging curriculum concepts and frameworks.
    • Conceptualise course outlines, research content, create and organise content based on course design.
    • Develop programs to increase engagement by partnering with cross-functional teams like business development, design and technology to facilitate learner success.
    • Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to enhance the final product.
    • Active engagement with learners to understand their context, challenges, friction points and aspirations.
    • Work closely with technology team on implementation and integration of projects.
    • Data analysis to ascertain cohort learning trends and patterns to initiate and lead systemic learner engagement campaigns.

  • Associate, Instructional Design

    Bridge International Academies, Hyderabad - July 2018 - April 2019
    Work Responsibilities
    • Created Teacher Guides (daily lessons delivered by e-reader) under the guidance of an Instructional Design Director with instructional expertise.
    • Edited lesson materials (teacher guides, textbooks, exams) to ensure they are free of errors and inconsistencies.
    • Analysed feedback received from academic field officers based in Academies around the world to improve the learning outcomes of pupils by modifying lesson materials.
    • Designed content, questions and activities for textbooks.
    • Learned and applied aspects of textbook production in the form of writing art specs and styling manuscripts.
    • Worked on miscellaneous projects to help with other academic departments or other instructional design teams.

  • Career Guidance, Trainings and Placement Manager

    Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram - May 2017 - April 2018
    Work Responsibilities
    • Assistant Professor in Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering (teaching courses and conducting labs according to the syllabus drafted by Kerala Technological University).
    • Undertook a broad range of administrative processes, Employer liaison and providing advice and information to students in relation to placement opportunities.
    • Reviewed all procedures of placement department and facilitated the efficient working of the department.
    • Promoted all placements of graduates to various prospective employers through meetings, phone and email.
    • Collaborated with external organisations to impart the necessary training and skills to equip students for future placement opportunities.
    • Assisted students to prepare resumes, conduct interviews and provide orientation programs for new students.

  • Fellow

    Teach for India, Chennai - June 2015 - April 2017
    Work Responsibilities
    • Taught English, Math, Social Science and Science to 25 Grade 5 students in a low income, under-resourced Corporation school in Kannammapet, Chennai.
    • Critically analysed student performance to assess knowledge and skill gaps in order to design and practice differential teaching methodologies to cater to different groups of children with varying competencies.
    • Constantly engaged and collaborated with the different stakeholders for the holistic development of the children and the community.

  • Assistant Professor

    Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram - June 2013 - May 2015
    Work Responsibilities
    • Developed innovative and attractive courses, shaping and influencing curriculum development and actively contributing to the review of courses in accordance with the departmental strategy.
    • Prepared and delivered lectures to students on topics such as Electronics, Network theory, Control Systems, Robotics and Automation and Fuzzy and Neural networks.
    • Guided groups of graduate and post-graduate level student academic projects.
    • Compiled and conducted examinations.
    • Supervised students' laboratory works.
    • Advised students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.
    • Undertook administrative and other duties as required by the Institute from time to time.
    • Performed internal & external audit activities.

  • Assistant Professor

    Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, KMCT College of Engineering, Calicut - October 2012 - June 2013
    Work Responsibilities
    • Assistant Professor in Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering (teaching courses and conducting labs according to the syllabus drafted by Calicut University).
      • Placement coordinator for circuits branches guiding students to better career opportunities.
    • Scheduled and conducted exams in the college, co-ordinated University Level Exams for over 1000 students.

  • Teaching Assistant

    Department of Instrumentation & Control, Manipal University, Manipal - August 2010 - May 2011
    Work Responsibilities
    • Teaching Assistant in Instrumentation & Control Engineering Department, MIT, Manipal University.
    • Assisted faculty and Instructional staff through teaching lower level courses and conducting lab sessions.
    • Developed teaching materials and prepared, conducted and graded examinations.

  • Education

  • Masters in Technology - Control Systems

    Manipal University - 2010 - 2012
    • CGPA: 9.16 (First Class with Distinction)
    • Masters in Technology internship for 12 months at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram on the project topic of 'Design, Implementation, Simulation and Validation of an Optimal Robust Controller for Active Vibration Control System’.
    • Organiser for National Symposium on Astronomy and Space Engineering “NSASE-2011” held at MIT-Manipal in April 2011.

  • Bachelors in Technology - Electronics and Communication Engineering

    University of Kerala - 2006 - 2010
    • CGPA: 7.6 (First Class with Distinction)
    • Bachelors in Technology internship for 6 months at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram on the project topic of ‘Ultracapacitors for Avionic Power System of Short Duration Sounding Rockets’.
    • Event Manager for Tejasvi 2007, Inter-College Cultural-Technical event organised by students of Marian Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram.

  • Workshops attended

  • ‘Be an Online Tutor in 24 Hours’ and ‘Design an Online Course in 24 Hours’

    Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, March 2020

  • The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

    Certificate from Google, July 2019

  • Pedagogy for Online and Blended Teaching – Learning Process

    IITBombayX, October 2017

  • Foundation Program in ICT for Education

    IITBombayX, September 2017

  • National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning - Kerala Workshop

    NPTEL & Govt. College of Engineering, October 2014

  • Train the Trainer Programme in ‘Business Dynamics’

    NASSCOM & ICT Academy of Kerala, July 2014

My Services

e-Learning Consultation

Consulting work for designing,developing and deploying e-learning content and courses.

Curriculum Development

Developing curriculum for online and offline learning experiences.

Education

Teaching, coaching and mentoring students, development programmes on using technology in education for teachers and parents.

Project Management

Quickly size up projects, set priorities, create a timeline and deliver high quality products for multiple projects within the defined time frame.

Business Development

Networking, coordination and liaison with prospective and existing clients, creating a marketing campaign by leveraging social media and digital space.

Web & App Development

Creating professional and responsive webpages and apps, developing webinars and learning projects for web app development aspirants.

Electronic Project Design

Designing and prototyping electronic projects based on Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP8266 etc. Creating electronic maker kits for school and college students.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Developing AI and machine learning solutions by applying ML algorithms and libraries, creating learning resources, webinars for introducing and augmenting knowledge in AI.

Data Science

Analyse and manage large quantities of data, creating valuable actionable insights to the data, developing learning objectives and resources for school and college students for using data science projects.

Skills

PythonAdvanced
Machine LearningAdvanced
Deep LearningIntermediate
MATLABAdvanced
HTML5Advanced
CSS3Intermediate
jQueryIntermediate
G Suite AppsAdvanced

Electronic Projects Prototyping-Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP8266

Electronic Learning Kits-Cretile, Snap Circuits, SAM Labs

LEGO Education Kits-Mindstorm EV3, Boost, WeDo 2

Make Block Kits-mBot Series, Airblock

Coding-Scratch, Minecraft:Education, Swift Playgrounds

LMS-Google Classroom. Moodle Cloud

3D Modeling-Tinkercad, Fusion 360

App Development-MIT App Inventor, Thunkable

STEAM Kits-BBC Micro:bit, Sphero, Strawbees, TokyMaker

Kubo Robot, Weemake, Tello Drone

Gallery

Learning Consultant

Schools, Colleges, Parents, Organizations

Curriculum Developer

Schools, Colleges, Organizations

e-Learning Content Design

Schools, Colleges, L&D programmes for Organizations

Coaching and Mentoring

Professionals, School and College Students

STEAM Instructor

Schools, Training Centres, Parents, Training teachers for STEAM instruction

Educator

Schools, Colleges, Teacher Trainer, other educational institutions

Machine Learning

AI, ML, Deep learning projects

Web Development

Websites and Web-app development

Get in touch!