techchange | TechChange | The Institute for Technology and Social Change

Let’s pick up where we left off in Part 1 of our survey design for quality data series, which was inspired by Dobility founder and CEO Dr. Christopher Robert’s presentation in the TechChange course “Technology for Data Collection and Survey Design.” Lesson 1 focused on designing your survey with empathy for field staff and respondents. Lesson 2 highlighted SurveyCTO tools for building in relevance and constraints. With Lesson 3, we’ll jump into a number of ways that SurveyCTO enables you to automate monitoring and workflow.

Lesson 3: Automate Monitoring and Workflow

The staffing structure for a typical survey might look something like this: a research team designs a survey. Thousands of miles away, a field team conducts the surveys. The collected data then goes back to the research team for analysis.

The research team wants to be able to monitor the field team and audit their work throughout the process. Supervisors on the field team may also want to monitor their enumerators. And, just to get complicated, the research team may also hire a survey firm to conduct the survey themselves or to provide an additional layer of monitoring for the field team.

In the case of traditional paper surveys, quality checks might include:

a member of the research team accompanies enumerators in the field
a supervisor reviews surveys as they come in
an independent team conducts “back-checks” after initial surveys are completed, to corroborate the results

Many of the quality checks available when conducting a paper survey occur AFTER the initial surveying is complete. You may not know you have bad data until it’s too costly – and too late – to do anything about it.

One of the most compelling opportunities afforded by SurveyCTO is the ability to easily program a number of quality checks into your survey that can automatically flag issues as they arise. Not only that, with a little extra work up-front, you can prep your data to make the transition to visualization and analysis even faster.

Example 1: Audio audits and speed limits
Back-checks are time-consuming and expensive, so why not listen in from the office? You can program your SurveyCTO surveys to randomly capture audio throughout an interview.

Or, even better, pair audio audits with “speed limits,” which allow you to indicate the minimum time that a particular question should take to ask and answer properly. For example, you can program your survey to automatically start recording after the enumerator violates three speed limits – meaning they didn’t take enough time on three different questions within the same survey.

Since audio audits and speed limits are programmed by the research team, the field team won’t know the specifics – they’ll just know that there’s an additional layer of accountability.

Sample speed limit:

Example 2: Automated checks
Our most sophisticated users write quality checks in Stata code, to automatically flag data that doesn’t behave as expected. But we wanted to ensure this best practice is available to all of our users, which is why we’ve built the feature into SurveyCTO.

Spend a few minutes during the survey design phase to set up at least one automated check and you’ll not only be able to identify and address issues right when they arise, you’ll have more reliable data to work with once your surveying is complete.

Sample automated check:

Example 3: Concatenate and calculate
Let’s say your survey splits first name and last time into two fields but you would prefer it displays in one field during the analysis stage. You can easily program the form builder to concatenate – or link fields together – so that when you output the data, it’s already formatted the way you want it. You can also set up automated calculations, which can help with analysis or serve as a useful relevance trigger during the survey itself.

Sample calculation:

Example 4: Visualize and analyze
As soon as your data is uploaded, you can take advantage of our integrations with Statwing, Google Sheets, Google Earth, Stata, Excel, and Salesforce (via OpenFn.org), or export it to JSON or CSV file formats and start analyzing it in the platform of your choice.

Using a mobile data collection platform enables you to skip the laborious and error-ridden step of data-entry. Instead of spending months entering, checking, and rechecking the data you collected – not to mention storing hundreds (or thousands!) of survey booklets – start analyzing your data the day it’s collected.

Sample integration with Statwing:

Final Thoughts

Just remember that even experienced survey designers struggle at times with developing the best structure for exploring a research question and setting up the systems to minimize the risk of collecting bad data. Hopefully this series on survey design for quality data has given you some ideas for how to approach your next project. And if there are any additional topics you’d like us to cover, please leave them in the comments.

Read Part 1 of the series here. This article was originally published on the SurveyCTO blog.

About Alexis
Alexis Ditkowsky is the community and business strategy lead for Dobility, the company behind SurveyCTO. Her experience spans social entrepreneurship, international education policy, higher education, and the arts. She holds a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

TechChange courses are designed with busy working professionals in mind. In any of our courses you will find yourself engaging with a vast network of participants from all corners of the globe who bring with them unique experiences and perspectives.

Today, we are excited to chat with Amy Noreuil, a Technology Advisor working at USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives. Amy has taken seven TechChange courses to date, both on-demand and facilitated. We caught-up with her to chat about her overall experience with TechChange as well as how our courses have impacted her professional life.

How did you find out about TechChange, and what caught your attention about TechChange courses, or got you interested in taking them?

I’ve been following TechChange for a number of years, but I think the first time I ever heard about it was through a TechChange-hosted happy hour where I ran into Chris Neu, Chief Operating Officer of TechChange. My curiosity was piqued because I always want to know about other initiatives going on when it comes to the use of technology for social good. I love going out and hearing about new projects that are under way to figure out how they could support our work or how we could support them. I’m a contextualist at heart – I believe the impact of technology can vary widely depending on the context – so I’m always interested in learning from the experience of others. I found the sense of community and diversity of students participating in TechChange courses to be one of the biggest assets. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the ‘classroom.’

After completing your first course with TechChange, what made you decide to enroll in more?

The first course I took with TechChange was Mapping for Social Good. After that first class, what drew me in – and what has kept me coming back to TechChange – is the people. To me, virtual learning experiences are inherently more individual experiences, but TechChange courses provide the opportunity to connect with other students and take what started as a quick chat to a more nuanced conversation. The interaction can be customized to what you want and need – a quick exchange of resources (e.g. reports, toolkits, etc.) or a deeper discussion about intended and unintended impact. The user interface is easy to navigate and caters to different learning preferences, including visual learners like me. It provides a high-level survey of topics or applications, while also giving the user the option to dig into the technical details of specific tools.

You’ve now taken seven TechChange courses – how have they impacted your career as a technology advisor for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives?

TechChange courses allow me to discover new tools as well as share experiences and insights with a wide range of people. I’m always looking for ways to break out of traditional silos.

The three major ways in which TechChange courses have impacted my work are:

Meeting people who are passionate about the intersection of technology, media & data
Finding tools and workshopping how they could support our partners and programs
Connecting with people who bring different perspectives, ideas and approaches

What is your advice for other students participating in TechChange courses? How can they get the most out of the experience?

Come into the course with an idea of what you want to learn. Set your intention early and be open to change. This learning objective will help you navigate course content and connect with students. The facilitators are very approachable and accessible. I also really encourage participants to meet up in-person and offline with students who live in the same geographic area. There’s no replacing that face-to-face connection. Developing a community of practice and creating an environment that facilitates learning takes time and commitment. I’m excited to see the TechChange community continue to grow and change.

Interested in learning more about TechChange courses? Check out our online course catalog here! We will be launching new sessions of several of our most popular courses in the New Year!

About Amy

Amy is the Technology Advisor at USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) where she supports staff as they decide how to integrate the use of information and communication technologies into their programs. She loves supporting co-creation spaces, leading digital literacy efforts and working closely with local staff to provide an outside perspective on the design of small grants. OTI supports U.S. foreign policy objectives by helping local partners advance peace and democracy.

Should you answer a text message while talking with your supervisor? How do you resolve workplace conflicts with your colleagues? A new online version of IYF’s Passport to Success® life skills curriculum is helping prepare young hospitality staff to answer these kinds of important on-the-job questions.

Educators and employers all over the world have relied on in-person PTS training to equip young people for the world of work. Now, more youth than ever will have the chance to learn, improve, and practice their life skills through Passport to Success for Hospitality Online, the first of its kind web-based, proprietary life skills instruction.

IYF developed this interactive animated course for Hilton Worldwide and their team members. Each of the course’s five modules, summarized in the introductory video below, highlights essential skills in a simulated, fictional hotel:

Communication and interpersonal skills: At the Hotel Aquatic, a luxury underwater hotel, learners practice listening, asking questions, and being assertive.
The hospitality mindset: This module reinforces having a positive attitude and respecting diversity and personal values at the Desert Oasis, a peaceful desert retreat.
Responsibility and ownership: Learners practice setting goals, respecting themselves and others, and managing their time at the first-class Alpine Lodge ski resort.
Problem solving and critical thinking: Skills taught in the simulated rainforest Treetop Ecoresort include stress management, conflict resolution, and being a team player.
Business etiquette and professionalism: Set at Skyline Suites, top business hotel, this module introduces workplace protocols, the keys to being a good employee, and teamwork.

IYF collaborated with Hilton Worldwide to ensure industry and brand relevance and TechChange, a technology for development company, to build colorful and fun activities to bring the online learning experience to life. IYF has a long history of adapting PTS to meet industry and local needs; now, with life skills online, we are increasing access to this proven program. Under water, in the desert, or in a rainforest, your passport is waiting.

To learn how your company or institution can use Passport to Success to achieve business and social goals, contact Karen Phillips.

Interested to see how TechChange can support your organization’s training? Check out our enterprise page!

(This post was originally published on International Youth Foundation’s blog)

We are thrilled to announce our 2015 Summer Fellows. We would like to thank everyone who applied for this fellowship. With over 1,000 applicants from all over the globe, we were astounded to see how many young, talented individuals are out there that are looking to apply their technical skills for social good. Narrowing down this incredible pool of talented individuals to four fellows was a daunting task. To those that were not selected this year, we hope you’ll consider applying again next year.

Below is the list of TechChange’s 2015 Fellows:

Ethan Bogdan
Nithya Menon
Sara Abu-Ghnaim
You Jin Lee

Congratulations to Ethan, Nithya, Sara, and You. We are excited to have you all join us this summer!

Delanie recently joined us as an Online Instructional Designer where she will build eLearning courses for TechChange’s clients. Before moving to DC to join TechChange, Delanie lived in Uganda where she worked at the Infectious Diseases Institute as a Global Health Corps Fellow. She holds a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies, with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice, from the University of California, Berkeley.

In her free time Delanie enjoys playing the oboe in orchestras.

Welcome Delanie!

Filming of Malaria Consortium staff doctor counselling a client on proper treatment of malaria. Uganda. (Photo credit: Maddy Marasciulo-Rice, Malaria Consortium)

Malaria in Context

There is an undeniable malaria problem in the world today. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2014, half of the world’s population is at-risk, hundreds of millions of cases are reported each year, and hundreds of thousands die annually of this disease. Around 90% of these cases occur in Africa, with children under 5 years old making up the largest demographic affected.

The burden of this disease on the health care systems of developing countries is immense: Uganda has the highest malaria incidence rate in the world with 478 cases per 1,000 population per year. Fully half of inpatient pediatric deaths in Uganda are caused by this disease and in Nigeria, the most populous African country, 97% of the population is at risk.

(Source: WHO 2013 Global Malaria Report)

How are the countries of Uganda and Nigeria addressing malaria?

While both Uganda and Nigeria have national malaria control and elimination programs, due to long waiting periods and frequent stock outs of the appropriate medications at local health facilities, individuals prefer to go to private clinics, pharmacies and local drug shops to solve their health needs. When these pharmacists―often untrained in accurately diagnosing febrile illnesses―see a client complaining of fever, they often presumptively prescribe antimalarial medicines. The reverse scenario is also a common problem: pharmacists do not always give out artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) when it is actually needed.

Pharmacists in Uganda assist customers with recommending antimalarial medications (Photo credit: Maddy Marasciulo-Rice, Malaria Consortium)

Presumptive treatment ― the overuse of antimalarials greatly increases the chances that malaria parasite resistance will develop and spread. In the future we might have one less weapon in our arsenal against these parasites. This overuse also means that the medicine is put over

How can rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) help treat malaria?

Fortunately, rapid diagnostic tests, or RDTs, allow malaria to be diagnosed quickly, accurately, and cheaply, using only a drop of blood and a few drops of a solution. The problem is―there is no official quality control within the private healthcare sector―the pharmacists who provide the RDT to the patient have no way to choose a good RDT from the many options on the market and the wrong choice could lead to inaccurate diagnosis. Furthermore, many of the RDT sales representatives haven’t been trained to properly explain their product to their clients.

Challenges of RDT Training for Malaria in Uganda and Nigeria

RDTs to test for malaria and drugs to treat the disease are currently available in the private healthcare sector. However, there are several challenges to scaling up RDTs in this sector in Uganda and Nigeria.

1. Lack of training with Rapid Diagnostic Testing Materials

The primary barrier to appropriate care is the lack of training among pharmacists and RDT sales providers about how to use the test and interpret the results correctly to effectively diagnose and treat a range of febrile illnesses.

Malaria Consortium, based in the UK, is one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations specializing in the prevention, control, and treatment of malaria and other tropical diseases. Their projects can be found across twelve countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. The organization strives to find effective and sustainable ways to control and manage malaria through research, implementation, and policy development. They came up with the design for a plan that could greatly help manage the disease in both Nigeria and Uganda:

If the RDT sales representatives and RDT providers can be trained to correctly use the RDTs and recognize the symptoms associated not only with malaria but with other common illnesses, then the burden of misdiagnosis and mistreatment can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, as the sales representatives travel and frequently interact with providers, they can act as trainers and further disseminate the knowledge and skills necessary to accurately diagnose and treat these diseases.

2. Prohibitively high costs

The costs associated with arranging such a training are enormous―between transporting the students and teachers to a centralized location, renting a venue, arranging lodging, and coordinating a schedule, the budget for a large-scale training would quickly be out of control. Additionally, pharmacy owners and other stakeholders working in the private sector would most likely have to assume a loss of revenue during their time away from their business while at a training.

3. Technical limitations

An eLearning platform is much more ideal for these circumstances―it’s flexible, participants don’t need to travel far, you need fewer instructors, and the information can be processed at the student’s pace and repeated when necessary. The information is also standardized and consistent, which means that a large number of people can benefit from a high quality training experience.

But how do you deliver an eLearning course when your audience has intermittent power and whose computers are not only often out-of-date, but lack the RAM, bandwidth, and software standards that such hi-tech learning platforms have come to expect?

eLearning Solutions for Reaching 3000+ Healthcare Providers for Malaria

Malaria Consortium partnered with TechChange to build a comprehensive digital course to train private sector health workers and RDT sales representatives in this context. This 11 module course includes around 400 slides for 6 hours of content takes participants through the biology behind the malaria parasite, discusses the medical philosophy behind diagnostic practices, and walks users through interactive scenarios for patients presenting a range of symptoms.

Sales representatives and drug store owners in Uganda testing eLearning modules designed by TechChange and Malaria Consortium on rapid diagnostic testing for malaria. (Photo credit: Catherine Shen, TechChange)

1. Offline access and Ease of Use

Despite significant benefits such as flexibility and scalability, e-learning courses also face challenges in the developing world. Lack of sufficient internet bandwidth, reliable computers, and computer skills can pose major barriers to a training’s effectiveness.

To troubleshoot the technical issues, this course is designed to require nothing more than a computer and headphones – it comes preloaded onto USB drives so not even an Internet connection is necessary, allowing health workers in even the most rural areas to access this training. A computer tutorial is also included for health workers with little to no prior experience with computers. Our tech team is also devoted to helping solve any other technical issues that arise due to out-of-date software and hardware malfunctions, working as a remote IT team as Malaria Consortium rolls out the project.

2. Localized content

In addition to including the relevant national laws, case studies, and local examples, the narration features Nigerian and Ugandan voice actors, art, and scenarios to make the training as culturally-relevant as possible.

3. Hybrid learning

Only one part of the training won’t be computer-based; participants will still practice actually conducting the RDT tests in a face-to-face session before they begin pricking patient’s fingers for diagnosis.

The course is designed to reach upwards of 3,000 healthcare providers in the two countries and build their capacity to effectively serve their community’s needs. We look forward to seeing the impact of this training in improving quality of care in Uganda and Nigeria hopefully in the near future.

To learn more about TechChange’s custom training solutions, please contact us at info@techchange.org.

Emily Fruchterman, Catherine Shen, & Charlie Weems contributed to this post.

For my final project for TC105: Mobiles for International Development, I decided to interview Amy Sweeney of GeoPoll, one of the guest speakers of our class. Working on global development issues, I am deeply interested in new opportunities offered by technology, particularly how it allows people living even in the poorest countries to share information through mobile devices. GeoPoll strikes me as one of the most innovative players in this field and for this reason I decided to go back to Amy and ask her to describe GeoPoll’s work in more detail.

Since the interview I have also been amazed to learn that some of my colleagues at the organisation I work for, the OECD, already collaborate with GeoPoll on a ‘data revolution’ project that will contribute to more accessible information on development in the next few years… one more proof that there are no coincidences in life. I am now in touch with them on a regular basis to see how the project will evolve.

Interview with Amy Sweeney, Director of Business Development, GeoPoll

GeoPoll is a mobile survey platform that allows you to carry out mobile surveys in any country in the world except North Korea. Technically GeoPoll is registered as a US small business but it sees itself more as a social enterprise. It is eligible for both grants and contracts by US and international funders alike.

GeoPoll Overview

1. How would you define your added value compared to your competitors? What is your unique approach to mobile surveys?

GeoPoll’s approach is to reach as many people as possible regardless of their income or status. While many mobile surveys require the use of the Internet or web-based applications, we offer the opportunity to take a survey just by using any mobile phone (e.g., feature phones all the way up to smart phones). We aim to reach a greater portion of the ‘bottom billion’ people through simple text or voice messaging. There are other players in our market, particularly local companies, but we are different in that we establish partnerships with mobile network operators. We serve as a platform but also serve as a “sample source”. We have access to more than 150+ million mobile subscribers in Africa alone. We can achieve more reach, scale, and connections with these operators than anyone else.

GeoPoll – How Our Platform Works

2. Who are your primary clients? Do you foresee any major change in their composition?

Roughly half of our business is with the social sector, e.g. international organisations like WFP and USAID, NGOs, etc. The remaining half is with commercial companies and market research groups but this percentage is likely to increase this year due to recent media measurement products produced.

3. Are you planning to collaborate again with the World Bank and the UNDP My World Survey?

The collaboration with the World Bank in 2010 was for the World Development Report focused on community-based consultations on gender-based violence in DR Congo. World Bank’s annual World Development Reports cover a different topic and a different country every year. At the moment there are no plans to collaborate again on a World Development Report in the near future but we are exploring other opportunities with the World Bank. The same goes for the My World Survey.

4. How do you ensure free participation or even incentives for survey takers? And who covers these costs?

GeoPoll connects with mobile network operators’ billing systems allowing mobile subscribers to participate in mobile surveys at no cost (e.g.:. zero-rated or free to respond to). For example, those that do not have airtime credit on their phones can still participate. Each carrier is different but ultimately our agreement with them ensures that the survey comes at no cost to the survey taker, which reduces the economic barrier for participation.

5. Is there such a thing as an average response rate? Does it vary across regions, gender or any other big factor?

Responses to our surveys really depend on the country and the topic in question. We have noticed that the response rate increases over time as survey takers get to know GeoPoll as a reliable service. Once trust has been built people feel more comfortable taking the survey. Also, we have done some testing that shows that response rates tend to increase with incentives. Another approach we have taken which has been widely successful is running panel-based surveys, including measuring TV viewership and radio listenership ratings, in several African countries. In that case, response rates have been astronomically high because users are engaged on a daily basis.

I hope you will find this interview useful. I’m excited to see that Amy Sweeney is coming back as a guest speaker for TechChange’s upcoming Mobiles for International Development course! Also, feel free to connect with me via Twitter (@faridabena) to continue our discussion on mobiles for development.

Interested in mobile data and other ways mobile phones bring understanding to the world? Join our upcoming online course on Mobiles for International Development.

About Amy Sweeney

Amy Sweeney is the director of business development for GeoPoll based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining GeoPoll, Ms. Sweeney spent nearly five years developing and honing her international development experience at Chemonics, where she held the position as new business director in Caucasus and Central Asia RBU. She previously served in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan and worked in Afghanistan and Turkey. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

About Farida Bena

Farida Bena is the Economist / Policy Analyst at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based in Paris, France. She has more than 15 years of experience working in development, humanitarian aid, and global advocacy across four continents. Before joining OECD, Ms. Bena has worked as the director at the International Rescue Committee Belgium and led the Aid Effectiveness Policy team at Oxfam International. Ms. Bena holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Yale University.

After a summer at TechChange, it’s time for Sean Bae to start his first year at the University of Maryland-College Park this fall where he is considering a major in Electrical Engineering. Before heading to College Park, he reflects on his time at TechChange as a Software Engineer – Analytics Intern where he worked on D3 data visualization projects to make online learning interactive.

1. How did you hear about TechChange?

During the last fall, my dear friend Michael Holachek (a.k.a. “Code Ninja”), currently a rising sophomore at MIT, kindly shared his TechChange internship experience with me. While I was browsing through the TechChange website, I came across the job description of “Software Engineer – Analytics”, which is when I became first interested in working for TechChange.

2. Why did you choose TechChange to spend your summer before beginning college?

After taking an online Machine Learning course from Caltech, I became really interested in not only how to use computational algorithms to find correlations in data, but also how to interactively visualize them in aesthetically pleasing ways that can provide hidden insights for the front-end users.

TechChange’s job opening for the “Software Engineer – Analytics” quickly grabbed my attention because of the idea of being able to work in the cutting-edge web development environment, while learning principles of real-life software engineering practice. The fact that I will be contributing to the company that aims to promote social change, and educate the global community was also a big plus.

3. What are your interests?

I love physics and mathematics. In college, I plan on studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the two subjects that I believe will let me apply my passion in physics and math into solving real-life problems.

During my free time, I play piano, do Cross Country running and play Ultimate Frisbee. Also, I have a longstanding interest in modern European history, and I enjoy having discussions and debates with my friends on various thought-provoking topics such as political philosophy, epistemology, ethical dilemmas, and religion.

4. How did you use your TechChange internship to explore your interests?

TechChange offered me a lot of flexibility in terms of what projects I worked on. While my main projects were developing front-end interactive D3.js (Data-Driven-Documents) visualizations, I also had opportunities to learn about SaltStack server provisioning automation, and work on small back-end Ubuntu server projects.

Surprisingly, computer science wasn’t the only relevant subject in my work! I found my physics knowledge useful when I was working with D3 Force Directed Graphs, which used electric charge model and pseudo-gravity to compute the location of vertices of the graph until they reached the “electrostatic equilibrium”. My knowledge in discrete math and linear algebra also became invaluable when I was developing a social-learning matching algorithm to solve a combinatorial optimization problem that turned out to be similar to the Minimum weight spanning tree problem.

The TechChange team battle each other in a heated game of “Settlers of Catan.”

Apart from work, we had occasional TechChange Board Game days, World Cup cheering days, soccer/Frisbee team-bonding sessions and nearby park strolls that made my time at TechChange much more enjoyable and social.

5. What did you do at TechChange this summer? What was your role at TechChange?

During my time at TechChange, I developed front-end interactive D3.js visualizations for the TechChange online course platform. Some of the major projects include the TechChange social matching algorithm, social matching recommendation visualization, and course-wide point leaderboard system. While my work was mostly focused around the front-end JavaScript design, TechChange’s cohesive tech team structure let me peek into and learn insights from other tech team members’ back-end projects as well.

6. What did you learn during your time at TechChange?

Technical skills weren’t the only valuable assets that I learned during my time at TechChange, but as an overview, I learned:

How to create interactive data visualizations with D3.js
Efficient Git distributed version control (DVCS) team workflow for constant deployment
Advanced JavaScript debugging with the Google Chrome browser DevTools
How to automate virtual development environment creation using Vagrant
WordPress web plugin development with PHP and MySQL
Industry-standard JavaScript Design patterns
Regex (Regular Expression)
Django server structure
Full stack web app development combining Node.js, Express framework, MongoDB and Jade HTML Pre-processor
How to maintain a healthy diet (which was unexpected!)

Sean codes D3 data visualization for encouraging interaction and engagement on the TechChange learning platform

7. Did your TechChange experience end up going as you expected?

I was expecting my internship experience to be mostly associated with computer programming. However, people at TechChange seem to follow the “work hard, play hard” philosophy. After working hard, we had times to socialize, play soccer and games together, which made my experience much more interesting. I was also surprised by how friendly and opened people were and how flexible the working environment was at TechChange.

8. Would you come back to work at TechChange one day? Why?

I would love to! TechChange’s tight-knit community and energetic teams have magical power that draws people. Supportive and caring, yet productive, efficient, and techie team members make TechChange a fantastic environment to work on projects that create real impact in the real world.

9. What advice would you give to future TechChange interns?

Search for opportunities: TechChange has many different teams that you can pursue many different projects in international relations, course facilitation, media/video productions, UI/UX design and computer programming. If you find someone else working on a project that you want to take challenge on, then just simply ask.
Explore nearby restaurants: located right across the U Street metro station, TechChange HQ is located in the midst of many spectacular restaurants; there are many places to explore around in U street for lunch, from an authentic Ethiopian restaurant to gourmet falafel place and famous Ben’s Chili Bowl. Take the full advantage of the plethora of exotic choices and try exploring many ethnic food groups!

With a domain that ends with [dot] org, TechChange is sometimes mistaken for a non-profit organization. However, we are actually a for-profit social enterprise business that is focused on market-viable solutions that bring both profit and positive social impact. As we continue on our journey from a start-up to a small business, we’re proud to be a registered B Corporation, a category of social enterprises that also focus on double bottom line values.

Being this type of small, yet growing, online learning business based in Washington, DC brings its own unique set of challenges, recently featured in this Forbes article, “When And How To Scale: DC Startup At Crossroads.” Launched in 2010, TechChange remains a bootstrapped social enterprise. Unlike other high-growth startups in the edtech space that have received an injection of venture capital funding, scaling for us is less straightforward than more employees, bigger offices, and lunchtime perks.

“To scale does not always mean bigger. A thought that seems to get lost in the relentless drive to scale businesses across continents.”

For a social enterprise, scaling offers different incentives than a traditional for-profit business that focuses primarily on maximizing profit. In our case, part of the challenge in scaling is codifying our business priorities and establishing social impact as a core value of our business.

TechChange CEO, Nick Martin, presenting at a meeting on social entrepreneurship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Affairs (SAIS) in Washington, DC.

Check out the full article on this link here.

What do you think? What is the best way for TechChange to scale our impact while growing as a business? Who are the best investors that are looking for organizations that promise both financial and social impact returns?

In preparation for our new Office Warming Party today, our creative team decorated our office with a special chalkboard mural. Check out our new time-lapse video documenting the creation of our chalk mural here:

Have you ever wanted to learn how to create your own time-lapse video? To learn more about how we created ours, read on to follow the five steps the TechChange creative team took to produce this video:

Step 1: Establish how long you want your final video to be.

We wanted to keep the video short and sweet at 1 minute.

Step 2: Figure out how long your time-lapse will last

Most videos run at between 24-30 frames per second. This means that for 60 seconds of final video, we would need a minimum of 1,440 still shots from the camera in order to fill each frame with a photo (24 frames/second x 60 seconds = 1,440 frames).

Step 3: Estimate how long it will take to film all the action you’re trying to capture.

We needed to make sure that Rachel, Pablo, and Alon would be able to finish in the amount of time that it would take our camera to shoot those 1,440 exposures. If we were to shoot at one-second intervals, our camera would only be running for 24 minutes. Now, our creative team is fast, but not that fast.

By estimating that it would take the team two hours (120 minutes) to complete the chalk mural, we can solve for 1,440* interval = 120 minutes to get that interval = 0.083 minutes, or about 5 seconds between shots.

Step 4: Set up your camera and film

To create the time lapse, we mounted our Panasonic GH3 onto a tripod and set it to take one photo every five seconds for 1,440 shots.

Step 5: Import your still image series into video and edit

After setting the camera to take these exposures, we imported the 1,440 stills into PremierePro by using the option to import an image sequence, rather than as individual stills. This import method is quick and matches one photo to each frame of the video sequence. Lastly, we cropped the video so that it would fill a 16:9 aspect ratio, added music, and edited in the TechChange logo animation.

Come check out the chalk mural in person tonight, May 7, 2014, at the TechChange Office Warming Party! RSVP here. We can’t wait to see you!