Engineering technology to transform education: A team member spotlight

One of the most pressing challenges academic institutions face when onboarding new technology is the adoption process. Administrators, teachers, and students can often spend more time learning the tools than being productive with them. Not only does the Product Development team create solutions that optimize the capabilities of Google Workspace for Education, but their Software Engineers, like James Petersen, aim to reduce those pain points and make implementation less difficult.

Meet James

Amplified IT’s mission is to help technical staff leverage the power of Google Workspace for Education to transform teaching and learning through technology. However, we also believe every institution has unique needs and that is why, as a Premier Google Partner, we develop tools that make Google Workspace operate exactly the way they need it to. James Petersen has been building software features and fixing bugs for Amplified IT since 2014. “I started off as a consultant and did a bit of onboarding before transitioning to software engineering. Now I spend most of my time scratching my head and trying to solve problems,” he humored. 

Prior to this, James spent years as an educator in different industries. “I was a wilderness guide taking people on adventures in the woods, and for a while after that, I ran an off-road driving school for Land Rover,” he recalled. Most recently, he taught 7th and 8th grade math, English, history, and geography in Quebec, Canada. At that time, Google Workspace was still called Google Apps for Education, and he began writing app scripts to overcome challenges he was facing in his own classroom and shared what he learned with others. He explained, “I started presenting at conferences about how I was using technology to manage my classroom and empower my students.” 

It was James’ experience with Google and education technology that led co-founders Tim Lee and Peter Henrie to ask him to join Amplified IT. In his current position as a Software Engineer, he enjoys being able to impact a greater number of institutions through his work. “It puts a smile on my face,” he said. “I get administrators, teachers, and students out of the drudge of completing that same manual step over and over again. Instead of wasting their time, I’m happily coding a solution to make it easier for them.” 

James describes Amplified IT as a passionate and dedicated organization. “I have a job that I very much enjoy and I love the people I work with,” he elaborated. He has witnessed an exponential amount of growth over the last few years and remains awed at the service his co-workers provide to customers and the consistency in company culture and values. When asked to describe his hopes for the future of edtech, he responded, “I want technology to foster strong and positive relationships within education. The power technology has to connect individuals and communities for their growth and development is unmatched but also completely under utilized. I’m not talking about social media but using technology to create motivated, lifelong learners that know how to leverage the content that’s out there to change their lives.”

James has contributed a wealth of expertise to Amplified IT’s portfolio of products. To learn more about our offerings like Little SIS Premium, Gopher Pack, Managed Sync, or Admin Tools Unlimited or to adopt them into your Google Workspace for Education workflow, contact an account manager.

  • Jada Dawson
    Marketing Copywriter

  • About the Author:

    Jada joined Amplified IT in 2021 after 4 years of working as a high school English teacher in a Maryland public school system, and 7 years as a freelance copywriter, content writer, and editor. As the Marketing Copywriter, she is passionate about strategically using words to reach our clients and connect them to the benefit of our services for their classrooms and communities. When she is not writing or managing content, Jada can be found painting her next masterpiece, brushing up on her French language skills, traveling with her family, and teaching Sunday school at her church. She is an avid bubble tea drinker, and loves french fries.