TEACHING & EDTECH
Building the Future
of Learning
I design experiential, technology-forward classrooms — and build the platforms that power them. My teaching practice at Yoobee Colleges is inseparable from YooBees, a real-time learning platform I created to bring attendance, live coding, competitive SQL, and AI-assisted reasoning into every session.
YooBees — The Platform I Built
A Real-Time Learning Platform
YooBees is a full-stack web application I designed and built from scratch to serve the Masters of Business Informatics (MBI) programme at Yoobee Colleges. It replaces static slide decks and paper registers with a live, interactive, data-driven classroom experience.
Every feature was shaped by a real classroom problem — from fraudulent attendance submissions caught by three detection algorithms, to students competing on SQL queries in real time.
TECH STACK
Open-source · github.com/ureshan2011/YooBees
228
STUDENTS
enrolled across 3 courses
24
COUNTRIES
represented in cohorts
2,500+
SESSIONS
attendance records logged
100+
QUIZ MCQs
+ 16 lecture videos
One-tap Attendance
+ FRAUD DETECTION
Students check in with a single tap. Three detection algorithms run in real time to flag dishonest submissions:
- ⚑ Shared-IP clustering — detects multiple students submitting from one device
- ⚑ GPS outlier detection — flags GPS coordinates >500 m from campus
- ⚑ Rapid-submission window — catches submissions within 30 s of session open
Live Playground
IN-CLASS CODING
An in-browser code execution environment embedded directly in lectures. Students write and run SQL, Python snippets, and pseudocode without leaving the platform — and I can see their output live.
FROM employees
GROUP BY dept
→ 12 rows returned ✓
SQL Race
COMPETITIVE LEARNING
Students race around a virtual track by solving SQL challenges in sequence — SELECT → WHERE → JOIN → GROUP BY → ORDER BY → HAVING. A live leaderboard drives friendly competition and keeps engagement high across 228 students.
Quiz Badges
GAMIFIED ASSESSMENT
Over 100 MCQ questions across all three MBI courses. Students earn badge tiers as they progress, with instant feedback and explanations. Results feed directly into the lecturer analytics dashboard.
Daily Match
PEER COLLABORATION
A daily collaborative challenge pairs students across cohorts to solve a shared problem together. Designed to build cross-cultural communication skills in an international classroom spanning 24 countries.
Cohort Analytics
REAL-TIME INSIGHTS
A lecturer-only dashboard surfaces attendance trends, quiz completion rates, country-level engagement, and fraud alert history — giving me a full picture of each cohort without manual data wrangling.
SQL Race — Feature Spotlight
Why a Race?
SQL Race transforms database exercises into a live, multiplayer competition. Each checkpoint on the track corresponds to a core SQL clause. Students only advance by writing a correct query — keeping the learning rigorous while the format keeps energy high.
It was born out of a simple observation: students who were bored by textbook drills became intensely focused the moment there was a leaderboard.
CHECKPOINTS
SELECT — basic column retrieval
WHERE — row-level filtering
JOIN — multi-table relationships
GROUP BY — aggregation logic
ORDER BY — result sorting
HAVING — post-aggregation filter
MBI Course Catalog
Business Information Systems
STRATEGY & SYSTEMS PLANNING
Covers the strategic role of information systems in organisations — from IS alignment and SISP (Strategic Information Systems Planning) to digital transformation frameworks and Porter's competitive models.
KEY TOPICS
✦ PLATFORM FEATURE
SISP Prompt Lab — an AI-assisted tool embedded in YooBees that walks students through strategic IS planning exercises using guided prompts and real case data.
Database Management Systems
SQL · ER MODELLING · NOSQL
A hands-on deep-dive into relational database design, SQL from basics to advanced joins and stored procedures, ER diagram methodology, normalisation theory, and an introduction to NoSQL paradigms.
KEY TOPICS
✦ PLATFORM FEATURES
SQL Race — competitive live query challenges. Live Playground — in-browser SQL execution environment for practice and demonstrations.
IT Project Management
AGILE · SCRUM · RISK MANAGEMENT
Covers the full project lifecycle — initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure — with a strong practical emphasis on Agile methodologies, Scrum ceremonies, stakeholder management, and risk frameworks.
KEY TOPICS
✦ PLATFORM FEATURE
Case Study Labs — students manage a simulated IT project via YooBees, tracking sprints, updating risk registers, and submitting deliverables with structured peer review.
Philosophy
My approach to education is grounded in experiential and constructivist learning — I believe students learn best by building, failing, iterating, and reflecting. Every feature in YooBees was designed around this principle: the Live Playground lowers the barrier to trying, SQL Race makes failure feel like just one more lap, and badge tiers reward persistence over perfection.
I prioritise purpose-driven education: helping students not just acquire technical skills, but develop the vision and initiative to use them meaningfully. In a classroom spanning 24 countries, that also means building cultural fluency and collaborative communication into every assignment — not just technical competence.
"If we can change the way we see the world, we can change the world we see."
Availability
MON – SAT
10:00 — 17:00 (In-person / Virtual)
LOCATION
Yoobee Colleges, Christchurch, NZ
Previous Teaching
2021 – 2022
Computer Architecture & Enterprise Software
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
2018 – 2021
Database Management Systems
SLIIT & University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
2018 – 2022
Human-Computer Interaction
University of Moratuwa & SLIIT, Sri Lanka
2018 – 2022
Project Management & Enterprise App Dev
SLIIT, Sri Lanka
"The classroom is not a place where knowledge is delivered — it's a space where thinking is provoked."
Dr. Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe · Lecturer, MBI · Yoobee Colleges NZ