Section 08 · ePortfolio
Service-Learning
Service-learning and community-facing work, including the DataCare Connect capstone — built pro bono for The Future Care Network and the regional Australian families and educators they serve.
Service-Learning Log
| Period | Engagement | Hours | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar–May 2026 | DataCare Connect — pro-bono build for The Future Care Network | ~320 | Production-ready MVP, all 20 functional tests passed |
| Mar–May 2026 | USQ peer-team support — frontend code reviews and onboarding for teammates | ~30 | Faster onboarding for two team members; consistent component conventions |
| 2021–2022 | SLIIT student-led project mentoring (informal) | ~40 | Helped two junior cohorts with HTML / JS / PHP debugging |
| 2021 | “The Paranoid” short-film production — voluntary creative crew | ~60 | Delivered 8-minute film with trailer; learned leadership outside engineering |
Community Impact — DataCare Connect
DataCare Connect was built for The Future Care Network to replace the unregulated Facebook groups that more than 50,000 regional Australian families were using to find childcare educators. The platform addresses three concrete community problems:
- Privacy — children’s and families’ personal information no longer exposed in public Facebook groups. Replaced with role-based access, JWT-authenticated sessions, and bcrypt-hashed credentials.
- Verification — educators can no longer claim qualifications they do not have. RTO module integrates Registered Training Organisation data so families can verify provider legitimacy.
- Government funding evidence — the new
waitlisted_sincetimestamps convert anecdotal childcare-shortage evidence into structured, measurable data for the client’s June 2026 funding submission.
Although unpaid, the work involved real client meetings, real ethical decisions about sensitive data, and real responsibility for the families who will use the platform. It is service learning in the most direct sense.