About Mica Education

The story behind Mica Education and where we're going next.

About US

Who Are We

We are a couple of energetic, motivated and qualified teachers and creators, from New Zealand.

Hello, I'm
Eugene Marsden

B.F.A Film & B.Sc Computer Science
University Of Canterbury (2003 - 2008)

I come from New Zealand and studied filmmaking and graphic design there before moving to Italy (mostly for the food!). I’m a father, runner, programmer and I’m very proud of my culture.

I help my students reach their potential and I like to motivate them with special challenges, multimedia projects, real-world examples and lots of laughter. I respect all of my students and appreciate that every person learns differently and all are capable of great things.

I genuinely love what I do and am grateful to be able to watch my students find joy in learning English and the confidence to take on the world!

Hello, I'm
Maria Perrone

Bachelors of Electrical Engineering
University Of Canterbury (2003 - 2008)

I come from New Zealand and have always loved learning! I am fascinated by how the world works and I love discovering new information to share with our students. I enjoy applying drama and improvisation activities to English lessons to encourage genuine, fun and memorable communication.
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I collaborate with our teachers to create exciting creative projects for our students. The reward is seeing them light up with enthusiasm and passion as they discover their own strengths and abilities.

We are proud to be helping our students become confident in speaking English and see what opportunities await them.

Why Mica

Why we built Mica Education

We're ready to share our resources and systems with teachers and students around the world.

Innovation and creativity have always driven us

Teaching English in Italy unlocked a passion for both of us - seeing students thrive and discover new talents was immensely satisfying. Having fun while teaching by applying our own interests and hobbies (especially in film and drama) seemed to benefit our students even more. We established our own language school in Rome, Creative English, and it quickly grew to a great school teaching hundreds of students every year and achieving exciting results. We loved watching the school grow as our reputation spread by word-of-mouth. It was inspiring to see each new teacher we brought on contribute unique perspectives and passions.

Sharing with the worldwide teaching community

Our Engineering and Computer Science backgrounds meant that at every step along the way we built a system or a tool to improve that step and make it easier next time. We were able to run our school so efficiently by automating as many tasks as possible, to allow us to focus energy where it counted: tracking student progress, creating new projects and encouraging and supporting our teachers. That's when the lightbulb moment happened - we can share our management system and all our resources with teachers and students around the world who also want to save their time and focus on what matters most to them. That's when Mica Education was born. It's our way to make the tools we've built and enjoyed, work for others.

our future plans

What's Next For Us

This is what we have in mind for the future.
Our goal is to make teaching and learning easier for all.

September 2023

Mica Educate Launch

The launch of Mica Education and our eLearning product. Our plan is to make our extensive library of interactive exercises and practice tests available for those preparing for Cambridge English exams. Students can complete exercises online and get all the practice they need to feel confident at any level. Self study is an important part of the learning process but will always be boosted by interactive lessons with an enthusiastic and well prepared teacher.

November 2023

Lesson Plans

We've almost finished developing our lesson planning area for teachers to plan and organise ideas, while following specific goals. We have a large library of resources and would like to share them with you. We know that each class and lesson is unique so, rather than just choosing from templates, we have built a space were you can mix and match (and even add) different games, worksheets and activities to create the perfect lesson to meet your specific lesson needs.

December 2023

Mica Community

We believe the global community of teachers can greatly benefit from collaborating and supporting each other. We know there are thousands of inspired teachers with their own creative ideas for making engaging and fun lessons. We're going to create a place on this website for teachers to share ideas, contribute, answer questions and inspire each other. We'll custom make worksheets for you on request - just describe what you need and we'll make it for you. We'll also host themed seminars on current topics and teaching strategies.

March 2024

Our passion projects

We have been busy behind the scenes scratching our creative itch with some exciting projects including a Mica mobile game, a fun reward system for Mica Members to gain badges as they use and contribute, a series of original illustrated story books aligned with CEFR levels and a web series 'sitcom' designed for ESL learners. We can't wait to share these projects with our Mica Members when they're ready!

2024 and beyond

Mica Management

To support our Mica Members better, we'll be launching our Mica Management product designed to be the 'engine' of any language school or department. You can schedule lessons, organise your students, handle school admin, build lesson plans, record test marks, arrange appointments, review lesson plans and organise homework assignments. It's perfect for managing multiple groups of students working at different levels, and progressing forward each year.

August 2024

Mobile Application

To support your students better, we're creating a mobile phone application where they can keep track of their lesson material, review lesson plans and homework assignments. All of their account details will be easy to access, at their fingertips.