Spencer Olson
Tech Lead at Instructure
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolSpencer Olson is a Tech Lead and full‑stack software engineer based in Chicago with 11 years of experience building web applications using Ruby on Rails and JavaScript. At Instructure he has focused on improving the student experience in the widely used open LMS Canvas, shipping features like file uploads, content previews, comment systems, and integrating SpeedGrader across the stack. He brings a pragmatic mix of product-minded front-end work and backend integration, informed by an intensive web development education and an earlier career in finance/compliance where he built monitoring and reporting tools. Known for translating complex user workflows into polished UI and reliable server logic, he combines leadership, hands-on coding, and a knack for improving user-facing education software.
11 years of coding experience
2 years of employment as a software developer
Glenbrook South High SchoolBachelor's Degree, Finance and Investment Banking, Bachelor's Degree, Finance and Investment Banking at University of Wisconsin-MadisonWeb Development, Web Development at Dev Bootcamp
Github Skills (12)
graphql10
javascript10
front-end-development10
wpgraphql10
wordpress-graphql10
react10
api-design9
restful-api9
back-end-development9
rest-api9
web-development9
api-rest9
Programming languages (5)
Github contributions (5)
instructure/canvas-lms
Sep 2014 - Jan 2023
The open LMS by Instructure, Inc.
Role in this project:
Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:2 reviews, 739 commits, 8 PRs in 8 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Spencer primarily focused on enhancing the student experience by implementing changes to the student-facing assignment pages. They developed features for file upload and content previews, as well as the comment system. Additionally, they addressed specific issues related to grading and student interaction in the assignment view, enhancing the overall user interface. The user also integrated the existing SpeedGrader with student assignments, which involves front-end and back-end changes.
open-lmsinstructurecanvas-lmslmsinc
spencerolson/weather
Jun 2024 - Feb 2025
Contributions:1 review, 262 PRs, 181 pushes in 8 months
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