AI Education Product Designer

From 10,000 hoursof teachingto AI that teaches.

Stella Zhou, adult & business English trainer and founder of a remote teaching team, designs learning systems that remember every learner.

See the products Email Stella

3 teachers on her team
40+ teachers trained
18 Coursera certificates

Portrait of Stella Zhou in a white suit, seated on a cane chair — Based inChina (UTC+8), often Bali

Leg 01The route

Classroom first.
Then she started designing.

Scroll to travel

2016

English degree

B.A. English (minor: International Business and Trade), Sichuan International Studies University.
2017
Webi International English
- 2017–19: taught adult speaking classes.
- Trained new teachers for centres across Tianjin and North China.
- Also holds the Cambridge TKT.
2019

EF Education First

Role
Part-time ESL teacher, 2019–20
Certified
TESOL Advanced, American TESOL Institute, 2019
2020
Meten International English

Advanced English teacher. Taught adult learners Meten’s standardised curriculum, one-to-one and small group, alongside each learner’s study adviser.

One-to-one coaching, 2020 → now

10,000+ hours of live one-to-one teaching, teens to working adults.
- Cambridge exam prep: students have passed B2 First.
- Method: comprehensible input first, then structured output.
2023
Stella English Studio

Founded December 2023 and run remotely, mostly from Bali. She leads three other teachers.
- 1:1 and 1:2 lessons for adults and teens.
- Cambridge and National Geographic Learning coursebooks.
- Every lesson and report is on record, building long-term learner profiles.
See the learner profiles
2024Canggu, Bali

Workshops in Bali

Eight workshops for international adults in Canggu.

Plus an English-only non-fiction book club.
Dec 2024Northern China

Teacher trainer & development consultant

For a multi-campus English education group in northern China.

40+teachers
100+hours
37surveyed
8observed
2025

18 Coursera certificates

Second-language teaching, learning science, AI in education and prompting.

See the certificates
2026Now

Three products

Designed and launched with AI tools: AI Stella, Stella OS and Stella’s Library.

See the products

The route leads to real rooms.

See the proof

Leg 02On the ground

Proof from real rooms.

Multi-campus English education group, northern China · since Dec 2024

Training the teachers

40+teachers trained

100+training hours

37survey respondents

8teachers observed

DiagnoseSurvey, interviews, audit
DesignAround the gaps
ObserveTranscript + rubric
Feed backNext-lesson steps

Classroom management
Learner psychology & motivation
Language acquisition
Questioning
Feedback

Canggu, Bali · summer 2024

Workshops & a book club

Language acquisition
Habits
AI for learning
Personal branding

8workshops

1English-only book club

“Really great job tonight. I loved how you got everyone involved — that’s a skill.”

Book club member, Bali

Postcards from learners

“He passed B2 First today. Thank you for all your help.”

Parent of a Cambridge exam studentTranslated from Chinese

“Your lessons are clear and logical: after each class we know exactly what we learned and which skills to master.”

Adult studentTranslated from Chinese

“You are a professional and knowledgeable teacher, also kind and considerate.”

Adult student

Messages from learners

Real messages, cropped to the text. Names removed.

WeChat message from a parent about their child doing homework independently — “She does her English homework on her own now, and your method suits her. She can feel herself getting better and better.”Translated from Chinese

WeChat messages from an adult student — “Your class was amazing!! Every time, I think: wait, it’s already been an hour?”Translated from Chinese

WeChat message from an adult student — “Not the best institution I’ve been to, but Stella, you are the best English teacher I’ve ever had.”Translated from Chinese

WeChat message from an adult student with a “My sweet student” sticker — “Your teaching philosophy, your care and your passion really gave me a great experience.”Translated from Chinese

WeChat message from a long-term learner — “Learning with Stella all these years, step by step. Passed PET without any extra cramming. Already very good.”Translated from Chinese

WeChat message from a learner — “Understood, I’ll definitely support you. You’re the best English teacher I’ve met.”Translated from Chinese

Leg 03The learning loop

Most products start with content. Hers start with evidence.

Drag the orbit or pick a step.Tap any step.

A teacher reviews every step

Recorded and transcribed.
Errors and gaps pulled from the transcript.
Built from the learner’s own sentences.
Idea first, then only the errors that matter.

NextAI Stella uses each learner’s lesson history

Sample · not student data
“Yesterday I go to the beach.”

Fix
go → went · past simple
Books and book club. Opinions built with CRESP.

NextTargeted follow-up practice

Step 1 of 5 · Live lesson

Live Next (planned)

Leg 04The products

Three products. One designer.

Product tour · new design · demo dataLive

AI Stella

Speaks like a tutor: 1–2 sentences, then a question back.

5 modes, including a CEFR speaking test

NextAware of each learner’s lesson history

Try AI Stella

AI Stella

Voice-first speaking coach. Bilingual; runs in a mobile browser.

Teaching judgement, written down

Written for speech, not reading.
Idea first, then only the 1–2 errors that matter.
A silent check returns the error, fix, rule and a more natural version.
Speech-recognition errors are not held against the learner.
Answers come from scoped sources, not model memory.

Five modes

Free conversation
Read-aloud with pronunciation feedback
CEFR speaking test — 5 questions, scored on pronunciation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary
Methodology Q&A from a 76-entry learning-science knowledge base
Book mentor — life questions, answered from curated books

Stack

Next.jsMiniMax TTSGroq speech recognitionSupabase

“A tutor that talks in bullet points leaves the learner nothing to reply to.”Stella, on designing AI Stella

Talk to AI Stella ↗

New version · demo dataLive

Stella OS

Teacher dashboard: prep, teach and follow up on one record.

79 lessons, 119 reports so far

NewLearner space: lessons, homework and speaking on one daily path

Try practice demo

Stella OS

A teacher dashboard built on one record of every lesson.

2teachers

8students

79lessons logged

119reports

Teacher dashboard

Prep from a CEFR curriculum, A1 to C2.
Upload the transcript: attendance and hours update.
A feedback report is drafted and auto-checked.
The teacher approves practice before learners see it.

Practice from every lesson

Practice level Spot the Mistake: one of the learner's own incorrect sentences, crossed out, with a box for the correct version

Six levels, from flashcards to the learner’s own mistakes. Try the demo ↗

Learner space New · demo data

Learner dashboard design (name changed): today's path — feedback, reading homework, practice from the last lesson, a voice check — plus lesson credits

Lesson prep

Curriculum overview mapping CEFR levels A1 to C2 to two course books

Demo data; real records stay private. Lesson-prep demo ↗

Live siteLive

Stella’s Library

Bilingual, searchable, home of her Bali book club.

Read
Form an opinion with CRESP
Discuss

Browse the library

Stella’s Library

Turns books into a searchable knowledge system.

Reading-to-speaking loop

Choose a book.
Read with guiding questions.
Form an opinion with CRESP, her structured-expression framework.
Discuss at book club or with AI Stella’s book mentor.
NextTargeted follow-up practice.

Open the library ↗

Her differentiator

Every learner brings years of memory to today’s lesson.

An agent weighs today’s work against 1–5 years of records.

In developmentPart of Stella OS.

~60 feedback reports

1 learner profilecondensed by an agent

Today’s lessonjudged against the profile

Illustrative diagram

Leg 05Logbook

Stamped along the way.

19credentials18 verifiable Coursera certificates + TESOL

B.A. EnglishSichuan Int’l Studies Univ. · 2016
TKTCambridge Teaching Knowledge Test
TEM-4English major test

Showing 19 of 19 credentials

Second-language teaching
TESOL Advanced Certification
American TESOL Institute · Aug 2019
Printed · no online record
Second-language teaching
Teach English Now! Foundational Principles
Arizona State University · Sep 2025
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Second-language teaching
Teach English Now! Theories of Second Language Acquisition
Arizona State University · Sep 2025
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Second-language teaching
Teach English Now! Second Language Reading, Writing, and Grammar
Arizona State University · Nov 2025
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AI in education
AI in Education: Leveraging ChatGPT for Teaching
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) · Aug 2025
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AI in education
Generative AI in Education
University of Glasgow · Aug 2025
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AI in education
AI for Course Design
University of Colorado Boulder · Aug 2025
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AI in education
AI for Education (Intermediate)
Kennesaw State University · Aug 2025
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AI in education
Learning Languages with AI
University of Michigan · Aug 2025
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AI in education
Innovative Teaching with ChatGPT
Vanderbilt University · Aug 2025
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AI in education
The Future of Education with AI: Exploring Perspectives
Vanderbilt University · Aug 2025
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Prompting
Start Writing Prompts like a Pro
Google · Aug 2025
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Prompting
Design Prompts for Everyday Work Tasks
Google · Aug 2025
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Prompting
Use AI as a Creative or Expert Partner
Google · Aug 2025
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Prompting
Accelerate Your Learning with ChatGPT
Deep Teaching Solutions · Aug 2025
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Learning science
Learning How to Learn (with honors)
Deep Teaching Solutions · Aug 2025
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Learning science
Learning How To Learn for Youth
Arizona State University · Oct 2025
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Learning science
Uncommon Sense Teaching
Deep Teaching Solutions · Aug 2025
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Learning science
Uncommon Sense Teaching: Teaching Online
Deep Teaching Solutions · Sep 2025
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