courseExplorer

Inspiration

We find ourselves frequently bouncing between several course websites, Canvas pages, Ed discussion boards, etc.; what if we could combine all those resources in one place?

What it does

Pulls course resources/information from several different sites (i.e. Canvas, individual course websites, etc.) and consolidates them to one "file directory" of courses and links to their relevant resources.

How we built it

We worked off a basic React web app, building the functionality around basic API calls and JSON manipulation in JavaScript, web-scraping scripts using Python, and data storage using MongoDB Atlas.

Challenges we ran into

Dynamically loading data from API calls/dealing with loading times; structuring and formatting incoming JSON data, determining appropriate database schemas for storing app data.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Setting it all up and working collaboratively to solve problems and build a working web application.

What we learned

Building real-world, data-driven software requires taking into account a variety of technical challenges and considerations related to data manipulation, performance, and usability.

What's next for courseExplorer

Expanding the network of supported sites from which to pull course resources and information; improving the formatting and usability of the application at scale.