Gratify

Inspiration

As a student that has participated in many math classes, I have come to realize that my peers and I have gaps in our education of the subject. This is attributed to the fact that the current teaching system does not allow for students to fully grasp the full breadth of a subject, creating holes in a foundation that is needed to further one's math education. For this reason, I created Gratify, a program that provides a personalized, immersive experience that gives students, specifically middle school and early high-school students who are building vital math foundations for future classes, a way to start off on the right foot when it comes to math education.

What it does

Gratify is an in-class (used during/in class) application that allows teachers and students to collaborate to reach a goal in their math education. This personal goal can be set at the beginning of the year or semester, allowing students to further their education at their own pace while also insuring their successes. Gratify is also incredibly personal and specific in the way that it teaches students; by utilizing machine learning, Gratify determines how a specific student works best and creates a lesson plan based on this information. Additionally, Gratify will work to incorporate outside hobbies of the student into the learning experience (for example, baseball-themed questions if the student likes baseball). Gratify also gives students flexibility in how they learn by incorporating hands-on activities, physical worksheets when students need a break from the computer, and the ability to ask for help, whether that be by raising a hand in class to call over the teacher or reviewing material on Gratify.

How we built it

Using Honeycode, I created a simple prototype for Gratify that shows how it would function as a tool to teach math.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge that I ran into was focusing on a group of students and a specific subject, as Gratify could be used in so many different ways to help so many. Additionally, I had to overcome the challenge of creating a system that allowed flexibility for students learning math but also pushed them to be engaged and interested in the subject.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud to say that Gratify is uniquely formulated and innovative. Gratify's personalized, in-class features make it stand out when compared to other programs. Additionally, I am proud that its simplicity in design and easy-to-understand lessons make it the ideal program for students building a foundation in math.

What we learned

I learned that creating a new system for education in math is possible, no matter how dire the situation is. Also, more generally, I learned that a "hair-on-fire" problem, such as the one that I am trying to solve, is often easy to identify, but incredibly difficult to solve.

What's next for Gratify

In the future, I would like to build upon this foundation that Gratify's prototype has given me. In fact, I think that Gratify could become a business platform that schools pay a small price for and, in turn, the Gratify business would give back to that same community through scholarships or grants. Instead of basing who the scholarships are given to on grades, they would be given on how a student engages, explores, and immerses themselves in the Gratify education system. Of course, this model would involve further planning, support to get started, and backing from outside institutions.

Built With

• honeycode