IB Flow: All-in-One IB Dashboard

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  IBFlow Logo

Inspiration

IBFlow was inspired by watching friends and peers struggle with the organizational side of the IB program. Many students had to manage CAS hours, Internal Assessment deadlines, Extended Essay progress, and grades across multiple disconnected platforms. I saw students miss deadlines, double-check requirements repeatedly, and feel unnecessary stress, not because the work was too hard, but because the system made it difficult to keep track of everything in one place. This repeated friction motivated me to design a tool that reflects how IB students actually work.

What it does

IBFlow is an all-in-one dashboard for IB students, teachers, and administrators. It allows students to log CAS activities and hours, track IA deadlines across all subjects, monitor Extended Essay word counts and milestones, and view grades from TeachAssist in one interface. Teachers can approve CAS entries, provide IA and EE feedback, and monitor student progress. Administrators can manage users and oversee academic activity, all within the same platform.

How we built it

IBFlow was built as a full stack web application using React for the frontend and a PostgreSQL database for persistent data storage. Authentication is handled with role-based access control to separate student, teacher, and admin permissions. Secure API connections are used for data exchange, including grade retrieval from TeachAssist. The application logic focuses on real-time progress calculations, deadline tracking, and centralized data flow to ensure consistency across all features.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was designing around school systems that are closed or inconsistent. Not all platforms provide official APIs, which required careful assumptions and fallback logic. Another challenge was deciding which features actually reduced friction and which would complicate the experience. Balancing technical feasibility with real student needs required constant iteration and refinement.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A key accomplishment was creating a unified system that connects CAS, IA, EE, and grades in one dashboard without relying on multiple external portals. Implementing role-based workflows for students and teachers, along with secure data handling, demonstrated that a complex academic system can be made more manageable. Building a working, end-to-end platform rather than a static concept was also a major milestone.

What we learned

This project taught us how important system design and user behavior are when building software. We learned how to structure a scalable application, manage permissions securely, and design features that reduce cognitive load. The experience also highlighted the importance of clarity and simplicity when solving problems in education technology.

What's next for IB Flow: All-in-One IB Dashboard

Next, IBFlow can expand support to more school boards and grading systems, improve analytics for long-term planning, and add deeper automation for reminders and approvals. The goal is to continue reducing friction in the IB experience by improving reliability, accessibility, and integration across the platform.

Built With

• css
• express.js
• html
• javascript
• jwt-authentication
• node.js
• oauth
• postgresql
• react
• rest-apis
• sql
• tailwind-css
• typescript