OpenHours

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Inspiration

Students are constantly going to AI to get answers to their homework questions.

What it does

OpenHours provides course-focused replies to inquiries about the course in a Socratic manner that encourages learning and conceptual understanding over just simply providing the answers.

How we built it

We used Kiro steering to create a guideline for our project as well as to divvy up the work. We split the work into backend, frontend (student-side), frontend (instructor-side), and database, hosting, and API. Working on separate branches, we all contributed to our individual pieces while communicating as a team and then came together for a prototype that we then proceeded to troubleshoot and refine as a team.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into a multitude of challenges during the making of our project. Most notably, we had issues with merge conflicts and the sql for our Supabase database. We also had trouble synthesizing an idea that balanced novelty, practicality, scalability, and impact.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the product we have created. We really believe in this as the future of AI in education and view it as a good step forward to normalizing AI as an educational tool rather than an educational scourge.

What we learned

We learned quite a lot. For some of our team, it was our first hackathon, and for others, their first time using Kiro and integrated agents. We learned how to work together with not only our teammates to effectively coordinate to make a cohesive product in one day, but we also learned how to work with Kiro to bring our ideas out and onto the screen effectively. We also had to learn to think on the fly as problems came and ideas didn't stick, and it was important to work around it. It was a wonderful learning experience in teamwork, working efficiently, and adaptability.

What's next for OpenHours

We really believe in this product and the idea it represents. With any new technology, there needs to be an effective bridge between industries. We believe in the core principles behind our app. AI doesn't have to be something that academia discourages. With the right application, it can, and already is, a really effective learning tool. We hope to streamline the usage of AI as a learning tool and bridge that gap as best we can. We want AI to supplement critical thinking rather than replace it. We want it support the adaptability of the human mind that textbooks simply cannot and that a professors time doesn't allow for.