Viewing Tutors available to tutor you (as a student).
Request a class to get tutoring (as a student).
Matched with a Tutor and getting access to the messaging app and tutor information.

Inspiration

The night before my calc 3 midterm, I realized that I completely forgot to review an entire section of content and I was unable to find any peers to help me. I was surrounded by over 40,000 college students and I was unable to find the help I needed on an in-demand basis. As I continued to explore this, I realized how there was no platform that connected college students in need of tutoring with students within their college for tutoring purposes. From then, I was determined to build a solution to this problem: GoTutor.

What it does

GoTutor matches college students looking for tutoring with tutors at their school at an on-demand basis. Students input the specific class they need help for and get matched with tutors who have taken the class and available to tutor at that time. The idea is that there are many college students willing to tutor during their free time for some quick cash and there are many students who need help within a short timeframe. GoTutor matches these groups in a way similar to Uber and allows both parties to message either and share payment information. Primary features include: In-app live messaging, Email notification system, A reputation system, and a match-making system.

How we built it

We built GoTutor as a full-stack web-application using the MERN JavaScript stack. (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js). We used React for the front-end, Express for the back-end, and MongoDB hooked to a Google Cloud backup for the database. In addition to the frameworks we used, we also made use of various packages including Socket.io to support in-app live messaging and nodemailer to create an email notification system.

Challenges we ran into

As any other team, we ran into various bug and challenges that stemmed from anything from deprecated code to sleep deprivation. A major bug we ran into was related to setting up the email notification system. We were new to the nodemailer package and we ran into many bugs that resulted from outdated documentation. Furthermore, as a team of freshman, half of our team had no experience with developing a full-stack application, but we all learned a lot from this project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the progress we made during the hackathon. Despite facing many challenges, we were able to create an application that aims to make a positive impact on society. We understand that there are many ways to improve the application further, but we are proud of the minimum viable product that we were able to create within 36 hours. Our user interface and notification system are particularly noteworthy accomplishments that we are proud of.

What we learned

Since we are all Freshmen, this hackathon was an especially challenging and valuable learning experience for us. We were able to gain hands-on experience with technologies such as the MERN stack, socket.io, and API calling, which are all essential tools for modern web development. Throughout the process, we faced many obstacles and setbacks, but we were able to persevere and ultimately deliver a functioning product. This experience has taught us the importance of perseverance, teamwork, and the ability to adapt to new technologies. We are excited to continue to learn and grow as developers, and we look forward to applying what we have learned to future projects. Overall, this hackathon has been an amazing learning experience for us and we are grateful for the opportunity.

What's next for GoTutor

At GoTutor, we are constantly working on improving the platform for our users. One of our main goals is to establish a strong reputation system for our tutors, where they are incentivized to provide the best possible experience for their students. This system will be based on user reviews and ratings, and will help us match students with the most qualified and experienced tutors. Another area of focus for us is creating a more efficient matching system, drawing inspiration from successful algorithms used in apps such as Uber or food delivery apps. We believe that a well-designed matching system will lead to better and more productive tutoring sessions for our students. Additionally, we are exploring ways to generate revenue for the platform, such as through sponsored content or premium features for our users. We plan to expand our project beyond Purdue soon. We believe that by creating a sustainable business model, we can continue to improve and grow GoTutor for the benefit of our users. Overall, our mission is to provide a platform that connects students with the best tutors and helps them achieve their academic goals. We are dedicated to constantly improving and evolving GoTutor to better serve our users and make the process of finding a tutor as seamless and effective as possible.