Ask HN: I need App ideas for students/teachers

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529267

by Edmond • 14 years ago

1 4 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am the founder developer/phyzixlabs.com (also branded as appynotebook.com), it is an educational App platform. I need some App ideas beyond the basics (gradebooks, calenders..etc)

If you are/were a student/teacher, what sort of Apps would you like to be directly integrated into your work?

Regards Edmond

MichaelMcQuirk• 14 years ago

Something to do with homework and assignments management would be really cool.

Edmond• 14 years ago

Thanks for the feedback Michael.

There is actually a very nice assignment feature built into the platform. Essentially what it allows a student to do is complete an assignment within the platform and then just hit submit. When submitted, the assignment goes into a queue within the same environment for the teacher to open up, grade and return to the student. All of this happens within one environment with no download or management of files.

Basically imagine if Microsoft word had a submit button for assignments, such that when you submit an assignment the teacher simply opens up word and the assignment would be there; ie there is no download or managing of multiple files.

modernise• 14 years ago

Keeping track of which students need more attention. Or a way to quickly tap the attitude level and amount of interaction of students in between classes. Then the teacher can evaluate that each term. I think that would be neat.

helen842000• 14 years ago

I worked as an IT Tech in schools for about 3 years and worked a lot with educational software & platforms that schools use.

Most of the software that gets sold to schools actually adds a level of complication to teaching kids. Setup time, difficulty logging in. Simple really matters a lot.

Anything you make that enables a lesson to flow better is a win for a teacher.

I guess it depends what age you are aiming for (I've worked mainly with those 10 and under) but there are many things for that age range that would be useful.

For example in a lot of primary/elementary schools YouTube is filtered and not accessible (if it isn't, it should be!)

This poses some annoyances for teachers when they want to find a useful video during prep time at home (e.g of a science experiment, interviews etc) and then take it into school.

I think a video playlist would be useful, where teachers can import videos they've vetted to be safe for class. It would have an added element of interest if teachers/schools could tag their videos and share on a global scale.

It could be sort of an app version of SchoolsTube.com

I've got quite a few ideas in this space that I won't get chance to implement, drop me a mail if you'd like to chat. My e-mail is in my profile.

Ask HN: I need App ideas for students/teachers

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