Inspiration
We wanted to find a simple way to create study groups quickly and efficiently without the hassle of asking everyone in your class (whether you know them or not).
How it works
For our mobile option the user starts by texting "Hello" to our service to begin the process. They are then asked for their subject of interest and zip code. They are then matched to people who are studying the same subject within their location. Everyone matched in the study group will be matched to a chat room where they can discuss how they can meet up to study.
On our website, we offer a way for people to sign up through Facebook and make study groups on the website. It offers a listing of all current study groups that are created.The website also includes a list of Facebook friends that are currently on the website looking for study groups. Once again, study groups are linked to a chat room where people can discuss how they want to study.
Challenges I ran into
We had initial problems with learning how to use the Twilio API; learning how to actually process and send SMS. Also, managing the different versions through git was another challenge that required some effort to remedy. The meteor framework, although very useful, is not a complete framework and required additional packages to supplement some features that weren't quite there. Finally, since we are developing a mobile and web-based service, we had to guarantee that the code would work for both computers and mobile devices.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Processing our first SMS after a long time of racking our brains together and googling was an amazing accomplishment. It felt as if our main task was achieved. The next great moment was when two of us were finally able to connect to each other and talk in a chat room.
What I learned
We learned how to utilize virtual boxes, ubuntu, git, and a bunch of other frameworks. Some of us were introduced to meteor and how amazing javascript can be.
What's next for inforum
What's next is a public release across college campuses (first UVA) to see how well the service works. Our future goals include being able to process human language better in determining subjects so that differently worded subjects that are the same are grouped together.
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