Tutor App | Devpost

Inspiration

Due to the current situation with the Coronavirus, many have been forced to complete their classes virtually. However, now more than ever, students need additional help to succeed in their courses. Our goal was to create a virtual tutoring system featuring a whiteboard, as it might in-person, along with video conferencing and a chat.

What it does

Our app, name still to be determined, will provide an interactive platform to schedule tutoring sessions with audio, video, and a whiteboard, making working between the tutor and the student easy and interactive. CURRENTLY, the only fully functioning feature is the live whiteboard, which syncs points between clients using the Firebase Firestore database.

How we built it

We built the app quickly, meaning many features are only partially working. We used a number of platforms, including Firebase Auth to authenticate users, Firestore for the real time whiteboard and storing user and tutor session data, React for the framework and responsiveness, Firebase Functions to clear the whiteboard and add timeslots, and Firebase Hosting to host our application.

Challenges we ran into

Not many of us knew react well, so overcoming that obstacle took quite some time. Furthermore, we had trouble creating a whiteboard that could record the points being drawn, and then storing those points into a live database and reading them back.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We have a whiteboard system that works fully through Firebase Firestore, allowing both parties to use the whiteboard simultaneously.

What we learned

While working on this app, we learned how to work together as a team to build a web application, and along the way, we learned how to create and work with React Applications and utilize the Firebase platform to make advanced apps quickly.

What's next for Tutor App

Future plans include:

Fixing bugs involving drawing on the white board
Using Agora to enable live video conferncing
A fully function timeslot sign up page
Implementing an admin page to allow site/school admins assign students, tutors, and timeslots
Add a chat feature for uploading images
Bugs

STEPS: 1) Go to https://hackdsc-tutor-app-b6bbc.firebaseapp.com/SignIn and sign in with a Google account 2) Go to https://hackdsc-tutor-app-b6bbc.firebaseapp.com/JAUyNoXA4MK1OjdiCVJN to access the whiteboard