Joel Falk - LÄR Digital
Joel Falk - LÄR Digital #1
Describe the idea:
The idea is based around the belief that teachers spend way too much time on administrative tasks, and therefore have less time to prepare and focus on the actual teaching. Our solution? A software which will assist teachers in creating and correcting digital tests, monitor student development and give the student feedback on assignments with the help of specific algorithms.
Who are you? Previous education/jobs/ experiences etc.
My name is Joel Falk, I’m a master student in Engineering Nanoscience at LTH. I’ve worked in a lot of different fields; factory worker, Customer clerk at a bank, Process support technician at a solar cell company and a student tutor. Tutoring made me realize how important it is to have to time to prepare and evaluate lessons, and also the problems teachers face in their everyday work.
What will you do during these three months? How will you spend the time?
Most of the work will be programming and designing the functions to develop the platform. We are a team of 3 programmers that will take on this task, and hopefully we’ll be able to add an additional team member that will join in July.
Also, we are in contact with a group of teachers to keep in touch with the client and making sure we are developing something that the users actually want and need.
What do you expect to achieve during Leapfrogs?
- Develop a prototype which will be able to construct as well as correct digital exams and be based on underlying algorithms that will support teachers in their grading.
- We have done an initial market research but would like to extend it further to establish exactly how the functions shall be implemented.
- Use the resources available through Leapfrogs and get to know the other Leapfrogs scholars and benefit from their knowledge in different fields.
#2
Tell us what you have done on your projects so far during the Leapfrogs time:
So far in the project we have started to build and structure the backbone of the software, draft UX and planning which functions which should be implemented. We have also implemented some core functions and established a connection to a real-time database. Besides that, we have also continued working with our market research by reaching out to teachers/ teaching students and working with our focus group.
Has everything gone according to the plan? Has anything unexpected occurred? Has something been easier/harder than expected?
As we have tried to keep in contact with the customer/user as much as possible we have gotten a clearer view of what they really want, and we have pivoted a bit in order to fit their needs. Initially we had the ambition to write the app for Android by using Java, but we later decided that it would probably more convenient for us to use React Native as this would make it useable on other platforms as well.
What will you focus on during the remaining time? Will you follow your original plan or has anything changed along the way?
The remaining of the time will be to further develop the software with all its components. This week another member will join which have had a lot of experience in algorithm implementation and we hope to be able to use his experience to develop the algorithms we want to use in the software. We will stick to our original plan, but continue to be agile and responsive to possible changes.
#3
How did you experience the three months?
It was an amazing experience to be a part of Leapfrogs scholarship programme. During this time we have been able to combine both the business and tech mindset, and developed our skills within both fields.
I’ve learnt a lot and really enjoyed the opportunity to work with my own idea from scratch. It’s been great!
What has been hardest/most enjoyable?
Most enjoyable has probably been to work together as a team towards a common goal. Also to be a part of the innovative and driven environment around the VentureLab incubator, really inspiring to see all of the hard workers in that place.
The programming and setting up of the software with its functions has proven quite difficult, but we’ve learnt a lot and I’m sure we will benefit from this experience in the future.
Did it go as expected? Will you continue working on your project in the future?
Not really. It’s been quite time consuming and we still haven’t implemented the features that we need to launch it to a broader audience for testing. We have a fully functional app, but I think it still need some development to bring value to teachers in their everyday work life.
We hope to continue working on our software in the future, hopefully we can implement some of the projected features soon.
What would you say is the most important lesson learnt while working on your project?
The most important lesson we’ve learnt is that everything takes a lot more time than planned and to not be too stressed about it.
Do you have any tips to other ”new” entrepreneurs?
Use your network if you get stuck. Don’t be afraid to ask, people like to help each other.
Be efficient, work when you work and rest when you rest.