One Tool to Replace Five

This post is about a teaching tool I built that fit on a device smaller than a paperback book.

Too Many Tools

When you run project-based learning as a lecturer, you end up juggling tools. A blog engine for announcements. A learning management system to track student progress. An ePortfolio platform to showcase student work. A grading spreadsheet. Each one is a separate login, a separate thing to maintain.

I got tired of it. So I built one tool that does all of it.

Two Ideas Combined

The tool supports two teaching methods at once. Project-Based Learning (PBL), where students solve real-world problems by building software. And Laboratory-Based Education (LBE), a model I saw work well in Japanese universities, where learning happens through peer teaching. Senior students teach junior students. The professor only steps in when a problem is too hard for the students to solve among themselves.

I combined them across three courses: 8th-semester students designed the UX/UI, 6th-semester students designed the system diagrams, and 4th-semester students built the actual prototypes. Different classes, one shared project. Peer teaching in action.

Small Enough to Carry

The technical choice that made me proud: I built it with Flask, a Python microframework. The entire application is less than 20 MB. Small enough to run on a mini PC board that I could carry between classrooms.

No need to install Apache or Nginx. No cloud hosting bill. Run one Python script and the tool serves itself. Plug the board into an access point, and the whole class connects. Teaching infrastructure in your pocket.

The Results

I tested it with 135 students and 16 lecturers. More than 90% found it beneficial. Students completed tasks in under 4 minutes, lecturers in under 3, all without any tutorial. When people can use your tool without instructions, you know the design is right.

By the end of one semester, we had 32 groups producing 32 web applications, all published in the public domain. That became a repository for the next year's students to learn from and build on.

Read the Full Paper

Read the full paper: A Supportive Tool for Project Based Learning and Laboratory Based Education →

Published in the International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology (IJASEIT) 2019.