We live at a time where almost all aspects of our lives are being digitised. This new age is often referred to as the “Digital Age”. The education sector is no different as the concept of an online classroom is gradually gaining popularity. 2020 has not only made us aware of this fact; but has directly affected the booming market of education related apps like Udemy, Unacademy, EdX, Khan Academy, among others.
From Shillong bred engineer, Sunil Joshi, comes one such app – The Community, also known as The Common_Unity in Playstore. It is a free source learning app which aims to bridge the programming gap between the actual technology world, and the bookish technology world. It is available for both Android and IOS users.
His brothers, Anil Joshi (cloud engineer) and Pawan Joshi (automation engineer) are also part of his team. A total of 10 members are instrumental in giving shape to an idea. Mr Joshi mentioned how Covid-19 gave him this opportunity to experiment with an idea and wants his app to be a solution to the new challenges, educationists and children are facing in the light of the Pandemic. Along with fellow members, Tafseer Khan and Spoorthi P, his final year project in the Engineering College in Bangalore focused on machine learning.
What makes this App different from other education apps?
Unlike apps like WhiteHat Jr that skims the surface of machine learning, The Community aims to dig deeper and focus on the core details of programming. Coding will be taught. He plans to collaborate with school teachers of Shillong to build a library of eBooks in the long run. He is hopeful that this collaborative effort will make a difference where digital education is concerned. In other words, he will be able to provide a foundation for coding enthusiasts in Meghalaya.
In addition, real life engineers will take time out of their busy schedules to impart the training required. In an age where data is gold, this app will work in such a manner where data can be retrieved easily, and at the same time, build a secure system which makes the app impenetrable. Mr Joshi stressed on how security is equally important and care must be taken in this regard.
Talking to Sunday Shillong, he smiled as he said how his nephew, currently a grade IX student, confided in him regarding his interest to learn programming. This led him to explore YouTube tutorials and to his surprise, found no channel catering to aspiring coders/programmers from Meghalaya. He made a channel called The Community on YouTube for this very purpose. The idea for this app came from this channel.
Apart from machine learning, this app will also include tutorials for Mathematics and Science subjects, including Humanities subjects. 2020, according to him, has made teachers share notes via WhatsApp, something that affects the overall quality of education, negatively.
Challenge or Opportunity?
Learning programming is like learning a new language. Starting out, it wasn’t easy for Mr Joshi. As he worked, he realised that he needed to transform the challenge into an opportunity. He recalled how most people were not interested in the app and were reluctant to contribute.
However, with time, the attitude changed as his seniors from college gave a positive feedback. At present, some of his team members are pursing their Masters in machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data, with the long-term plan to contribute to the smooth functioning of this app.
What Now?
While the app is available on Playstore, it is still at a development stage. Mr Joshi is now waiting for data and user interface to make the app, user friendly. He also plans to add some more functionality so that people don’t find the app difficult to use. The look matters and he will focus on that as well. Video tutorials, discussion forums (similar to Reddit), and PowerPoint presentations will be other features of this app.
In short, The Community will provide hands-on programming videos. Coding snippets will also be provided. The contents will be created by real life engineers and educationists from the region. It is made for school students to help them in this stressful period. C Programming, C++ Programming and Java Programming will be the core subjects.
Mr Sunil Joshi mentioned how Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Linus Torvalds (Linux) inspired him to venture with his start-up. When asked about the risk inherent to any start-up, he said, he isn’t afraid and will take small steady steps towards filling the vacuum, where machine learning is concerned. He wants a healthy competition because it will positively impact and eventually improve the quality of digital education in the region.
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