Schedule Buddy

Our video demo shows Schedule Buddy’s functionality through text, but in reality, the app can be implemented using voice.

Inspiration

It’s been difficult for students with disabilities to effectively transition to online learning during COVID-19, where virtual learning is much more self-reliant and self-guided. We wanted to create something simple and easy-to-use to increase accessibility and lessen stress for students of varying grade levels struggling to navigate an online learning environment at home.

What it does

Schedule Buddy syncs with the student’s daily schedule on Google Sheets and connects to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to help students access their daily schedule by listing classes, their time blocks, and allowing students to quickly make additions to their schedule. Visually impaired students can hear their schedule being read to them, helping them plan their day. Students with ADD/ADHD and executive dysfunction can hear their schedules repeated to them, helping them keep track of their schedules to organize their time more effectively. Students speak back to tell Schedule Buddy what to do, and also create new events and add them to their schedule as needed.

How we built it

Using Voiceflow, we built a voice app that keeps track of students’ daily schedule, making it easy for students to concentrate on prioritizing themselves and their learning. We integrated a google sheets document that contains the student’s unique schedule and created blocks and paths within Voiceflow that tracked the schedule information by mapping various data points in the spreadsheet to variables in our program.

Challenges we ran into

Because our program was made mostly without directly coding, there was a limit to functionality and available tools. Linking the program to Google Sheets was initially challenging to set up, and because of the preset functionality, there was only so much we could do with the Sheets. There was a slight learning curve to VoiceFlow, as none of our teammates had used the platform before.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that we were able to create a fully functioning program despite not knowing much code. We found it rewarding to learn a new platform and create something that can be used potentially for social good.

What we learned

We learned to work collaboratively, brainstorm together, and debug a program. Despite going in without much experience or knowledge, we are proud to present our product.

What's next for Schedule Buddy

There's much more that can be done to expand on the flexibility and accessibility of the program. The code itself could also be optimized and improved upon. Other related functions such as deleting events could also be implemented.