Hong Kong start-up introduces new app to help students with learning problems
Company creates app to help students solve learning problems in a bid to bring down costs for parents who might have used learning centres
In a city where child tutoring is almost compulsory, a start-up company is trying to make the service cheaper and faster by abandoning a physical classroom and using an instant messaging app to connect students with tutors.
"Many students like the personal feel of private tutoring but it's very expensive," says Timothy Yu Yau-him, 25-year-old co-founder of the online tutoring company Appedu. "We aim to provide this kind of service that is personal and affordable."
If students encounter study problems, they can take a picture of the problem and upload it on to the company's smart mobile phone app Snapask.
The system will automatically assign a tutor who is available at the time and specialises in the same subject to help the student solve the problem either through a text message or a voice message on the app.
Yu says the responding time is 15 seconds and that the app has so far attracted about 10,000 users - 500 of them paid ones.
To solve 30 problems, a user needs to pay HK$200. It costs HK$300 for 50 problems.
Teachers can also use the app to send questions to students. The system can automatically process the answers and tell the teachers how many students have the right answers. This can help teachers analyse the effectiveness of their teaching, Yu says, adding that 88 secondary schools have already signed up for the service.