By Graham Cook
Students from SFU and FIC create StutorPlus, a project that aggregates social media content to answer academic questions
A group of three students from SFU and Fraser International College are putting together a website that aims to make social media addiction into something more productive. FIC student Krishna Krishna, SFU accounting student Flora Yang, and SFU economics student Harmanjeet Singh are working on creating StutorPlus, an online network based on the platform of knowledge.
This website was originally the brainchild of group leader Krishna, with Singh and Yang joining in once he presented them with the idea. While speaking with The Peak about the project, Krishna said that he plans to include functions like online classes and the ability to request help with confusing academic material. However, unlike services like Yahoo! Answers, those answering the questions will have to prove that they are a university student or instructor, most likely by supplying a student ID number during registration. For example, if an SFU student wants to answer a question another user has posted, they must provide proof that they are in fact a student for their profile to reflect that expertise. Krishna says he believes that this will lead to more trustworthy and accurate information than is found elsewhere on the Internet.
Krishna also stated that the trio has invested approximately $2,000 of their own money into the project to date. He said that they will have to raise another $20,000 in order to get the website up and running. Krishna concluded by stating that neither he nor the site will, at least initially, focus on profit, but rather on the educational experience of the user. He did hint that, much like Youtube partnerships, they would like to one day add a feature that rewards users for their services in teaching classes or providing content.
