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Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

kiteedu.com

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Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#31

Post by chaz »

ebzlo wrote: post #27
chrisdroukas wrote: post #25

This is a beautifully designed site. I absolutely love the sliding signup/sign in sheets.

Thanks!

I would suggest changing the behavior of pushing the entire page down to one where just the username and password boxes descend from the top and situate themselves next to a stationary Login button. I don't like when the page moves from underneath my cursor, which happens with homepage takeover ads.

Have you gotten any feedback about the domain name? kite-e-d-u-dot-com could be confused as kite.edu.com

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#32

Post by jonah »

Wow. Two in one week. Just a few days ago I came across: http://www.gradecam.com/ which does something very similar but with document cameras rather than fax machines.

It's great to see tools like these being built for those outside the tech bubble.

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#33

Post by joejohnson »

lsiebert wrote: post #24

You know, I saw when this website was posted earlier. I think it's awesome you provide both faxing and scanning interfaces. I had two questions: 1. Where are you based? Why don't you have a snail mail address on your website? It's not even clear you are based in the U.S. 2. On a more stat based note: When you analyze the data, are you merely analyzing the students, or are you providing IRT analysis for the test quest…

I don't think your average teacher would have the time to do something like this.

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#34

Post by snomad »

This is exciting!

Do you plan to offer API support? I would be very interested in having students fax the exam sheet to Kite, and then pulling the question marks (and image?) from your service.

Also, will educators have to use your exam sheets?

Can you read barcodes?

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#36

Post by ebzlo »

theinternets wrote: post #35

i looked at the source code, all seems so very nicely done. can u shed some light on the underlying technology? i see you use some twitter bootstrap, but the ui elements look like your own (i like) and backbone right?

Yup! RoR, Backbone, heavily modified bootstrap(v1), Haskell for the scan/print feature.

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#37

Post by ebzlo »

snomad wrote: post #34

This is exciting! Do you plan to offer API support? I would be very interested in having students fax the exam sheet to Kite, and then pulling the question marks (and image?) from your service. Also, will educators have to use your exam sheets? Can you read barcodes?

Educators build the assignment in our application (writing their own questions or using them from a question bank later on). In order for our product to read the fax, it needs to have been created from our application.

Currently no API support, sorry.

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#38

Post by snomad »

ebzlo wrote: post #37
snomad wrote: post #34

This is exciting! Do you plan to offer API support? I would be very interested in having students fax the exam sheet to Kite, and then pulling the question marks (and image?) from your service. Also, will educators have to use your exam sheets? Can you read barcodes?

Educators build the assignment in our application (writing their own questions or using them from a question bank later on). In order for our product to read the fax, it needs to have been created from our application. Currently no API support, sorry.

Could educators import the question bank? If so, would it work with Moodle's XML format (http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Moodle_XML_format)

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#39

Post by snowwrestler »

ebzlo wrote: post #26
lsiebert wrote: post #24

You know, I saw when this website was posted earlier. I think it's awesome you provide both faxing and scanning interfaces. I had two questions: 1. Where are you based? Why don't you have a snail mail address on your website? It's not even clear you are based in the U.S. 2. On a more stat based note: When you analyze the data, are you merely analyzing the students, or are you providing IRT analysis for the test quest…

Hello! 1. Los Angeles, CA. I didn't think snail mail was necessary, but I guess we could throw it on there. 2. We're basically analyzing students. Our content is aligned to the common core standards, so we can figure out what standards students are weak in. These are very, very simple analytics that we're providing right now (that teachers can action upon). Later on we plan to do more adaptive learning type stuff. I'…

A physical address and contact info on your site shows that you are a real company and above-board (i.e. not a scam operation).

Re: Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax

#40

Post by tylermenezes »

Just curious: have you actually talked to many teachers? Shown them the site and asked for feedback?

I feel like your landing page is way off from what a teacher would be expecting. Don't get me wrong, _I_ like it, but that doesn't mean it converts well with your target market.

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