Meet our next entrepreneur, Alison, who is a passionate violin coach and edutech entrepreneur who excels at harmonising the arts and the sciences. With a deep love for teaching, she has nurtured numerous students as a dedicated violin instructor.
Read about her entrepreneurial journey into the realm of education technology, where she and her partners have developed an innovative online learning platform designed for subjects like math and science. Her platform empowers educators to create and share high-quality materials while helping students learn more effectively with features like progress tracking and auto-grading.
What inspired you to develop your own education software, and how did it align with your work as an educator?
I used to be an academic tutor for a while and I’ve always felt something was amiss in my tutoring journey – I discovered that there was a lack of support given to tutors and students despite the demand for enrichment activities.
Since then, I’ve always thought of wanting to be that pillar of support for them and I’m thankful for this opportunity I’ve been given. So, basically our learning platform Jukuru.com has two sides to it. The first is that instructors can create their own materials and, after that, track their students’ progress and manage a lot of other tasks using the same software. From there, tutors can decide if they want to earn some passive income by listing their materials on the marketplace to sell to other students as well.
On the other end, students benefit by gaining access to these materials. They also enjoy features like auto-grading, which helps save them time and makes the learning process more efficient.
Education itself, while often viewed as a traditional industry, isn’t about how things are created; it’s about whether we can use technology as an enabler.
Can you share the problem or gap in the education system that your software aims to address?
I think there are actually quite a few layers to this. First and foremost, is the fact that a lot of tuition teachers or even centres work in silos. What this means is that the education system is very fragmented because everyone is tackling things on their own.
But if we can bring everyone together in sort of an ecosystem where we have a repository of high-quality resources, not just for tutors but also for students to access, it would definitely be relevant and beneficial to the education industry as a whole.
At the same time, a lot of the tutors we work with actually manage their own businesses. Essentially, they’re self-employed in some ways. So we are also trying to see if we can help them as a bigger organisation, with their daily operations such as like materials creation, student management, and all other aspects.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face when coming up with the learning platform?
Well, there are plenty. I think the main challenge is actually bringing the teachers and students together. We are dealing with a two-sided market here, so we need to have teachers on board to create materials that students can benefit from.
At the same time, we want to ensure that the materials being created are of high quality, so students actually find value in them instead of just purchasing random online resources.
How do you ensure your software meets the needs of both educators and students?
This is actually quite a simple solution. As a business, we view all our users, students or teachers, as individuals. Each of them has their own opinions about how classes should be conducted.
That’s why we make it a point to really understand the users of our platform, whether they are students or teachers. Both groups provide different perspectives on how the platform should work. I always tell our users that they have a voice on our platform, and we take their feedback seriously. Because of this, we have come a long way.
Even though we’re just getting started, we aim to improve the user experience and interface. We continuously incorporate feedback from tutors and students to enhance the platform based on what they would like to see.
What role does technology play in shaping the future of education, and how does your software contribute to this?
We are very close to technology. I strongly believe that technology is a tool to help us get somewhere. Education itself, while often viewed as a traditional industry, isn’t about how things are created; it’s about whether we can use technology as an enabler.
For example, technology can facilitate easier classroom discussions, better tracking of student progress, and more. In this day and age, we even have tools like AI. But in my honest opinion, whether it’s AI, NFTs, or other new technologies, these are just tools. It doesn’t mean we need to adopt every single new technology to conduct classes effectively.
At our company, we use technology that genuinely helps both students and teachers facilitate classroom management and discussions.
How do you balance your time between running this company and being a violin teacher?
This is a little bit about my background. Essentially, I’ve been a violin teacher for about eight years now, as of 2024. All along, I’ve been teaching music, even when I was a pre-undergrad, an undergrad, or working full-time. I think this experience has taught me to balance my time quite well.
When you are juggling schoolwork, full-time work, and teaching violin on the side, it requires quite a bit of time management. It may sound cliché, but time management really is the only solution here.
How do you stay ahead of trends and technological advancements in education?
Personally, I’ve always enjoyed speaking to people. While you can read the news or go on social media to learn about up-and-coming trends, I think the best way to learn is by talking to others. Everyone brings in different perspectives, and there’s a lot of joy in meeting new people or reconnecting with old friends to discuss current affairs.
What advice would you give to other educators who are interested in developing their own tools or software?
This is a very tough question. Maybe they should first identify the purpose of the software, whether there’s a niche or a need for it. I think it’s simpler if you’re just creating a tool for yourself because then you can DIY it and handle everything on your own.
But in the greater scheme of things, it might be more useful for any educator who wants to create software to actually speak to other tutors. By understanding the needs they have on the ground, you can create a tool that not only benefits you but also helps other tutors in the system.
Can you share one success story of how your software has positively impacted a school, tutor, or student?
If we look at the day-to-day usage, students really enjoy using the software. It’s like doing an assessment book but online, which brings a lot of joy to our team because we see kids enjoying learning in ways that are different from traditional methods.
Another success story, though I wouldn’t really term it as a success story, was something that inspired me. A tutor who was preparing for job interviews at tuition centres asked if he could use our platform to create questions and answers to showcase his expertise during his interview. I found this very interesting because I had never thought of using this platform in this way before. But when this tutor came to us, we were like, “Sure, why not?” We were happy to let him use the platform for free.
What strategies have been most effective in marketing your software to tuition centres and other educators?
The most effective strategy is leveraging our personal network. Most of our students come through tutors’ recommendations. These are tutors or authors creating worksheets on our platform who then introduce their students to us.
Similarly, my team and I have been in this industry for quite some time, so we also work closely with tuition centres which we had worked with before. We’ve found that building and nurturing these relationships has been the best way to market ourselves.
What is your vision for the future of your software, and how do you plan to expand its reach or impact?
In terms of our vision, it’s quite straightforward. We hope to grow into a global business that provides affordable and accessible education not just to children in Singapore but also to those in other countries.
For our business, we are focusing on two “As”: affordability and accessibility. That’s why we have created a system where students can access affordable materials online. Our platform is also designed to be accessible on most devices, such as phones, tablets and laptops.
There are many ways to expand our reach to more users. We are working with partners who are aligned with our vision and business goals. These partners share our commitment to benefiting both educators and students. Through these partnerships, we aim to expand our reach further.
Connect with Alison: Jukuru.com
Also read: Meet Colin Goh, From Civil Servant to Inspiring Entrepreneur
