Many students at the University of Florida are constantly looking for tutoring services for tutoring help in difficult classes. A University of Florida graduate developed an app called Knack that enables students to be tutored by other students in any college subject.
Samyr Qureshi, the founder and Chief Executive Officer for Knack, developed the app hoping to fill the void for students who need help immediately and are not able to make it to the teacher's office hours. “Knack enables students who are successful in their courses to become tutors and empower others to do the same while also making great money," said Qureshi.
Knack is an easy and effective app to download and use. Students can use their smartphones or computers to choose a subject, a location to be tutored and a date to meet one another for tutoring. Qureshi explained that tutors needed to have passed a course with at least a B+ in order to tutor another student with Knack.
Qureshi explained that Knack is beneficial because students in upper-level courses can receive help in their classes too. Qureshi said, “There are many upper level courses that have virtually no supplemental resources to help students. Office hours are limited and sometimes uncomfortable or inconvenient."
Qureshi continuously expressed the importance of the strong social aspect of Knack. Qureshi said, “The purpose of Knack is to eliminate the barriers to supplemental education by providing an ecosystem for students at universities to learn from and to teach each other."
Knack has been housed at the University of Florida's incubator, the Gator Hatchery. The app has received extensive support and resources from the entrepreneurship community as well as the student body at the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida.
Students at the University of Florida are excited for Knack to come to UF's campus in the near future. Kailyn Allen, a political science major, expressed her interest in Knack. Allen said, “It seems like a really cool idea and an interesting app. It sounds like something that a lot of students might use both to market their tutoring services and to find tutors."
The executives of Knack, have a busy future planned for the app. Qureshi explained that the beta for the app is going to be launched at the University of Central Florida in late March. The Knack team is hoping that Knack's influence will spread to multiple colleges by this fall.
“At UCF, we have over 1,500 students signed up and ready to start tutoring and getting help," said Qureshi. He is excited for all of his hard work to pay off and the app to go live. He hopes that Knack will help students to pay off debt, make new friends, develop new skills and ace classes.
“I think it's really important to have a great product that gives the user the best experience possible because nothing matters unless you have a great product and experience," said Qureshi.
