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Catalyst

Project Background

Catalyst is a reimagined client for Canvas LMS that aims to make academic life smoother and more organized for students. Built with an intuitive design and powered by advanced features, Catalyst provides students with an efficient alternative for managing their courses, assignments, and deadlines, while also offering additional tools that standard Canvas clients lack, such as scheduling, AI-powered recommendations, and reminders.

Project Goals

The primary objective of Catalyst is to empower students with a streamlined academic toolkit that integrates seamlessly with Canvas LMS. Key goals include:

  1. Enhanced Interface: Create an intuitive, user-friendly design tailored for quick access to assignments, grades, and class schedules.
  2. Personalized Features: Implement AI-driven features like custom schedules, assignment prioritization, and tailored reminders.
  3. Productivity Boost: Integrate tools for time management, to-do lists, and planning, directly accessible from the app.

Feature Overview

Catalyst combines core Canvas functionalities with unique features designed for student productivity and ease of use. Notable features include:

  1. Custom Schedule Management: A flexible schedule view that goes beyond standard Canvas layouts, allowing students to plan out deadlines, assignments, and extracurriculars all in one place.
  2. AI-powered Recommendations: Catalyst uses Gemini AI to offer reminders, suggest task prioritization, and generate personalized study schedules based on assignment deadlines and student preferences.
  3. Assignment Notifications: Catalyst offers custom notifications that are more informative and customizable than the basic Canvas notifications.
  4. Resource Aggregation: Simplifies the search and access to relevant resources for each course, including external links, PDFs, and multimedia content.

Development Stack

Catalyst is built using Next.js and React to ensure a high-performance front-end and seamless user experience. The stack includes:

  1. Next.js and React: For creating a responsive, fast-loading interface and improving page load times across various devices.
  2. Redis: To manage session data and caching, enhancing speed and ensuring that frequently accessed data is readily available.
  3. PostgreSQL: As the core relational database, PostgreSQL manages data reliably and securely, while supporting the complex data requirements of a student-centric LMS.
  4. Gemini AI: Powers Catalyst’s AI-driven features, including task prioritization, smart reminders, and personalized study recommendations.

Development Process

The development of Catalyst has been an iterative process, incorporating regular feedback from students to prioritize the most useful features. Significant updates have included:

  1. AI enhancements to improve task recommendations based on user feedback.
  2. Expanded calendar and scheduling functions, enabling integration with third-party schedules.
  3. Ongoing UI/UX improvements to make navigation and accessibility seamless.

Current Status and Future Plans

Catalyst is currently live in beta, with continued feature additions based on real-world feedback. Upcoming plans include enhanced cross-platform support, expanded integration with Google Calendar, and additional AI-powered features to assist with studying and task management.