Interview with Tanaka, Chanda and Michael from PrepHub

PrepHub is a project started by former UCT (University of Cape Town) students, who saw a gap within the education system and ran with it. PrepHub assists students  prepared for their exams, its also a platform that allows discussions around academic concepts with fellow students. To learn more about the guys from PrepHub and how PrepHub works check out the interview below.

Prep-hub consists of? 

Prep-hub consists of 3 team members, Tanaka Mutakwa, Chanda Pwapwa and Michael Yang. We are all alumni of the University of Cape Town. We are all software developers passionate about how technology can make a positive impact in the world.

Please tell us about your childhoods, how were you like growing up?

Chanda Mulaiko Pwapwa: I was huge Pokémon fan! I was inseparable from my PlayStation and PlayStation 2! There was a period in my life where all I wanted was the latest FIFA game that was a very tough period for me as all the FIFA games where sold out at the time. Many days were spent sulking over that fact!

Other than that, I was “encouraged” by my mum to wake up, take shower and go to school – not that I didn’t like school; it’s just that I liked sleep more!  I also remember being blamed for making my other siblings late for school – which is quite funny now when I look back on it. I played lots of hockey at primary school and was part of the chess club (for like a year). In high school I played basketball.

Academically I had decent results in primary school and high school. I was particularly good at physics, regularly scoring around 75%-90% – but during the 11th and 12th grade those marks dropped quite heavily. I did have some subjects where 50% was just enough of a score to attain – I had this attitude towards German (foreign language subject) in high school.

Michael Yang: I was an arrogant, competitive kid always trying to come first at everything I do. I often get into fights and make other kids cry.

Tanaka Mutakwa: I was very quiet, shy (as a result well behaved), but very bright. I always pushed for the best in whatever I did at school hence I did well academically, in sport and held a few leadership roles.

I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and lived in the country for 18 years before coming to study in Cape Town in 2008. I went to an awesome high school Kyle College, which is a private school in a small town called Masvingo (Zimbabwe). That place shaped me to be the person that I am today and while was there doing my final year I became a deputy head boy of the school and I also represented the school in rugby and cricket at 1st team level. It was at Kyle College where I was nicknamed “The General” (which is now so overused, some people think it’s my real name).

What made you study Computer Science?

Chanda Mulaiko Pwapwa: I was always interest in Computers, and I didn’t see myself studying anything else.

Michael Yang: I was not interested in becoming a programming nerd; but was interested in becoming an architect or interior designer. Unfortunately my dad told me it’s easier to get a job doing computers. Fortunately I’ve been enjoying it ever since, more and more as days goes by.

Tanaka Mutakwa: In 1997, when I just started Grade 2, Hallingbury Primary school (Zimbabwe) got its first set of computers installed and created a small computer lab with 4 machines. The school then offered afternoon private computer lessons to students since the lab was so small they could not offer classes to the whole school. My parents signed me up for the afternoon lessons and twice a week I would attend computer classes. If I remember correctly we mainly did typing lessons and played educational games in the first few months, however this gave me a head start over all the students in my Grade that were not doing computer lessons.

A further catalyst was when my dad who was working at Scotfin (former investment management firm) at the time, decided to get us our own home computer. It must have been one of the i486 models, but I could be wrong. This just increased my interest in computers and I was also fortunate to have one accessible to me at all the times. As a result I always did well in computer classes and always seemed a notch ahead of my classmates.

It just became the natural choice of field to study for me over time.

Are you guys (individually) involved in other projects or are you working? If yes, tell us about what you doing?

Chanda Mulaiko Pwapwa: I currently work for a Software Development company in Cape Town as a Software Developer.
Michael Yang: I’m currently the lead developer at http://prodigyfinance.com.I have other client projects keeping me busy.

Tanaka Mutakwa: I currently work as a Software Developer for an Investment Management company in Cape Town.

Your biggest achievement yet?

Chanda Mulaiko Pwapwa:Completing my Computer Science degree from the University of Cape Town.

Michael Yang:  I admire people, athletes or otherwise that celebrate their own success with tears when they know they have achieved what they achieved giving their all. I do not remember having that feeling so I cannot say I have a biggest achievement yet.

Tanaka Mutakwa: That is a difficult question but I think I would say completing my 1st degree BSc Computer Science at UCT in 2010.

What is the purpose of Prep-hub?

Exams are a part of life that everyone has to deal with, from the day you enter pre-school throughout the rest of your life you will continually be tested. Tested by teachers, professors and then eventually, employers. You’ll even have to pass an exam to get a driver’s license and various operators’ licenses for work permits. So it’s important that you learn how to pass exams. Our mission at Prep-hub is to help you pass your exams and tests (grow your knowledge) by providing a platform that allows for discussions around academic concepts with fellow students, academics and anyone who can help really.

Which group of students are using the assistance of Prep-hub? 

Currently we are targeting university students’, we’re doing this in order to receive valuable feedback on what students want their Prep-hub experience to be like. From this feedback we will be able to build the right features that provide value and open the website up further to other universities and high schools.

How can Department of Education, Universities, Colleges, High Schools get involved with you guys? 

(Universities, Colleges, High Schools): We are currently in negotiation with several institutions around the country with regards to using their content on Prep-hub. In terms of these institutions getting involved with us, we hope to have smooth negotiations and agreements with the institutions. We also hope the institutions will be able to encourage their students to utilize platforms such as Prep-hub. We share a common goal with these institutions and that is to improve the quality of education for their students.

Department of education: We can see the Department of education possibly getting involved with us in two aspects. One would be to endorse the importance / value of Prep-hub to education in South Africa. This endorsement would help us validate Prep-hub much more to each of the institutions we introduce the website to. The other space we may end up involved with the Department of education is when we start providing content for high school students in the Matric exams space. Once again we share a common goal with the Department of education and that is to improve the education standards around South Africa.

When it comes to asking questions on Prep-hub how do you differentiate between helping and cheating on homework and assignments (for those who want to take advantage of Prep-hub)?

The site will encourage people to focus on questions about an actual problem they have faced. When a Prep-hub user asks a question on the website we encourage them to include details about what they have tried and exactly what they are trying to do. Homework questions are usually not very imaginative, and tend to fall in one of the abstract categories of commonly asked questions. At the highest levels, we will likely have community moderators to keep the site focused and helpful.

What do you want to achieve with project?

We want to contribute to the learning and social development of South Africa and South African students. We are hoping we will be able to achieve that and more with this project. In the long term Prep-hub could end up being utilized around the whole world.

Please tell us about the process of sending and receiving past papers? And how do you know their valid or relevant to education system? (How does it work, what’s the process)

We are currently in negotiation with several universities in the country with regard to this process. We would like to trust a student to upload a paper that conforms to the set-out guidelines and to have this paper immediately available to other students after uploading. Notifications will be sent to relevant institutions when a paper is uploaded, so that they will be informed and be able to remove a paper that does not confirm to their requirements. Some universities and faculties prefer to be more cautious, so we’re still finalizing this process.

Would you say internet is become the best classroom to be in rather than going to school and read a book?

Internet is perhaps a good medium of information due to its accessible nature, but it is important to find authoritative sources on information one is seeking. Also there are experiences not replicable in a classroom scenario on the internet.

Have you been to schools to inform young people about Prep-hub? If yes, have you recognized their needs or frustrations when comes exams? 

Prep-hub is a project that scratches our own itch. It was designed with students or you can say ourselves in mind, because we were all students not too long ago.

What advice do you have for young people who want to start their own projects?

Partner up with people who have different qualities and hold each other accountable. It takes consistency and dedication to pull-off a project especially when you’re doing it ‘on the side’.

How did Prep-Hub come about?

Prep-hub is something we would have wanted back in University. So when a competition by the name of the Google App Developer Challenge came about, we decided to build something that we know would have a positive impact in someone’s life so we decided to build Prep-hub.com

When did it start?

Initially around July/August 2012 and the site was up and running in its current form in October 2012.

What motivated you to start Prep Hub?

The Google Apps Developer challenge 2012.

What are some of the challenges students face when it’s exam time?

Having consistent access to past papers and any sort of help during exam time. One could argue that having consistent access to help throughout the year is a challenge for students.

What do you think need to be done to improve the level of education in Africa? 

Stakeholders need to look at how technology can solve certain things. Stakeholders also need to get the right people in place to change things.

Any future plans for Prep-Hub?

Providing a compelling user experience and real value for students is the most important “plan” that we have at the moment.

How can people connect with you (facebook, twitter, website and etc)?

Twitter – @Prep_hub
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prep-hub/427095727325743?ref=hl
Email – [email protected]
Website – www.prep-hub.com