We are happy to have a word with co-founders of TyTa, Victor and Drazen and learn more about how the idea of TyTa came into place. TyTa is a knowledge sharaing app for students, which allows them to easily find a student tutor and excel in their studies.
Victor was born in Ghana and came to Holland with his family when he was 6 years old. His main goal back then was to succeed in school. He followed the whole educational system in the Netherlands starting from primary school. Victor and Drazen met in high school, following Beta oriented study program. Later on, they followed the same course at the university, econometrics.
Drazen: We are currently both active in the Financial sector, however we have also always wanted to help improve the educational system. We’ve noticed during our studies that students have a very tough time. Especially for internationals, managing all the things is very hard. We ourselves have succeeded in our studying by helping each other out. Me and Victor have a common need to try to help students and to improve the educational system. During the times when everyone is using their smartphones and has an access to the internet, the sharing economy is becoming more and more widespread and we want to do something with this idea.
Victor: If students make up their mind to help each other, then they can succeed together, and we want to be an embodiment of that. When I was a student, I was tutoring myself. So, the idea of students helping each other has been with us from the beginning.
For international students coming from another country into the new educational system, things are not always easy, these students need help and it is sometimes difficult to find this help, since other students are also busy with their stuff. That’s why we created TyTa – to change the mindset of students from been very self centred to helping each other out, and this can really uplift the whole education system.
Drazen: And with the help of an app, you’re literally one step away from getting help or helping.
Victor: It’s actually 3 things – 1st – students can help each other out – you don’t have to be a full fledged professor to be able to share knowledge, the students can also do that. We believe in the concept “Sharing is caring” – helping each other out and not being self-centred. The last thing is technology, which we see is really improving by time, so why not use it for the goal of making education more accessible for all students?
When did the idea of creating TyTa come to your mind?
Drazen: During our study time we were not satisfied with how things were going and we had to do it the hard way. When we graduated, everything worked out well. We started working, but we always had an idea at the back of our minds to create something which was not there – enabling students to help each other out.
Victor: With that in mind, in 2016 we got together. We thought that the jobs which we were doing at the moment were great and we would love to keep doing it, but we would also love to do something on the side, which would contribute to the educational system. That’s when it all started.
Of course, it’s not a charity work as you, as a student, get money for helping out. What we want to achieve with TyTa is to change the mindset that you can only learn from a professor and that we can really learn from each other.
How does the app work?
Drazen: TyTa app is very easy to use – you download the app, create a student or a tutor profile, or both. As a student, you send a request, and as a tutor you react to this request. When you’re matched, you can start with the tutoring. That’s the basic concept. We have a lot of specific features – like a timer which monitors how much time the student has been tutored, chat function, calendar.
Victor: What is cool is the whole idea of being able to easily find someone who will be able to help you out with a subject. There are just a few simple steps you have to follow – you log into the app, you create your own profile, which is visible to the other parties. After that, if you need help with, let’s say, mathematics you just choose this subject and you specify how you want to follow the course. Do you want to follow it on location or online? When do you want to follow it? Do you want to follow it asap?
We imagine that there are some students who have exams soon and want to start right now. Then just send the request out and let the magic happen – there are a lot of students out there willing to help you out. For example, if you stated that you need help asap, then the students out there would read your request and see what’s your issue is. For example, you need help in the next three days because you have a big exam coming up and it’s about Calculous, and there is a student who reads it and who can help you. Next, this student replies to you stating his or her offer and it’s on you to choose the best deal.
After you’ve chosen, it’s a match and you’re ready to go!
For more info, please visit TyTa’s website
