Botangle is a new wesite that is attempting to take the market in online learning. They want to build a community that encompases those who want to learn and further themselves and quality educators who have a passion for sharing their knowledge and experience.
There are a large number of learning sites currently populating the web, but this website seems to want to set itself apart from them. From it’s modern look, to the ability to hold live chats with experts in a variety of fields, the company is trying to hit all the desires and needs of its audience.
One benefit of this site is that is doesn’t limit itself to one category. There are a large variety of categories, ranging from writing to biology to bitcoin. If you need it, they probably have an expert in it. It’s exciting to see such a wide variety right away, especially since this is a new site and there is a huge likelihood the list will expand exponentially as the site grows.
Current Categories Available
Offerings:
This website is definitely trying to stand out from the crowd. From the look and feel to the information provided, they really want to shine. That said, they have a few features that seem quite useful;
- Tie-ins to common social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Potentially useful articles containing study tips, how to get through school while pinching pennies, etc.
- Teacher-student shared whiteboards to encourage collaboration and help engage both parties
- Webcam lessons to create the ‘visual classroom effect’
Botangle Homepage
First impressions are what sets things apart from the run-of-the-mill standards. This site definitely gives off a good first impression.
Immediately I was drawn to how modern the site looked. It uses a more simplistic, minimalist style and fun colors that encourage a fun learning environment. It’s critical to use a layout and color scheme that appeals to the target audience, and I have to say, they seem to be spot on.
The page has two images located behind the search box. Now, if that was a scrolling image that allowed you to view different items as you scrolled up or down, it wouldn’t be a bit issue. But, the images used look to be too large/separated and they seem too disjointed.
On the page, if you hover over the main options, like “Search Experts”, the icons don’t just highlight to show their new state, they rotate. I thought this was a fun addition.
A big plus is that if you let the company know they have a visual bug, or any bug I’d think, on the page, they fix it ASAP. I reported a few issues with the CSS layout and they were fixed within two days. Those things are no longer issues.
Another plus is that the flow of the site is logical. It’s easy to find information without being overloaded in non-relevant information. the flow is simple and it is designed in a way to get you to your goal efficiently and quickly.
On the negative end, some of their tutoring prices are a bit expensive. I tutored in college and only changed $10 an hour, these are sometimes over $50. Much of the intended audience will be struggling to afford even an hour of that, let alone more. You are able to view a list of tags of topics the person is familiar with, as well as view their availability calendar and schedule your session with them far in advance
Expert Page
Also, though it is early on and there are likely plans to add this in the future, I’d love to see more information about these experts. I want to see examples of their work – programs, books, art, etc. I want to see how many people they’ve helped and a rating from the student on how well they did, how patient they were, their overall helpfulness.
I give this application a 7/10:
It has a lot of positives backing it up, and definite potential to be a useful and necessary application. There are things that should be addressed by the company before it really takes off though.
Overall, I think it will prove to be a useful tool to those who wish to learn and are willing to take the time to do so. The company will need to continue to be innovative in order to stand out from the crowd and compete with the well established websites already on the market.
Rachel's App Reviews 