The Problem
Classroom instructors seek to encourage frequent attendance and thoughtful participation from all students. Many also aim to measure and grade that engagement, but doing so can be cumbersome, especially during class.
Dr. Carlos Arias Arevalo, chair of computer science at Seattle Pacific University, used pencil and paper to track student participation during class. When a student answered a question, either voluntarily or after being selected, he’d make a tally mark next to that student’s name. This approach drew attention away from engaging with the student, and recorded only the frequency of participation without accounting for the quality of those engagements or the fair distribution of those opportunities.
Those tally marks, moreover, eventually needed to be translated from the notebook into the digital gradebook. Canvas LMS supplies an interface for entering, but it isn’t designed for quickly recording individual interactions during a live class. It also doesn’t readily show which students are participating frequently and which are being overlooked, leaving instructors to manage equitable student selection themselves.
The challenge was to
- Reduce administrative overhead by streamlining participation tracking during class.
- Integrate with Canvas rather than introducing another disconnected system for instructors to manage.
- Encourage equitable student participation by helping instructors distribute opportunities to contribute across their students.
The Original Solution
Knowted brings classroom participation tracking into a dedicated application integrated with Canvas.
Working with professors at Seattle Pacific University, I developed a workflow that supports instructors before, during, and after class.
- 01
Before class — Course management
Knowted retrieves course and student information from Canvas, allowing instructors to work with their existing rosters rather than maintaining separate student records. Canvas LTI integration allows instructors to access the application through their learning management system.
- 02
During class — Student selection and participation
The original application used a selection algorithm that favored students who had participated less frequently, with the aim of distributing opportunities to contribute more evenly and encouraging broader classroom engagement. Instructors can skip selections when necessary and record participation as classroom discussions unfold.
The interface is designed around quick interactions so instructors can focus on their students rather than the software.
- 03
After class — Grade management
Participation records can be translated into grades and exported to Canvas assignments, connecting classroom activity with the institution’s existing grading workflow.
Together, these capabilities give instructors a single place to manage participation without replacing the systems they already use.
Key Design and Engineering Decisions
Integrating with Existing Systems
Rather than introducing a separate authentication and course-management process, Knowted uses Canvas APIs and Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI).
This approach allows instructors to access existing course information and reduces the need to manage duplicate data.
Designing for the Classroom
Classroom software needs to work while an instructor is actively teaching.
Knowted’s selection and grading workflows emphasize quick actions, clear student information, and minimal interruption. Features such as student selection, skipping students, and preserving selection state emerged as the application evolved through instructor feedback.
Encouraging More Balanced Participation
Rather than selecting students uniformly at random, the original application favored students who had participated less frequently. This gave instructors a systematic way to distribute opportunities to contribute, with the goal of making classroom participation more inclusive.
Building for Continued Use
As Knowted developed, its architecture and deployment processes evolved alongside the product.
The application incorporates a dedicated backend, data validation, database management, and deployment infrastructure. These foundations support ongoing maintenance and improvements while keeping the instructor-facing experience straightforward.
Results
The original Knowted web application progressed beyond its initial use case and was adopted by multiple instructors at Seattle Pacific University.
In 2022, Knowted was accepted for a student poster at the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC). The accepted poster was titled Helping Professors Track Student Participation in the Classroom with a Web Application, with Parker Landon as the student author and Dr. Carlos Arias as faculty sponsor.
The accepted abstract reported growing use among SPU professors by 2022 and described the application’s Canvas integration, participation grading workflow, and student-selection algorithm.
Its value became particularly clear after my graduation, when professors expressed interest in continuing to use the application despite a period of limited development.
In June 2024, Professor Andrew Cameron wrote:
“I’d love to continue using Knowted.”
That continued demand helped motivate the 2024 rebuild of the web application.
Although formal adoption and time-savings metrics aren’t available, use by multiple instructors and subsequent requests for continued development provide evidence that the original application addressed a genuine classroom need. That experience continues to inform the direction of Knowted today.
Product Evolution
Knowted has evolved through several iterations as instructor needs, technical requirements, and my approach to building software have changed.
- 2022
The Original Application
I first developed Knowted while studying computer science at Seattle Pacific University.
Working alongside faculty, I built a web application that integrated with Canvas LMS to retrieve course rosters, record classroom participation, and export grades.
The application was adopted by multiple instructors, but development slowed as my academic commitments increased.
- 2024
Returning to Knowted
After graduating, I heard from professors who wanted to continue using Knowted.
Their continued interest motivated me to revisit the project. In July 2024, I deployed a revamped version of the application, incorporating improvements to the interface and underlying infrastructure.
This iteration continued the original vision of a classroom participation tool integrated with Canvas.
- 2026
Reimagining Knowted as a Desktop Application
In 2026, I began developing Knowted again, this time as a desktop application built with Electron.
Unlike previous versions, the new application operates independently of Canvas LMS. This represents a significant change in the product’s direction, moving away from an institution-specific learning management system integration toward a standalone classroom participation tool.
The current iteration is in active development. It builds on lessons from previous versions while allowing me to reconsider the application’s workflows and technical architecture without the constraints of its original Canvas integration.
Looking Ahead
Knowted is currently being redeveloped as a standalone Electron desktop application.
By moving away from its original Canvas integration, this iteration is exploring a different approach to classroom participation management, informed by years of experience building and maintaining the application for real instructors.
The goal remains the same: make participation easier to manage so instructors can spend less time on administrative work and more time engaging with students.
Have a Workflow That Existing Software Doesn’t Solve?
Knowted demonstrates how a focused application can emerge from understanding a specific operational problem and collaborating closely with the people experiencing it.
At Cordial Forge, I bring that same approach to custom software projects: understanding how people work, identifying where existing tools fall short, and building practical solutions around their needs.