GSoC’24 : A Summer Tale of Coding with Learning Equality
This past summer, I had the privilege of being selected as a Google Summer of Code (GSoC) contributor at Learning Equality. In this blog, I’ll walk you through my journey — from the process of being accepted to the learnings and experiences I gained while working with the incredible community of Learning Equality developers, especially my mentors — Radina Matic and Michaela Robosova.
About the Organization :
Learning Equality is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing equitable learning opportunities enabled by technology to the 33% of the world who lack internet connectivity, particularly those living in underserved and remote areas of the globe. They focus on creating offline-first education technology to bridge the learning and digital gaps, thus building educational equity.
Their flagship product, Kolibri, is an open-source ecosystem of products and tools designed specifically to provide learners and educators in communities with limited resources and the ability to teach and learn with technology but without the Internet. Kolibri is designed with the very global communities it benefits to directly meet diverse needs, and it has evolved exponentially over the years, thanks to the contributions of volunteers worldwide.
Approaching the Organization :
My journey with Learning Equality began in October 2023. Having always been passionate about open-source communities, I had contributed to a few organizations in the past. However, the unique vision of Learning Equality, combined with its incredibly supportive open-source community, inspired me to maintain a consistent level of contribution. By the end of February, I had successfully merged seven pull requests into the Learning Equality ecosystem. Additionally, I remained an active member of the community by engaging in discussions on Slack, which enriched my understanding and deepened my connection with the project.
When Learning Equality was announced as a Google Summer of Code (GSoC) mentoring organization in February 2024, I was immediately intrigued. One project, in particular, stood out to me: the idea of developing an Accessible Sortable Table. The concept aligned perfectly with my interests, and I felt it was an excellent opportunity to challenge myself further. Motivated by this exciting project, I decided to apply for GSoC with Learning Equality, eager to contribute even more significantly to the community.
Crafting the proposal :
I started drafting my proposal early, outlining my vision for the Accessible Sortable Table project. Throughout this process, I actively sought feedback from the Learning Equality community on Slack, discussing various aspects and incorporating their suggestions to refine and strengthen my proposal. At the same time, I continued my contributions to the organization.
Finally, my proposal was accepted into the GSoC 2024 program, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in my open-source journey with Learning Equality.
Implementing the project :
GSoC officially began with the Community Bonding Period, which gave me the opportunity to connect with my mentors, Michaela and Radina. During this time, we discussed my proposal in detail, and they helped me gain a deeper understanding of the coding patterns and the ecosystem used in Learning Equality’s projects. I spent this initial phase setting up the development environment and familiarizing myself with the organization’s development guidelines by reading through the documentation. With this foundational knowledge in place, I began the initial implementation of the project.
About the Project -:
The Kolibri Design System contains resources for designers and developers building Kolibri products. With inclusivity at the heart of Learning Equality’s mission, the purpose of KDS is to reduce the time it takes to design & build products while ensuring accessibility, responsiveness, and cross-browser compatibility.
The project- Accessible Sortable Table- aimed at creating a new KDS component, KTable with the following features :
- Provide an easy-to-use, standard sortable experience
- Meet best practices for screen reader accessibility
- Ensure best-practice keyboard navigation throughout
- Support internationalization
- Have easy reusability across all Kolibri and KDP products
Throughout the Coding period, we held multiple weekly meetings to evaluate the progress of the work, identify and address potential blockers, and brainstorm ideas to enhance the features of the component further. In addition to these meetings, we maintained frequent communication on Slack, collaborating with other community members to discuss various approaches and significant details that required broader input. This ongoing dialogue was invaluable for refining the project and ensuring that the development process aligned with the organization’s standards and goals.
Code reviews with my mentors and interacting with various Learning Equality community members have been my favorite parts of the entire GSoC experience. The detailed feedback I received during these code reviews significantly deepened my understanding of the codebase and introduced me to new coding concepts and techniques I hadn’t encountered before. Each review was an educational experience, helping me refine my coding practices and adopt more efficient and effective strategies for solving problems.
You can view my work in the Pull Request here.
Conclusion :
The KTable component has reached a minimum viable product (MVP) stage and is now ready to be used across both the Kolibri and Studio repositories. However, for the broader adoption of KTable, several areas still require improvements regarding the table design and structure. Features such as selectable rows within sortable tables and sorting based on vertical headers are yet to be implemented.
Reflecting on my journey, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to become a GSoC contributor, something I never imagined when I first ventured into open source. This summer with Learning Equality has been an incredibly enriching and inspiring experience, and I cherish the growth and knowledge I’ve gained. I look forward to continuing my involvement with this wonderful community, contributing in any way I can, and carrying forward the lessons and connections from this remarkable chapter.
