The inspiration for Setu-Samudram was born out of pure classroom frustration. As a teacher, I found that standard video-conferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet) were never actually designed for education. They were designed for meetings. During the shift to digital and hybrid learning, I noticed a massive "knowledge leak" caused by technical barriers. When a teacher zooms in on a tiny detail in a complex physics diagram or pans across a high-resolution mathematical derivation, the video compression "smoothes" it out, leaving students with a blurry, unreadable screen. I wanted to build a bridge (Setu) that ensured the teacher’s visual intent was delivered with 1:1 pixel perfection to every student's device. What problem were you trying to solve? I set out to solve three core problems: Visual Fidelity & Bandwidth: Screensharing consumes massive bandwidth and sacrifices quality. Setu-Samudram solves this by syncing state, not video. The actual PDF renders natively on the student's device, maintaining crispness even on slow connections. Fragmented Workflows: Teachers typically jump between a PDF reader for content, a digital whiteboard for notes, and a separate platform for exams. Setu-Samudram unifies these into one environment where content and annotations coexist seamlessly. Passive Learning: In a standard screenshare, students are passive observers. I wanted to create a "dual-screen" experience where the teacher can prepare "Tapes" (the digital equivalent of physical masking tape) to hide answers or complex steps, revealing them strategically to keep students guessing and engaged. How did your approach or process evolve while working on this launch? The project began as a simple "PDF synchronizer." The initial goal was just to make sure if I turned a page, the student's page turned too. However, as I tested the builds, the process evolved from "sharing a file" to "managing a session." I realized that a lecture doesn't exist in a vacuum—it’s preceded by preparation and often followed by an assessment. This led to the development of: The Preparation Layer: Realizing that a teacher needs to "rehearse" with their material, I added a mode to save private notes and hidden overlays before the live session. The "Invigila" Evolution: I noticed that exams were the biggest stress point in education. I pivoted to build a dedicated "Invigila" mode that mimics a real exam center, complete with proctoring tools and attendance tracking. Offline-First Resilience: I shifted the architecture to be offline-first (using localforage), ensuring that if the classroom internet flickered, the teacher's whiteboard and session state wouldn't disappear. Ultimately, Setu-Samudram evolved from a "screensharing alternative" into a comprehensive pedagogical engine designed to bridge the gap between a teacher's expertise and a student's understanding.

Setu-Samudram

Setu-Samudram: Bridging teaching and learning

Setu-Samudram: Bridging teaching and learning