Creating Hacks for COVID19

With the current pandemic and social distancing still affecting our society and the way we use to conduct meetings, workshops, and events, many organizations were forced to look at other options and modes to carry out their day to day operations.  Zoom and video conferencing have become the norm in order to keep in touch and share ideas with each other.  The same applies to the UNESCO Center of Peace.  For the past 13 years, this organization has been providing enrichment opportunities for students all around the globe.  They have organized and have put together amazing face to face conferences and spread their mission globally.  When the pandemic hit us this year, just like many other organizations, they too were forced into a world of virtual learning and meetings in order to continue the organization's mission.  The thought of running a conference virtually can be an overwhelming and daunting idea to many not used to zoom and virtual meetings, the organization was questioning whether it could be pulled off.  However, with an amazing group of young supporters and a visionary of a leader, Guy Djoken, the organization decided to go ahead with a virtual conference.  That is where I come in.  Recently being introduced to Mr. Djoken, I expressed my desire to run a “Hackathon” for the students.  

For many adults, the word “hack” can have a negative designation with fears of having their personal information shared to inflict financial harm.  However, if you ask a kid what is a “Hack”, they seem to associate it with a way to make life or situation easier.  To kids, a hack can be a trick to do something simpler or a workaround to a problem.  As far as a hackathon, it is an event where workarounds are ideated with a team to better society and the world.  I was able to put together Hudson County’s NJ first Hackathon about two years ago.  At this event, we invited some local school districts to partake and organized a small curriculum and main event.  Students who were part of this had to take part in 2 workshops/activities that introduced them into the world of Human-Centered Design and App making.  Once they understood these two worlds, we then had a face to face event at the Liberty Science Center where teams were randomly created and students had to design an app that would help Hudson County.  The event lasted for about 8 hours where students diligently designed and created a working prototype of their idea.  

Running a hackathon virtually brought a few of its own working problems.  How would teams meet and design their apps?  How would they be able to collaborate virtually?  How would they be able to create an app prototype?  Would students still be engaged on a virtual platform?  After brainstorming solutions, the Virtual Hackathon was ready to be tested.  Since Zoom was being utilized by the organization, many of the software's features answered many of the above questions.  

The organization scheduled 4 days with 2 hours each day for meetings and work time.  We broke up these times accordingly in order to run this virtual hackathon.  On day 1, we started with introductions and a quick icebreaker on creative thinking.  We then took a dive into the world of Design Thinking, showing them the process and having them test their design eye and skills.  We spoke about opportunities for design by showing them a series of pictures of everyday life and having them analyze and pick out opportunities to design solutions.  Day 2 was an exploration into the world of apps, their impact in today’s world, and the process of making an app.  Students were introduced to the Marvel App and Thunkable platforms for app making.  Day 3 allowed for teams to be created and using Zoom’s breakout room features, teams were able to meet privately in their virtual rooms and collaborate.  Their challenge was to create an app that could help with the current need for social distancing in their community.  Day 4 allowed for them to meet for the first part of the session, develop an elevator pitch for their app, and be ready to present their idea to the whole group.  The second portion of Day 4 had the teams pitching their app ideas.  Many of the teams went above and beyond and actually developed working app prototypes in Marvel.  I was completely blown away by the ideas, collaboration, hard work, determination, and empathy ALL of these teams showed over the four sessions.  In the end, we had a collection of ideas for apps that would help the world, in addition to just their community.  The discussions were surrounded by empathetic ideas to help humanity.  Students were excited and wanted more.  Word got back to Guy Djoken on the innovation occurring in his virtual event through this hackathon.  This led to some brainstorming of making the hackathon a bigger event at the organization's next conferences and meetings.  

In a world full of technology and opportunities, challenges and problems can be tackled virtually with a group of students willing to find empathetic solutions.  The UNESCO Center for Peace Hackathon was not only a success but a catalyst for innovation for students all around the world.  We are currently looking to create a partnership with Princeton Hive and UNESCO to continue these innovative hackathons in the future.