The Digital Creators’ Challenge

Sep 01, 2020
Our Work
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A collaboration between Apps for Good, Vodafone, Teach First and Hopscotch Consulting.

Vodafone’s Digital Creators’ Challenge invited students aged 11-14 to create an app that could improve lives in their local community.

Apps for Good created bespoke learning materials for schools. Our lesson plans covered identifying a problem to solve, meeting community needs, designing a user experience, and pitching app designs.

To help reach schools with more disadvantaged young people Apps for Good also delivered one-day app design workshops. Year 7 to 9 pupils from 26 schools joined 10 workshops. The challenge boosted students’ digital skills and introduced them to future careers in the exciting world of technology.

100% of teachers rated the workshop good or excellent (with 86% of teachers rating it excellent). They all said that their pupils had been able to apply their STEM skills to new contexts, and one commented that “going from concept to prototype in a day was great.”

Volunteers from Vodafone joined the workshops to support students with their app designs, give feedback on their ideas, and provide insights into their careers.

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The great volunteer mentors widened students' knowledge of the world of work.”

Teacher, Digital Creators' Challenge Workshop School

Students particularly enjoyed working together to solve the problems they face and learning about other people's ideas. They found presenting their work the most challenging part of the day.

School closures and social distancing meant that Vodafone were unable to run the planned HQ finale for the students with the best creations. Winning schools were still awarded prize funding from Vodafone for improved technology in their classrooms.

Since the project ended Apps for Good have created new one-day app design and machine learning courses that we deliver into classrooms remotely. Volunteers from companies including LEGO, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank and Sage have dialled in to give insights on their jobs, and offer feedback to students. Check out the recommended posts below to see how the workshops went.

If you’d like to volunteer your expertise at the next remote workshop, sign up here.