Prep for Verizon Innovation App Challenge with Teen Hackathon Leaders
Absolutely, positively no coding required!
What is the App Challenge?
The Verizon Innovative App Challenge is a nationwide contest in which middle and high school students are challenged to develop con- cepts for mobile apps that solve a problem in their community. It’s a unique, hands-on learning program that teaches collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and entrepreneurship, as well as STEM (science, technology, engi- neering, and math) skills and coding. It builds on students’ excitement about technology and aims to equip them with skills they need to succeed in the jobs of the future.
What are the important dates?
Stay tuned; dates for the 2016–2017 contest will be announced soon. Here’s the general timeline:
Registration opens
August 2016
The submission deadline
Late November or early December
Winners are named
January and February 2017
Who can enter?
Teams of students a liated with schools and nonprofit groups/clubs can enter the contest, along with an adult advisor.
The students must be in grades 6 through 12, and the teams must have ve to seven mem-bers plus their advisor.
Teams can register with WHOmentors.com, Inc., a nonprofit public benefit corporation that is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Who is the team advisor?
Rauhmel Fox, CEO, WHOmentors.com, Inc. is the primary self-enrichment education teacher, however, pre-collegiate scholars leading Teen Hackathon will faciliate your training and project development.
What do advisors do?
Team advisors are responsible for completing the registration, authorization, and release forms and for mentoring the team throughout the App Challenge. Advisors can register as many teams as they want.
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What steps do we take to enter the Innovative App Challenge?
It’s simple to enter:
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Gather your team.
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Complete the registration, authorization, and release forms.
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Read the rules.
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Identify a problem in your community that
you want to solve.
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Develop your app concept (see below).
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Create your submission
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Do teams need expertise in building a mobile app?
No. Teams do not build an app to enter the App Challenge—the contest is about the concept only. Judges evaluate essay/video submissions based on how well the team has researched and presented its concept. After a team wins at the national level, members learn coding from MIT experts who help them get their app ready to launch in an online app marketplace.
What does it mean to “create an app concept”?
To create an app concept:
• As a team, look around your school or com- munity and brainstorm about a few di erent problems your app could address.
• Research other apps that address these or similar issues.
• Brainstorm about how you could improve on existing solutions to these problems—or how you could create entirely new solutions.
• Decide which problem to focus on.
• Develop your solution and its features. • Assign tasks to your team members.
• Create your concept submission, which consists of an essay and a video (see next question and answer).
What is a concept submission?
A concept submission consists of essay responses and a video.
1. Essay responses: Submit written answers to questions about the problem your app would tackle and the features that make your solu- tion unique.
2. Video: Create a short video that demon- strates your team’s vision for its mobile
app concept, showing why this problem is meaningful to your team and how your app concept will help solve it. Be sure to demon- strate your team’s unique personality and approach. Upload the video to YouTube
or Vimeo. In the title, include the hashtag #VZAppChallenge.
What do the judges look for in a winning concept?
Judges are looking for:
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Original ideas
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Comprehensive research
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Innovative solutions
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Clear explanations
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Creative presentations
Your idea should address a problem or need that has a ected your team or school person- ally, or that your team is in a unique position to solve.
Make sure your concept provides an innovative approach. Do not create concepts for apps that already exist, or that have been recognized as previous App Challenge winners, such as:
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Homework/study schedulers
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Calorie counters/exercise logs
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Finding volunteer opportunities
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Weather trackers
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Navigation/traffic apps
Registrants are asked to voluntarily contribute to the operation of the project.
Location
Dates
to 28th August 2016 - 10:00 PM