Synopsis
Open to all enthusiasts and youth in and around the world, the first phase of a series of hackathons organized by Ashesi Design Lab had participants competing in a virtual process over the course of two weeks.
Overview
Ashesi Design Lab, the design thinking and problem-solving hub of Ashesi University (Otherwise known as the MIT of Africa and a leader in STEM education on the continent and the world as a whole), hosted and organized the Future Learning Hackathon from the 1st to the 17th of July 2020. This was the first of a serious of hackathons aimed at tackling some of the world’s emerging and current issues. The goal of the Future Learning Hackathon was to deal with the challenges involved in online examination systems because of the current COVID -19 pandemic, which hit the world in all areas, especially educational institutions. The drive was to get innovation and creative ideas to tackle the challenges identified as well as incorporate design thinking in the solution.
In partnership with Vodafone Ghana as lead sponsor, the Future Learning Hackathon comprised of 20 teams with a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 5 members totaling 80 different individuals from across Africa and Europe and from multidisciplinary backgrounds with about 48% of them being female.
Process and Judges
A call for applications was sent out on 1st July for all teams to register. 20 teams after the 8th of July registered for the hackathon. Preparations started in earnest right after the registration with a virtual orientation and design thinking session. This was to bring the various teams together and accomplish one of the goals of the hackathon i.e. incorporation of design thinking in the ideation stages. All the teams had mentors assigned to them to help them prepare for the big day, which was the Pitching session.
The session was divided into two parts with 10 groups presenting their ideas to 5 judges in the morning and the other 10 presenting their idea to the other 6 judges in the afternoon. The novel ideas were evaluated and critiqued constructively by the judging panel, which comprised of experts from different fields and academic disciplines. After 6 hours of intensive display of ingenuity and innovation all addressing the challenges with the online examination system and the prototypes developed to solve them, the judges unveiled five winning teams based on the clear definition of the problem, clarity of feasible solutions, scalability of solutions, and presentation skills.
The judging included, in no particular order Joseph Akayesi, John Eyo, Michael Atta-Mensah, Derick Omari, Lady-Omega Hammond, Sylvia Sefakor Senu, Ing. Dr. Henry Nunoo-Mensah, Charles Jackson, Kwabena Kese Awuah, and Cecil Senna Nutakor
Winners
The solutions that earned the spotlight include a mobile multiplayer knowledge testing and tournament WebApp, a prototype that helps institutions supervise online exams, an offline learning app, and a hybrid application that can run on all operating systems both online and offline. The winning teams are as below:
Winner – NO STRESS WITH TESTS
First Runner-up – WIZDOMTEK
Second Runner-up – AWESOME THINKERS NETWORK
Third Runner-up – DIPIT
Fourth Runner-up – CMATH BABES
The winners won mentoring and advisory support by Dream Oval, Internship opportunities for members of the team with Vodafone Ghana, Vodafone Merchandise, and discounted rides from Fennix. The first and second runners-up also won mentoring and advisory support from Dream Oval, Vodafone merchandise, discounted rides from Fennix, and other rewards from other sponsors with the team lead of WIZDOMTEK winning an internship opportunity with Dream Oval.
All the other winners won Vodafone merchandise, discounted rides from Fennix, and other assorted prizes.
Conclusion
Bridging the physical distance between the teammates in a virtual environment came with its own unique setbacks but it enabled the teams to leverage on productivity around the clock as well as help organizers to further enhance the process for future hackathons. At the end of the day, people from backgrounds in engineering, arts, humanities, and applied sciences as well as other disciplines came together to bridge the gap created by the global pandemic and further broaden discussions in an empowering way.
Special thanks go to all the sponsors and partners especially Vodafone Ghana, leading partner, Dream Oval, Fennix, Dough Man Foods, Tech Era, Veggies and grills restaurant, Travel Tavern, Ameyaw Debrah, Kwadwo Sheldon, Joy Prime and Joy Business and all other individuals and organizations for their esteemed support during the planning, organization, and execution of the Future Learning Hackathon.
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