How do we anchor our students to explore coding beyond the classroom? Well, here at Kodecoon Academy, we always encourage our students to test themselves and face challenges by participating in competitions. Our Kodecoon team is always on the lookout for competitions related to tech and coding for our students to participate in. We are strong advocates for students to be active creators of technology and not just mere passive consumers.
Recently, we challenged our students to participate in the MIT App Inventor Summer Appathon. The contest results were announced in mid-August and Kodecoon Academy is excited to announce that…drumrolls, please….Two of our Kodecoon teams, Wheel You Help Me? and RiotDetector managed to clinch the Youth Team Honourable Mention and Youth Team People’s Choice Second Place awards respectively!
What is the competition about?
The MIT App Inventor Summer Appathon is an annually held appathon organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This competition allows anyone from around the world to participate! Participants can participate in 1 of 5 tracks: Individual youth, Team youth, Mixed team, Individual adult, and Team adult.
The appathon aims to be a marathon-like event to build apps. Participants are expected to create and submit an App Inventor app that will help someone in need or make a difference in their community. This year’s Appathon 2022 Theme was to design an app that supports one of the chosen five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Quality Education, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Life Below Water, Life on Land and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. They had to submit their App Inventor app, a short write-up about their app, and a video no longer than 2 minutes explaining how their app works.
Following the result release and the excitement of our students’ wins, we reached out to them about the good news and asked them what they had to say about their overall experience participating in this appathon!
Xiang Jun & Julius for the Youth Team Honourable Mention: Wheel You Help Me?
Julius Chua is 10 years old this year and he started coding at only 5 years old! He started experimenting with Scratch block-based programming which led to the start of his coding journey. He has done Scratch coding, mobile app development with MIT App Inventor, web programming using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Maker Technopreneurship Programme which is an engineering and design-oriented class and is currently learning Pygame with Python.
Foong Xiang Jun is now 11 years old and started coding at the age of 5. He also has done Scratch coding, mobile app development with MIT App Inventor, web programming using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Maker Technopreneurship Programme and is currently learning the basics of Python
Julius and Xiang Jun made a team together for this MIT App Inventor Appathon during preparatory lessons for the appathon. They worked on their award-winning app: Wheel you help me? Creative name indeed!
About their app:
This Wheel You Help Me? app helps one find wheelchair-accessible places where they can enjoy a fun day with friends and family without having to make multiple detours due to wheelchair inaccessibility.
There were 3 categories from which a user could make a selection: Attractions, Malls and Restaurants. Once the user had chosen one of the 3 options, the app will redirect them to a page that shows places in Singapore pertaining to the category that is wheelchair accessible.
Teacher Deddy asked Xiang Jun and Julius more about their appathon journey and here’s what they had to say:
How did you both prepare for the appathon?
We had lessons with Teacher Azzy to prepare for this appathon. Even before the themes were announced, we revised our App inventor skills and had a little recap lesson and practice to be ready for the appathon!
What made you both choose this topic for your project?
J: I have seen Singapore trying to incorporate inclusivity for people with disabilities, especially those using wheelchairs. Our public transport system has allowed them to get on and off with ease. But, we did realise that not all places are designed for those in wheelchairs. And thus we decided to make an app that allows them to find places that are wheelchair friendly!
What sort of challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
XJ: The research was time-consuming and challenging because we spent a lot of time finding these places. We were busy most of the time and could only discuss with each other during class. So we had to finalise our idea and start allocating work to each other. Since the concept was set in stone and we had agreed on it, we spent our time working on our tasks. I made the slides and the write-up for us to submit and Julius made the app. Overall, in my opinion, we did not face many challenges and the flow was relatively smooth.
Who did you turn to for advice when faced with challenges?
We asked Teacher Azzy for advice and help when we needed it. We initially had a much more detailed app but it would take too long so Teacher Azzy told us to narrow down our idea and that was how we came about with this app that is easy to use.
How did you manage to clinch this award?
J: We know that MIT is a really big institution in the USA and that the competition would not be easy. I think we managed to clinch this award because of the creative name “Wheel you help me?” and the project was closely linked to the theme. Our app was unique and would help many wheelchair-bound people!
What is your biggest takeaway from this project?
XJ: I learnt so much through research and was surprised by the number of places that are wheelchair accessible. I also think that working as a team was a big takeaway, we had to make crucial decisions and script for the short video presentation.
Any closing remarks to other peers your age who want to know more about your experience from this MIT App Inventor Appathon?
We advise that ideas should be original and have unique ideas to stand out. Always have in mind that your creativity and technical skills have to come hand in hand!
Lastly, would you like to give anyone a shoutout or special thank you?
We would like to thank our parents and Teacher Azzy for helping us through this journey and helping us to win this honourable mention award!
Norman & Howard for the Youth Team People’s Choice Second Place: RiotDetector
Norman Ngeow is from Singapore and is 11 years old this year. He started coding at the small age of 7 by using LEGO Education’s drag-and-drop block-based programming in his school. This experience certainly pushed him to join his school’s multi-media CCA when he was 9 which sparked his interest to join Kodecoon. Since he had prior knowledge of Scratch block-based programming, he accelerated into mobile app development with MIT App Inventor, finished his way through web programming using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and is currently learning Python.
Howard Alvias is from South Jakarta, Indonesia and is also 11 years old this year. He has been coding since he was around 6 years old when he was first introduced to Scratch coding in school. He started learning with Kodecoon at the age of 8 and has learned Scratch block-based programming, moved on to mobile app development with MIT App Inventor and is now pursuing web programming using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Howard and Norman made a team together for this MIT App Inventor Appathon when they were in the same class during preparatory lessons for the appathon. They went on and worked on their award-winning app: RiotDetector.
About their app:
This RiotDetector app aims to help users travel safely to their destinations by providing them with an alternative route without having to go through a present riot. It falls under the “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” theme. This app helps the user reach their end destination by avoiding a present riot.
The app allows users to place their starting location, destination and where the riot is taking place which is labelled in black. When they click on the navigation component, the app will create an alternative route that enables the commuter to travel to their destination and avoid any riots in their way.
Teacher Deddy asked Norman and Howard more about their appathon journey and here’s what they had to say:
What made you both choose this topic for your project?
H: A few years ago when my mother and I were out for a drive, we encountered a riot. This riot blocked our path and caused us to be stuck in traffic. I remember we had to wait about 3 to 4 hours before any movement had resumed and found it inconvenient. In Indonesia, I felt that an app that gave me an alternate route to my destination allowing me to avoid such riots would help commuters move about!
What sort of challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Our biggest challenge was finding time outside of our busy schedules to work on this project together. Since we were from different countries, our schedules were often all over the place and finding pockets of time when we were both free was a challenge. We did most of our discussions during lesson time. We often used texting through WhatsApp as a means to communicate with each other when we needed to clarify anything or make decisions about the project.
How did you manage to clinch this award?
N: I had only sent the project voting to my mother to vote for our group’s app but she ended up forwarding the link to pretty much whoever she knew and the whole extended family. I think it was the same for Howard, he sent it to both his parents and then the link started moving around the whole family who got us votes!
Who did you turn to for advice when faced with challenges?
H: We asked Teacher Azzy to guide us through this project and help us when we faced difficulties and needed help. He gave us tips when coding our project and encouraged us to not give up when we were faced with challenges. My mother gave me encouragement and confidence when coding the app seemed too difficult.
What is your biggest takeaway from this project?
Our biggest takeaway would be the teamwork and finding out about riots. Our research opened our eyes to the causes of riots and the aftermath of what happened. Sometimes people not even a part of these riots become casualties because they just happen to be in the wrong place at that time. This made us feel like our app is a really good idea and would be helpful to many people who might be caught in riots.
Any closing remarks to other peers your age who want to know more about your experience from this MIT App Inventor Appathon?
Firstly, we would highly recommend anyone with a love for coding to take part in this competition and expand their skills. This experience helps you hone your app inventor skills and allows you to make friends! Teaming up as a team helped us to make friends and enjoy each other’s company!
Lastly, would you like to give anyone a shoutout or special thank you?
We would like to thank all our Kodecoon instructors for always helping us through our coding journey, our supportive parents and everyone who helped to vote for us and helped us get this people’s choice award because it takes a village to receive this award. Thank you!
Kodecoon Academy is extremely proud of Julius, Xiang Jun, Norman and Howard for their efforts and wins. We congratulate our winners AND our participants and their efforts in participating in this MIT App Inventor Appathon! Great job kiddos!!
At Kodecoon Academy, our mission is to help our children of tomorrow channel their creativity to transform ideas into concrete realities beyond coding! We wish to shape more young talents to be tech-savvy, team-spirited learners in the field of STEM and make a positive impact in their community.
If you are keen to embark your child on an exciting coding journey, do contact us to find out more about our coding classes and register for our FREE trial classes today! You can also check out a brief introduction of our trial classes here for more information!